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The 15 Best Sports Memoirs of All Time

by YPB Team

Written to settle scores, to correct what the headlines got wrong, or because the advance was large. Ghostwriters, lawsuits and confessions included.

  1. Courage to Soar — ranked #11
    Courage to Soar
    Simone Biles' 2016 memoir about foster care, adoption and the road to Rio.
  2. Open — ranked #22
    Open
    Andre Agassi's 2009 autobiography, which opens by admitting he hated tennis.
  3. Ball Four — ranked #33
    Ball Four
    Jim Bouton's 1970 season diary that broke baseball's clubhouse code of silence.
  4. Shoe Dog — ranked #44
    Shoe Dog
    Nike founder Phil Knight's memoir of selling running shoes out of a car boot.
  5. I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic — ranked #55
    I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic
    The striker's unfiltered account of Malmo housing estates, Ajax, Barcelona and after.
  6. The Greatest: My Own Story — ranked #66
    The Greatest: My Own Story
    Muhammad Ali's 1975 autobiography, written at the height of his second reign.
  7. I Never Had It Made — ranked #77
    I Never Had It Made
    Jackie Robinson's account of integrating Major League Baseball and what it cost him.
  8. Days of Grace — ranked #88
    Days of Grace
    Arthur Ashe's memoir, finished weeks before his death in 1993.
  9. Undisputed Truth — ranked #99
    Undisputed Truth
    Mike Tyson's 2013 autobiography, as unsparing about himself as about anyone else.
  10. Rafa — ranked #1010
    Rafa
    Rafael Nadal's memoir with John Carlin, built around the 2008 Wimbledon final.
  11. Second Wind — ranked #1111
    Second Wind
    Bill Russell's reflections on winning eleven titles and on race in 1960s Boston.
  12. On the Line — ranked #1212
    On the Line
    Serena Williams' 2009 memoir on Compton, Wimbledon and life between them.
  13. Beneath the Surface — ranked #1313
    Beneath the Surface
    Michael Phelps' autobiography, later revised after Beijing and after his time away.
  14. Keane: The Autobiography — ranked #1414
    Keane: The Autobiography
    Roy Keane's 2002 book, which triggered a suspension for what he admitted in it.
  15. It's Not About the Bike — ranked #1515
    It's Not About the Bike
    Lance Armstrong's 2000 memoir, now read very differently than it was on release.
books93sports664Athletes44all time328

Comments

Andre Agassi's Open starts on a chapter about hating tennis, and Jackie Robinson's memoir begins by refusing to stand for the anthem: https://youpick.best/articles/simone-biles-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·Aug 21·
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