My major complaint about the new book “Dolph Schayes and the Rise of Professional Basketball” by Dolph Grundman may be a selfish one. One of the all-time great basketball players in America, Schayes spent quite a bit of time in the Adirondacks. That connection, unfortunately, is barely mentioned.

Otherwise, though, this book was a very enjoyable read.

On the one hand, it’s an account of a successful immigrant story. Schayes’ parents were Jewish refugees from Romania. They settled in the Bronx, where they raised a family of four children. Carl Schayes worked first as a deliverer for a linen supply company, then later became a taxicab driver. His wife Tina stayed home to manage the family.

Education took priority for the kids; sports could be enjoyed but never took precedence over studying. When Dolph graduated from high school and began receiving attention from colleges, he chose New York University. Ironically, that school no longer has a basketball team, having dropped the sport in 1971. Back when Schayes was there, however, NYU was a leading competitor.

Still, when Schayes enrolled, he went on an academic scholarship, not one for athletics. Majoring in aeronautical engineeering, he managed to craft a B average in a grueling course of study despite all the time he spent on the court.

Schayes was molded by such discipline. He learned quickly that one must continually improve in order to stay at the top. Teammate after teammate remembers him for his work ethic, his dedication to teamwork, and the support he offered other players. They also remember facing his frequent shooting challenges. During one informal free throw contest, Schayes sank 113 consecutive shots.

On the other hand, the book is a reminder that today’s flashy NBA didn’t arise de novo as an overnight success. The modern product was built on the work of dedicated athletes whose financial stability could never be taken for granted. For that matter, the teams themselves battled to remain solvent.

Early in Schayes’ era, the league had eight teams, a mere fraction of today’s thirty. Three were in Syracuse, Rochester and Fort Wayne; not places you’d expect to have major league sports franchises. None were able to survive financially into the era of wealth that pro ball enjoys today.

It’s almost quaint to learn how poorly paid the pro players were back when Schayes broke in with the Syracuse Nationals around 1950. In 1959, the average salary for an NBA player was $10,197. And remember, these were the eighty best basketball players in the world. Today’s mean earnings are well over a million dollars, and for the top stars, the sky is literally the limit.

Family remained the first priority for Schayes. He married Naomi Gross from Rouses Point, New York. They had four children, one of whom, Danny, went on to his own solid pro basketball career. Although the Nationals left Syracuse for greener pastures, the central New York city remained Schayes’ lifelong home.

Over the years, he offered summer basketball camps at a variety of Adirondack locations, including Lake George and Lake Champlain. I’ve heard reminiscences about him from a number of area residents.

In 1996, the NBA celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. As part of the commemoration, a list of the fifty best pro players of all time was compiled. Schayes was a proud recipient of that honor, which followed by more than 20 years his election to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Grundman depends on an inordinate amount of data in his text. Non-basketball fans will likely skim over a lot of game statistics, but they’ll still gain insight into the development of what has become a high-profile endeavor in today’s society. He addresses a gambling scandal that almost derailed basketball in the early 1950s, and covers how the league gradually gave access to African-American players during the early years of civil rights movement.

Vignettes on selected players, including Earl Lloyd, the first Africa-American to play in the NBA (he died only a month ago), and Wilt Chamberlain, give a sense of the diverse life experiences that brought these men to professional sports.

Of course, younger readers will have no idea what the author refers to when he mentions the two-hand set shot that was Schayes’ chief weapon. They’ll have to go ask a grandparent!