The Show by Roland Lazenby, Hardcover, 9780071430340 | Buy online at The Nile
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The Show

The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the Words of Those Who Lived It

Author: Roland Lazenby  

The LA Lakers have been one of the NBA's most exciting teams. This title presents the oral history of the LA Lakers. It features such legendary players as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. It follows the Lakers from their birthplace in 1946 Minneapolis to their eventual successes and failures in Los Angeles.

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Summary

The LA Lakers have been one of the NBA's most exciting teams. This title presents the oral history of the LA Lakers. It features such legendary players as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. It follows the Lakers from their birthplace in 1946 Minneapolis to their eventual successes and failures in Los Angeles.

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Description

The first definitive oral history of the ever-popular L.A. Lakers

In The Show, critically acclaimed sportswriter Roland Lazenby brings the story of this charismatic team to life in an unprecedented oral history, featuring such legendary players as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, and Magic Johnson, along with current stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

Through in-depth interviews with players, coaches, and many other key figures, Lazenby follows the Lakers from their birthplace in 1946 Minneapolis to their eventual successes and failures in Los Angeles, using his flair for storytelling and eye for detail to show you exactly why the 14-time NBA champion Lakers are a celebrated favorite for sports fans all over America.

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Critic Reviews

Starred ReviewThe Los Angeles Lakers--along with the Boston Celtics--represent the best in the five-decade-plus history of the National Basketball Association. Lazenby, author of many sports books includingMad Game: The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant(1999), has written an oral history of the franchise from its incarnation in Minneapolis in the early 1950s through its most recent run of championships under coach Phil Jackson and key players Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.The book is must reading for NBA fans both young and old. Most fascinating are the stories from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Lakers, led by Hall-of-Famers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, reached the NBA finals five times in six years and lost each time. The anguish experienced by West--who has since become the league's most accomplished executive and general manager--over those losses is palpable. A driven individual and as fierce a competitor as the league has ever known, West nearly quit in frustration and entertained thoughts that the losses were some sort of divinely dictated personal punishment. He eventually got his championship as a player and many more as the team's general manager.Other fascinating eras include the Magic Johnson years and the Bryant-O'Neal and Jackson championships in which the attendant soap opera of clashing egos was as almost as interesting as the action on the court.The best book on pro basketball since Sam Smith'sThe Jordan Rules(1992). --Wes Lukowsky”

Starred Review The Los Angeles Lakers--along with the Boston Celtics--represent the best in the five-decade-plus history of the National Basketball Association. Lazenby, author of many sports books including Mad Game: The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant (1999), has written an oral history of the franchise from its incarnation in Minneapolis in the early 1950s through its most recent run of championships under coach Phil Jackson and key players Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. The book is must reading for NBA fans both young and old. Most fascinating are the stories from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Lakers, led by Hall-of-Famers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, reached the NBA finals five times in six years and lost each time. The anguish experienced by West--who has since become the league's most accomplished executive and general manager--over those losses is palpable. A driven individual and as fierce a competitor as the league has ever known, West nearly quit in frustration and entertained thoughts that the losses were some sort of divinely dictated personal punishment. He eventually got his championship as a player and many more as the team's general manager.Other fascinating eras include the Magic Johnson years and the Bryant-O'Neal and Jackson championships in which the attendant soap opera of clashing egos was as almost as interesting as the action on the court. The best book on pro basketball since Sam Smith's The Jordan Rules (1992).--Wes Lukowsky Booklist 20051222

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About the Author

Roland Lazenby (Roanoke, VA) is the author of numerous sports books, including Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls and Bull Run!, the Independent Publishers Associations 1997 Book of the Year. His work has appeared in Sport, The Sporting News, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

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Back Cover

The Lakers' storied journey to becoming a basketball dynasty--as told by the players themselves From their birth in 1946 as the Detroit Gems--when they were not quite as bright as their name--to their 5 championships in 12 seasons in Minneapolis to their current-day domination of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers have long been one of the NBA's most exciting teams. Wherever they travel, it's always Hollywood. It's always entertainment. It's always Showtime. In this star-studded tour behind the locker-room door, acclaimed sportswriter Roland Lazenby guides you as he brings the story of this charismatic team to life in an unprecedented oral history. Weaving more than 500 interviews with players, coaches, and other key figures into a luminous narrative fabric, Lazenby crafts a unique mosaic of perspectives on the history and evolution of the Lakers that is unlike anything you'll find in any other book. All of the Lakers' greatest stars are in The Show: Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant, along with dozens of other unforgettables. Using his flair for storytelling and eye for detail, Lazenby blends these voices into a compelling epic, showing you exactly why the Lakers are a beloved favorite of sports fans across the world. Taking you through all six decades of Lakers history, the book reads like a Hollywood blockbuster. There's a team plane crash-landing in a snowstorm, at least two financial near-failures, more than a few bewildering real estate transactions, a high-profile rape case, a low-profile indecent exposure case, an unsolved murder, the firings of several winning coaches, and enough sexual high jinks to qualify as a soap opera--all of it occasioned in and around the team's 28 Finals appearances, starring a spectacular cast of characters both on and off the court. There are even cameo appearances by Hollywood's leading celebrities including super-fan Jack Nicholson, who has his own special way of rooting for the team. Rich with original stories at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, The Show is an entertaining account of life among the Lakers, told as only those who lived it could tell it. Welcome, my friends, to The Show that never ends. In this unique oral history, you'll enjoy the behind-the-scenes stories of the legendary Los Angeles Lakers. From their humble beginnings in Detroit to their celebrated present-day status as Hollywood icons, you'll get the inside scoop straight from the people who lived it firsthand. Filled with eye-opening anecdotes and never-revealed stories, The Show tells you everything you never knew about your favorite team. You'll learn all about how: Shaquille O'Neal gave rookie Kobe Bryant the nickname "Showboat," serenading Bryant with his unique brand of love song Wilt Chamberlain wasn't the smooth operator you thought he was Celebrity fan Jack Nicholson silenced the Boston Garden by dropping his drawers in the 1987 Finals Paula Abdul and the Lakers Girls turned ordinary cheerleaders into exotic dancers The daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss posed nude for Playboy in the team offices Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored the final points of his career to a standing ovation and a Lakers' win Magic Johnson made the startling transformation from basketball star to AIDS activist Coach Phil Jackson beat a tom-tom and burned sage sticks to drive away evil spirits and get his warriors ready for battle As entertaining, surprising, and ultimately satisfying as the Los Angeles Lakers themselves, this one-of-a-kind book is your courtside ticket to the game behind the game.

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More on this Book

The first definitive oral history of the ever popular L.A. Lakers The L.A. Lakers have long been one of the NBA's most exciting teams. In "The Show," critically acclaimed sportswriter Roland Lazenby brings the story of this charismatic team to life in an unprecedented oral history, featuring such legendary players as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, and Magic Johnson, along with current stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Through in-depth interviews with players, coaches, and many other key figures, Lazenby follows the Lakers from their birthplace in 1946 Minneapolis to their eventual successes and failures in Los Angeles, using his flair for storytelling and eye for detail to show you exactly why the 14-time NBA champion Lakers are a celebrated favorite for sports fans all over America.

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Product Details

Publisher
McGraw-Hill Education - Europe | McGraw-Hill Contemporary
Published
16th January 2006
Edition
1st
Pages
480
ISBN
9780071430340

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