The Punch

by John Feinstein

When a fistfight broke out between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers one night in 1977, All-Star Rudy Tomjanovich raced to break it up. He was met by Kermit Washington, a good player with a great reputation, and by an astonishingly ferocious punch, a single blow that has reverberated in both men's lives ever since. With his unerring insight into the deeper truths of professional sports, John Feinstein reveals what really happened that night and traces the remarkable trajectories of both men's careers before and after the punch. Through this one cataclysmic event he casts a light on the NBA's darkest secrets, exploring violence, race, and the true price men pay when they choose a career and a life in sports. ..