SOUTH END — It was a packed house at Bar Mezzana on Harrison Avenue in the Ink Block the other night to celebrate the release of Sports Illustrated writer Ian Thomsen’s latest book, “The Soul of Basketball: The Epic Showdown Between LeBron, Kobe, Doc, and Dirk That Saved the NBA.”
The book, from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is now in stores. 
Thomsen, who Bill Brett worked with at the Boston Globe several years ago, caught up with local fans, including Celtics superfan Mike Rotondi, who Bill photographed with Thomsen at the party.
