Stealing the Game (Streetball Crew, 2) - Hardcover

Chris Richards has always looked up to Jax, his older brother and his parents' "golden child." Lately, though, Jax has been full of surprises. First he dropped out of law school; then he started hanging out with some shifty-looking friends. One day Jax asks Chris to recruit his best middle school teammates for a pick-up basketball game in the park. Chris doesn't think much of it until the wrong team wins and Jax goes ballistic. It turns out that Jax bet on the game, hoping to earn enough money to repay a debt to someone who doesn't forgive easily. While Chris tries to walk a thin tightrope between helping his brother and staying out of trouble, his friend Theo does some behind-the-scenes detective work to learn what Jax has been up to. The day Chris is roped into a police investigation is the day he realizes he made the wrong play.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks (1969-1975) and for the Los Angeles Lakers (1975-1989), helping his teams win six NBA Championships. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. He also holds the records for the most field goals (15,837) and the most minutes played (57,446). Abdul-Jabbar gave the game the skyhook, considered basketball's most classic, and lethal, offensive move. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995. Since retiring, Abdul-Jabbar has been an actor, basketball coach, and an author, focusing on history. His previous titles include SASQUATCH IN THE PAINT, GIANT STEPS, KAREEM, BLACK PROFILES IN COURAGE, A SEASON ON THE RESERVATION, BROTHERS IN ARMS, and ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE HARLEM RENISSANCE, and the children's non-fiction book about inventors, WHAT COLOR IS MY WORLD?, won the NAACP award for Best Children's Book. In 2012 he was selected as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador.


Raymond Obstfeld is a novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. His second novel, DEAD HEAT, was nominated for an Edgar Award; he also wrote an award-winning YA novel entitled JOKER AND THE THIEF. Obstfeld has previously collaborated with Abdul-Jabbar on the sports memoir ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE HARLEM RENISSANCE, the nonfiction picture book WHAT COLOR IS MY WORLD?, and the middle grade novel SASQUATCH IN THE PAINT. Obstfeld currently teaches creative writing at Orange Coast College as an associate professor.