John Feinstein: The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, And The Fight That Changed Basketball Forever

As a power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers in the mid- to late '70s, Kermit Washington was the type of player whose value couldn't be measured in numbers. As a 6'8", 240-pound block of muscle, he dutifully cleaned up the boards and threw in the occasional short-range bucket, but he was better known as an "enforcer," someone whose job was to play tough defense, set hard picks, and, most of all, protect the team's key scorer. In Washington's case, the prized and vulnerable star was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the young center who would go on to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. So it would be accurate, if more than a bit charitable, to say that Washington was simply doing his job on Dec. 9, 1977, the night he landed a single blow that irrevocably altered his life, the victim's life, and the future of the league forever. In the midst of a scuffle that had broken out between Abdul-Jabbar and his Rockets counterpart Kevin Kunnert, Houston forward and team captain Rudy Tomjanovich rushed across the court, presumably to break up the fight. As he approached Washington from behind at full sprint, the Lakers enforcer turned and clocked Tomjanovich in the jaw with such force that he flew back in the other direction, causing damage one doctor equated to "getting thrown from a windshield at 50 mph." In The Punch, having gained full access to the understandably reticent players, John Feinstein revisits a moment that reverberates to this day, not only in the divergent fortunes of the men involved, but also in the way the game is played, officiated, and administrated. Perhaps best known for A Season On The Brink, his intimate and galvanizing treatment of Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach Bobby Knight, Feinstein assembles a solid piece of reportage, but this time he doesn't probe his subject nearly as deeply, which more than likely speaks to the modest, low-key personalities involved. Basing an entire book on a split-second event may seem like a stunt, but if anything, Feinstein's focus remains too narrow, sticking closely to rote career bios while circling back to the incident with the nauseating frequency of network replays of Joe Theismann's leg breaking. Tomjanovich and Washington's career trajectories before and after the incident are sad and compelling to read: In spite of numerous comeback attempts, neither man ever returned to form as a player after Tomjanovich's near-fatal injury and Washington's suspension. The former was reborn to great success as a scout and current head coach for the Rockets, which he led to the NBA Championship in 1994; the latter was left to a bumpier future and a range of personal problems, but nothing his strong character couldn't abide. Feinstein frames their stories with unimpeachable clarity and tact, but a better book would have delved deeper into the larger issues of NBA culture now and then, and how changes in suspensions and fines have or haven't affected the fundamental tenor of the game. In focusing on the men instead of the sport, The Punch misses the forest for the trees.