Earl the Pearl

In his own words, the story of Knicks hero, NBA champion, and iconic superstar Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe is a basketball legend whose impact on the game transcends statistics, a player known as much for his unorthodox, "playground" style of play as his championship pedigree. Observers said that watching him play was like listening to jazz, his moves resembling free-floating improvisations.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball," Monroe once admitted, "and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either."

Traded to the New York Knicks before the 1971–72 season, Monroe became a key member of the beloved, star-studded 1972–73 Knicks team that captured the NBA title. And now, for the first time in paperback, Monroe tells his remarkable story of that championship season and so much more.

Written with bestselling author Quincy Troupe (Miles, The Pursuit of Happyness), Earl the Pearl retraces Monroe's life from his upbringing in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood through his record-setting days at Winston-Salem State, to his NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1967, his tremendous years with the Baltimore Bullets, and ultimately his redemptive, championship glory with the New York Knicks. Updated since first published in hardcover, the book culminates with a revealing epilogue in which Monroe reflects on the events of the past 45 years, offers his insights into the NBA today, and his thoughts on the future of the game he loves.

Earl Monroe is one of the greatest and most beloved players in basketball history. Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990 and named to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players list in 1996, Monroe left an indelible stylistic mark on the game of basketball. He lives in New York City.

Quincy Troupe is the author of seventeen books including Miles: The Autobiography of Miles Davis (with jazz legend Miles Davis) and The Pursuit of Happyness (with Chris Gardner), which was a New York Times bestseller for 40 weeks. He lives in New York City.

Senator Bill Bradley is a former politician and retired basketball player who won two championships as a member of the New York Knicks. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Bradley has his number hanging above the rafters in Madison Square Garden, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. Along with a stellar basketball career, he was a three-term senator for the state of New Jersey.

"I, like hoop fans everywhere, have hoped to get my hands on Earl's life story and now it's finally here as told by the master himself. The Pearl's story is something every basketball fan should read. I know hoop fans everything are smiling."
—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"Earl Monroe was an unconventional type of player who came out of the Philly playgrounds. He was great at creating stuff—the spin move, the double pump—and he was deceptively quick. I enjoyed playing against him because he was unpredictable and could challenge you in so many different ways. He definitely could affect the outcome of a game."
—Oscar Robertson
 

"Earl Monroe was a special basketball player, a true original on and off the court, and a real student of the game. I would have loved to have played with him."
—Patrick Ewing

"Earl the Pearl was simply music on the basketball court. Every time we watched him play on TV, our bodies would shake in accordance with his rhythm. This is a truly wonderful, soulful, funny book. So cool. Just like the Pearl."
—Chuck D, Public Enemy