All across the world, when kids crumple up a piece of paper and launch it into a garbage bin, they yell \u201cKobe!\u201d<\/p>\n
Or maybe even \u201cCurry!\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter who they\u2019re obsessed with, readers will have the chance to learn about the stories behind Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry and eight other basketball icons in Chris Navalta\u2019s upcoming book: \u201cBasketball Stars: Stories and Skills from the NBA\u2019s and WNBA\u2019s Best Players.\u201d<\/p>\n
The children\u2019s book, which is geared toward ages 8-12, is set to release digitally on July 8 and hit the shelves on July 22. The eight other basketball icons are legends LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Lisa Leslie; superstars Caitlin Clark, A\u2019Ja Wilson and Giannis Antetokounmpo; and role players Muggsy Bogues and Jeremy Lin.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could be a superstar player or you could be the 12th man,\u201d Navalta said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a story on how they got to the NBA (or WNBA), and I can almost guarantee that it wasn\u2019t an easy one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navalta is a 1995 Hogan High School graduate and worked as a correspondent for the Vallejo Times-Herald from 1995-2000. He then worked in public relations for the Sacramento Kings before working with NBA players like Adonal Foyle, Aaron Gordon and Bogues.<\/p>\n
Navalta said his love for basketball is why he decided to write a children\u2019s book about the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they\u2019ll find out who Muggsy Bogues is for the first time,\u201d Navalta said, with a laugh. \u201cBut yeah, hopefully it helps enlighten them and helps them take an interest in playing basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/VAL-L-SPTBASKETBALLSTARS2-rotated.jpg\")
Chris Navalta, left, poses for a photo with Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II. Payton II was instrumental in helping Navalta get started with his upcoming children’s book: \u201cBasketball Stars: Stories and Skills from the NBA’s and WNBA’s Best Players.” (Photo courtesy of Chris Navalta)<\/p>\n
Lin or Bogues\u2019 resume might not compare with the likes of Jordan or James, but Navalta said it\u2019s important to showcase the adversity that players of all caliber faced. Lin constantly overcame stereotypes, while Bogues carved out a 14-year NBA career while standing at 5-foot-3.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery story has a different path, and I think it\u2019s important to highlight those, whether you are a G.O.A.T or you are a role player,\u201d Navalta said. \u201cIf all you\u2019re trying to do is make it to the league, then it\u2019s important to know all these different types of stories to have a better appreciation of where they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
While all 10 stories are impactful, one that particularly stood out to Navalta was James\u2019.<\/p>\n
James was raised by a single mother in Akron, Ohio and didn\u2019t have a stable home. Despite moving frequently during his childhood, he stuck to athletics and is now regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re struggling on the streets, you don\u2019t have a place to eat and you don\u2019t have a home-cooked meal every night, you could have easily done something different with your life, but LeBron didn\u2019t do that,\u201d Navalta said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he doesn\u2019t talk about it that much,\u201d Navalta continued. \u201cAnd I think more of that needs to be shared with kids because I think those are things that a lot of them can relate to.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the stars\u2019 inspiring stories, readers will learn about each player\u2019s signature skills with step-by-step illustrations on how to replicate them. Among the skills are Clark\u2019s step-back jump shot and Jordan\u2019s fadeaway.<\/p>\n
Navalta will be donating 100 copies of the book to the Gary Payton II foundation, which provides resources to children with dyslexia. Payton II opened up to Navalta about his story of growing up with dyslexia for the book\u2019s first writing test.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like it was just like a really great way to pay it forward,\u201d Navalta said. \u201cIt was a great partnership and I\u2019m humbled by his friendship. I was especially grateful that Penguin (Random House) saw that writing test and said \u2018yes, that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re looking for. Now let\u2019s think about 10 other athletes to write about.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bay Area Native said he\u2019s excited to see his first book hit the shelves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still feels surreal to me,\u201d Navalta said. \u201cIt fulfilled a lifelong dream for me to be a published author.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All across the world, when kids crumple up a piece of paper and launch it into a garbage…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,276,171,16915,2295,15184,62,67,132,68,16914],"class_list":{"0":"post-17434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-local-sports","12":"tag-newsletter","13":"tag-solano-county","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-vallejo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114752025056883246","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}