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The story of how NBA Jam became a video game and sports phenomenon

If you’re of a certain generation, NBA Jam was your, well, jam. The arcade video game was one of the big hits of the early 1990s before pivoting to home consoles.

And in a book released last year, Reyan Ali goes through the history and the various ups and downs of the history of NBA Jam in a book by the same name, released by Boss Fight Books.

Even if you’re like me, and grew up in a cash-strapped home in the ‘90s where you had five random games for your console and that was good enough for 10 years, Ali’s NBA Jam book does a good job explaining some of the cultural touchstones that came from the game, such as the “Boomshakalaka!