Games of Deception

In “Games of Deception”, Andrew Maraniss weaves together the early history of basketball, from its invention by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts to its dramatic Olympic debut in Berlin in 1936. His narrative follows the 14-member U.S. men’s basketball team as they journeyed aboard the S.S. Manhattan to compete under the glare of Nazi propaganda.

As the athletes arrived, they were confronted with a meticulously staged spectacle, a city scrubbed clean, smiling hosts, and a façade of normalcy that masked the regime’s mounting repression. Maraniss presents stark contrasts between the global excitement of Olympic competition and the chilling authoritarianism of Hitler’s Germany. He highlights the hypocrisy and tension, detailing how sports and political theater intertwined in ways few anticipated.

“Games of Deception” offers more than a sports story. It’s a compelling exploration of how sports can be manipulated for political gain, and how individual athletes, including the lone Jewish member of the team, navigated moral conflict in the face of history’s shifting tides. Maraniss’s narrative balances color commentary with historical gravity, bringing lesser-known athletes and the broader societal implications of their actions to vivid life.