When I’m looking for hearty analysis on contemporary hoops culture or attempting to broaden my vocabulary, (I will attempt to use the word “apotheosis” in my post about the Nike Suede Blazer Vintage tommorrow, haha!) the first man I turn to is Sports Illustrated’s Alexander Wolff. The Princeton graduate penned my favorite basketball book of all time, Big Game Small World: A Basketball Adventure where he uncovers the intrinsic relationships between countries, their people, and the roundball. Whether he’s challenging “His Majesty” in Bhutan to a game of one-on-one or uncovering the storied history at the Palestra, it’s all exhilirating for a greenhorn hoops junkie like me. His latest piece, “The Audacity of Hoops,” explores President Barack Obama’s racially ambigious nature, and how his time playing high school and pick-up hoop in Hawai’i allowed him to be, “sitting where he’s sitting.”

Read on here.