“In the summer of 1963, my second with 'Sports Illustrated,' Jerry Tax, the basketball editor, got the Celtics' Frank Ramsey, the NBA's first famous sixth man, to do a piece for the magazine revealing some of the devious little tricks of his trade. Things like surreptitiously holding an opponent's shorts - nickel-and-dime stuff.”

American sportswriter and novelist

Frank Deford was an American sportswriter and novelist. He was born in 1938 and died in 2017. He is best known for his long career writing about sports and for his familiar presence on radio. From 1980 until his death, Deford was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. His work moved between journalism and fiction, and his public voice was closely associated with sports writing, commentary, and the culture around athletics.