Mirin Fader is a senior staff writer for The Ringer. She wrote for Bleacher Report from 2017 to 2020. Her work has been honored by the Pro Writers Basketball Association, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the U.S. Writers Basketball Association, the Football Writers Association of America, and the Los Angeles Press Club. She was named a Top Women in Media in the "Up and Comer" category in 2019, and her work has been featured in the "Best American Sports Writing" series. Fader has profiled some of the NBA's biggest stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, Brandon Ingram, and LaMelo Ball, but she focuses more on the person rather than the player. Her approach is that she writes about people who happen to play sports, telling the backstories that shape some of our most complex, most dominant, heroes.
"Fader is a gifted writer who shares vivid details about
Antetokounmpo...the book is dotted with the Greek star's humility
and good humor that has made him one of the NBA's most endearing
stars."--The Los Angeles Times
"Giannis...captures an endearing portrait of Antetokounmpo by using
his family as its primary through-line as he made his way to the
N.B.A. and the United States. The framing makes for a more
compelling journey than what would normally be expected of a parade
of tough coaches, on-court rivals and personal uncertainty."--The
New York Times Book Review
"[A] masterpiece...the epitome of great sportswriting....Fader's
book is reminiscent of a David Halberstam masterpiece, as she uses
her hundreds of interviews to paint as complete a picture of
Antetokounmpo's still young life as there is."--The
Chattanoogan
"[Fader's] biggest skill is her accumulation of details through
deep reporting -- that's when she's in her bag, as basketball fans
like to say. Some of these details might seem trivial (the smell in
an intern's car after a trip to upstate Wisconsin to fetch a
goldendoodle puppy for Giannis's girlfriend), but they transport
the reader to a place and time. The vividness of the stories she
tells, the memories she's able to pull out of people, unmask facets
of Giannis's playful and endearing personality. Though we see him
on television as the king of the court, the book reveals a humble
soul shaped by his upbringing."--Washington Post
"A new name must be entered into the conversation of the great
sports biographers...there's enough detail, stories, and nuance to
make these pages breeze by without wondering 'When are we getting
to the good stuff?' It's all good stuff....The book is simply
terrific, and it's one that readers don't have to be fans of
basketball to enjoy."--Plainview Herald
"Eye-opening....Over the course of 400 pages, Fader manages to pull
at the threads of Antetokounmpo's Horatio Alger-esque tale to
reveal a deeply human story that is as forged by politics as it is
by sport....Fader has done something pretty remarkable....The depth
of Fader's Giannis - using basketball as just one of many lenses to
view its subject - [creates] a work that feels complete, even while
only being the beginning of the story."--Milwaukee Mag
"[Mirin Fader] wrote the book on Giannis... at the moment that he
is transmogrifying into an all-time great."--David Shoemaker, The
Press Box
"Around the time that the Greek Freak was busting out in the NBA,
Mirin Fader was doing the same thing in her line of work. In a
journalism world that had become more and more about opinions,
Fader decided that she would be a storyteller, and she invariably
spins her tales with vividness and clarity, fueled by endless
curiosity."--Jack McCallum, author of Dream Team
"For years, I have admired Mirin Fader's ability to tell a
long-form journalism story. I'm happy (and unsurprised) to say her
skillset has translated over perfectly to books. This book is
engaging, smart, and unputdownable."--Shea Serrano
"Giannis the basketball player is almost too good to be true--and
so is his story, told here with vivid writing and meticulous
reporting. Mirin Fader's portrait of the young superstar is as
graceful, understated, and powerful as Giannis himself. A superb
biography."--Jonathan Eig, author of Ali and Luckiest Man
"Mirin Fader gives readers a gorgeous portrayal of one of the most
unique talents to ever play professional basketball. But Giannis is
more than just the comprehensive story of a once-in-a-generation
athlete. It is the story of how American promise intersects with
iron will, and heartwarming vulnerability."--Jemele Hill, host of
"Jemele Hill Is Unbothered"
"Mirin Fader traces an upbringing marked by deep family ties,
extreme poverty, racism, and xenophobia. Like its subject, this
biography is serious, engaging, and, more than anything,
inspiring."--Ben Golliver, author of Bubbleball
"The stories. My goodness, the stories. Mirin Fader's ability to
find and tell the most illustrative and humanizing tales really
shines through. A player this great deserves his story to be told
like this."--Marcus Thompson, author of Golden and KD
"We think we know everything about modern-day superstars. We're
sure we know everything about modern-day superstars. Then along
comes Mirin Fader with this nuanced, detailed, revealing portrait
of a man who has lived one hundred lives in twenty-six years. A
fantastic read that proves most dreams go unaccomplished without
toil, despair, grit, and an unyielding quest to soar."--Jeff
Pearlman, author of Three Ring Circus and Showtime
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