The Sidekick

At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus Hayes. What neither of them knows when they line up at the end of practice to shoot free throws is that Marcus will soon be living with the Blums, following his parents' messy break-up, and that he will go on to become an NBA star, the next Michael Jordan.

As sportswriter Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' career, he remains Marcus' only link to his pre-fame life. And, as Marcus mounts his comeback after a couple of years out of the game, both men must face the tensions and disappointments of getting older.

The Sidekick is the story of a friendship, of two lives bound together but fundamentally different, and of what it's like to live your life in the shadow of greatness.

Benjamin Markovits is the author of ten previous novels. He was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist in 2013 and in 2015 won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for You Don't Have To Live Like This. He lives in London and teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.

An unforgettable novel about basketball and race, friendship and envy, and the powerful divide that separates greatness from ordinary life. At his high school basketball try-outs, nerdy sports-obsessed Brian Blum meets new kid Marcus Hayes. What neither of them knows when they line up at the end of practice to shoot free throws is that Marcus will soon be living with the Blums, following his parents' messy break-up, and that he will go on to become an NBA star, the next Michael Jordan. As sportswriter Brian spends the following twenty years tracking his friends' career, he remains Marcus' only link to his pre-fame life. And, as Marcus mounts his comeback after a couple of years out of the game, both men must face the tensions and disappointments of getting older. The Sidekick is the story of a friendship, of two lives bound together but fundamentally different, and of what it's like to live your life in the shadow of greatness.

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