Author: Dan Shaughnessy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312063481
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Now in paperback, Ever Green captures in words and vintage photos the special mystique of basketball's greatest dynasty and celebrated its forty-five years of existence. Ever Green recounts the complete story of the Celtics, from the troubled early years through their amazing string of championships to the triumphs--and low moments--of the 1970s and 80s. Dan Shaughnessy records the team's history in the voice of eveyrone from its stars and coaches to the beloved benchwarmers, the Celtic fans, and rival players. Those interview include Bob Cousy, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, M.L. Carr, Gene Conley, Hank Finkel, Kevin Mchale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, and Red Auerbach.
Ever Green The Boston Celtics
Author: Dan Shaughnessy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312063481
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Now in paperback, Ever Green captures in words and vintage photos the special mystique of basketball's greatest dynasty and celebrated its forty-five years of existence. Ever Green recounts the complete story of the Celtics, from the troubled early years through their amazing string of championships to the triumphs--and low moments--of the 1970s and 80s. Dan Shaughnessy records the team's history in the voice of eveyrone from its stars and coaches to the beloved benchwarmers, the Celtic fans, and rival players. Those interview include Bob Cousy, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, M.L. Carr, Gene Conley, Hank Finkel, Kevin Mchale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, and Red Auerbach.
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 9780312063481
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Now in paperback, Ever Green captures in words and vintage photos the special mystique of basketball's greatest dynasty and celebrated its forty-five years of existence. Ever Green recounts the complete story of the Celtics, from the troubled early years through their amazing string of championships to the triumphs--and low moments--of the 1970s and 80s. Dan Shaughnessy records the team's history in the voice of eveyrone from its stars and coaches to the beloved benchwarmers, the Celtic fans, and rival players. Those interview include Bob Cousy, Satch Sanders, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, M.L. Carr, Gene Conley, Hank Finkel, Kevin Mchale, Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge, Larry Bird, and Red Auerbach.
Wish It Lasted Forever
Author: Dan Shaughnessy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982169990
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
From award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird. Today the NBA is a vast global franchise—a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s—when basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars. Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams—flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro. Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, and M.L. Carr. For any fan who longs to return—for just a few hours—to those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner’s circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to “the Celtics from 1982–1986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down” (New York Post).
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982169990
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
From award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird. Today the NBA is a vast global franchise—a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s—when basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars. Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams—flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro. Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, and M.L. Carr. For any fan who longs to return—for just a few hours—to those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner’s circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to “the Celtics from 1982–1986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down” (New York Post).
Boston Celtics Encyclopedia
Author: Peter C. Bjarkman
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
ISBN: 9781582615646
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
ISBN: 9781582615646
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Boston Celtics
Author: Mike Carey
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
ISBN: 9781582619538
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
When the Boston Celtics were running-and-gunning their way to 16 world championships, New England fans displayed their approval of the team's effort and heart by rooting especially hard for the bench players. It didn't matter whether a particular favorite was the sixth man or the twelfth. As long as the chosen player possessed determination, guts, emotion and, above all hustle, the Celtics faithful would reward that player with cascades of applause and chants. Fringe players--don't call them scrubs--became cult heroes. Yes, the Garden crowds were in absolute heaven when subs such as High Henry Finkel, Greg Kite, Eric Fernsten, Terry Duerod, Kevin Oscar Gamble, Wayne Kreklow, and Charles Bradley shed their warm-ups and scampered down to the scorer's table to enter a game. Seldom did these players spend more than a couple of years in green-and-white uniforms before they were either waived or nabbed in an expansion draft. Still, to this day, their names and contributions have not been forgotten. Likewise, fans have not forgotten the dark days when Marvin Bad News Barnes, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Bob McAdoo, Shammond Williams and Acie Earl aimlessly roamed on the parquet floor as the Celtics embarrassed themselves in defeat after defeat. Some players achieved star status in the face of long odds thanks to the results of one game in particular. What long-time Boston fan can ever forget Glenn McDonald's crucial string of clutch jumpers in the third overtime of Boston's 1976 playoff victory over the Phoenix Suns? Boston Celtics: Where Have You Gone? catches up with these long-remembered players and relives their impact (good or bad) on their Celtic teams. No longer will you have towonder, Whatever happened to...?
Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC
ISBN: 9781582619538
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 204
Book Description
When the Boston Celtics were running-and-gunning their way to 16 world championships, New England fans displayed their approval of the team's effort and heart by rooting especially hard for the bench players. It didn't matter whether a particular favorite was the sixth man or the twelfth. As long as the chosen player possessed determination, guts, emotion and, above all hustle, the Celtics faithful would reward that player with cascades of applause and chants. Fringe players--don't call them scrubs--became cult heroes. Yes, the Garden crowds were in absolute heaven when subs such as High Henry Finkel, Greg Kite, Eric Fernsten, Terry Duerod, Kevin Oscar Gamble, Wayne Kreklow, and Charles Bradley shed their warm-ups and scampered down to the scorer's table to enter a game. Seldom did these players spend more than a couple of years in green-and-white uniforms before they were either waived or nabbed in an expansion draft. Still, to this day, their names and contributions have not been forgotten. Likewise, fans have not forgotten the dark days when Marvin Bad News Barnes, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Bob McAdoo, Shammond Williams and Acie Earl aimlessly roamed on the parquet floor as the Celtics embarrassed themselves in defeat after defeat. Some players achieved star status in the face of long odds thanks to the results of one game in particular. What long-time Boston fan can ever forget Glenn McDonald's crucial string of clutch jumpers in the third overtime of Boston's 1976 playoff victory over the Phoenix Suns? Boston Celtics: Where Have You Gone? catches up with these long-remembered players and relives their impact (good or bad) on their Celtic teams. No longer will you have towonder, Whatever happened to...?
The World's Greatest Team
Author: Jeff Greenfield
Publisher: Random House (NY)
ISBN: 9780394495606
Category : Boston Celtics (Basketball team)
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
Publisher: Random House (NY)
ISBN: 9780394495606
Category : Boston Celtics (Basketball team)
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
Sports Illustrated The Boston Celtics at 75
Author: The Editors of Sports Illustrated
Publisher: Triumph Books
ISBN: 1641257695
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
Celebrate the championship glory, Hall of Fame personalities, and passionate fans that make the Boston Celtics one of the most revered teams in basketball Sports Illustrated™ celebrates basketball greatness with The Boston Celtics at 75, an extraordinary collection of classic stories and photographs from the pages of SI. This commemorative book salutes hall of famers like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, Paul Pierce, and coach Red Auerbach. Fans will unearth countless gems from the Celtics' past on each page of this diamond celebration.
Publisher: Triumph Books
ISBN: 1641257695
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
Celebrate the championship glory, Hall of Fame personalities, and passionate fans that make the Boston Celtics one of the most revered teams in basketball Sports Illustrated™ celebrates basketball greatness with The Boston Celtics at 75, an extraordinary collection of classic stories and photographs from the pages of SI. This commemorative book salutes hall of famers like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, Paul Pierce, and coach Red Auerbach. Fans will unearth countless gems from the Celtics' past on each page of this diamond celebration.
The Book of Basketball
Author: Bill Simmons
Publisher: ESPN
ISBN: 0345520106
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The wildly opinionated, thoroughly entertaining, and arguably definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA—from the founder of The Ringer and host of The Bill Simmons Podcast “Enough provocative arguments to fuel barstool arguments far into the future.”—The Wall Street Journal In The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major NBA debate, from the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.
Publisher: ESPN
ISBN: 0345520106
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 754
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The wildly opinionated, thoroughly entertaining, and arguably definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA—from the founder of The Ringer and host of The Bill Simmons Podcast “Enough provocative arguments to fuel barstool arguments far into the future.”—The Wall Street Journal In The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major NBA debate, from the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler.
The Last Pass
Author: Gary M. Pomerantz
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735223637
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
The New York Times bestseller Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, a Boston Celtics team led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, comes an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret About to turn ninety, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment. But he has one last piece of unfinished business. The last pass he hopes to throw is to close the circle with his great partner on those Celtic teams, fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell. These teammates were basketball's Ruth and Gehrig, and Cooz, as everyone calls him, was famously ahead of his time as an NBA player in terms of race and civil rights. But as the decades passed, Cousy blamed himself for not having done enough, for not having understood the depth of prejudice Russell faced as an African-American star in a city with a fraught history regarding race. Cousy wishes he had defended Russell publicly, and that he had told him privately that he had his back. At this late hour, he confided to acclaimed historian Gary Pomerantz over the course of many interviews, he would like to make amends. At the heart of the story The Last Pass tells is the relationship between these two iconic athletes. The book is also in a way Bob Cousy's last testament on his complex and fascinating life. As a sports story alone it has few parallels: An poor kid whose immigrant French parents suffered a dysfunctional marriage, the young Cousy escaped to the New York City playgrounds, where he became an urban legend known as the Houdini of the Hardwood. The legend exploded nationally in 1950, his first year as a Celtic: he would be an all-star all 13 of his NBA seasons. But even as Cousy's on-court imagination and daring brought new attention to the pro game, the Celtics struggled until Coach Red Auerbach landed Russell in 1956. Cooz and Russ fit beautifully together on the court, and the Celtics dynasty was born. To Boston's white sportswriters it was Cousy's team, not Russell's, and as the civil rights movement took flight, and Russell became more publicly involved in it, there were some ugly repercussions in the community, more hurtful to Russell than Cousy feels he understood at the time. The Last Pass situates the Celtics dynasty against the full dramatic canvas of American life in the 50s and 60s. It is an enthralling portrait of the heart of this legendary team that throws open a window onto the wider world at a time of wrenching social change. Ultimately it is a book about the legacy of a life: what matters to us in the end, long after the arena lights have been turned off and we are alone with our memories. On August 22, 2019, Bob Cousy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735223637
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
The New York Times bestseller Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, a Boston Celtics team led by Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, comes an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret About to turn ninety, Bob Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships on an unparalleled run, has much to look back on in contentment. But he has one last piece of unfinished business. The last pass he hopes to throw is to close the circle with his great partner on those Celtic teams, fellow Hall of Famer Bill Russell. These teammates were basketball's Ruth and Gehrig, and Cooz, as everyone calls him, was famously ahead of his time as an NBA player in terms of race and civil rights. But as the decades passed, Cousy blamed himself for not having done enough, for not having understood the depth of prejudice Russell faced as an African-American star in a city with a fraught history regarding race. Cousy wishes he had defended Russell publicly, and that he had told him privately that he had his back. At this late hour, he confided to acclaimed historian Gary Pomerantz over the course of many interviews, he would like to make amends. At the heart of the story The Last Pass tells is the relationship between these two iconic athletes. The book is also in a way Bob Cousy's last testament on his complex and fascinating life. As a sports story alone it has few parallels: An poor kid whose immigrant French parents suffered a dysfunctional marriage, the young Cousy escaped to the New York City playgrounds, where he became an urban legend known as the Houdini of the Hardwood. The legend exploded nationally in 1950, his first year as a Celtic: he would be an all-star all 13 of his NBA seasons. But even as Cousy's on-court imagination and daring brought new attention to the pro game, the Celtics struggled until Coach Red Auerbach landed Russell in 1956. Cooz and Russ fit beautifully together on the court, and the Celtics dynasty was born. To Boston's white sportswriters it was Cousy's team, not Russell's, and as the civil rights movement took flight, and Russell became more publicly involved in it, there were some ugly repercussions in the community, more hurtful to Russell than Cousy feels he understood at the time. The Last Pass situates the Celtics dynasty against the full dramatic canvas of American life in the 50s and 60s. It is an enthralling portrait of the heart of this legendary team that throws open a window onto the wider world at a time of wrenching social change. Ultimately it is a book about the legacy of a life: what matters to us in the end, long after the arena lights have been turned off and we are alone with our memories. On August 22, 2019, Bob Cousy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Green
Author: Sam Graham-Felsen
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0399591168
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
A coming-of-age novel about race, privilege, and the struggle to rise in America, written by a former Obama campaign staffer and propelled by an exuberant, unforgettable narrator. “A riot of language that’s part hip-hop, part nerd boy, and part pure imagination.”—The Boston Globe Boston, 1992. David Greenfeld is one of the few white kids at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School. Everybody clowns him, girls ignore him, and his hippie parents won’t even buy him a pair of Nikes, let alone transfer him to a private school. Unless he tests into the city’s best public high school—which, if practice tests are any indication, isn’t likely—he’ll be friendless for the foreseeable future. Nobody’s more surprised than Dave when Marlon Wellings sticks up for him in the school cafeteria. Mar’s a loner from the public housing project on the corner of Dave’s own gentrifying block, and he confounds Dave’s assumptions about black culture: He’s nerdy and neurotic, a Celtics obsessive whose favorite player is the gawky, white Larry Bird. Before long, Mar’s coming over to Dave’s house every afternoon to watch vintage basketball tapes and plot their hustle to Harvard. But as Dave welcomes his new best friend into his world, he realizes how little he knows about Mar’s. Cracks gradually form in their relationship, and Dave starts to become aware of the breaks he’s been given—and that Mar has not. Infectiously funny about the highs and lows of adolescence, and sharply honest in the face of injustice, Sam Graham-Felsen’s debut is a wildly original take on the American dream. Praise for Green “Prickly and compelling . . . Graham-Felsen lets boys be boys: messy-brained, impulsive, goatish, self-centered, outwardly gutsy but often inwardly terrified.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “A coming-of-age tale of uncommon sweetness and feeling.”—The New Yorker “A fierce and brilliant book, comic, poignant, perfectly observed, and blazing with all the urgent fears and longings of adolescence.”—Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk “A heartfelt and unassumingly ambitious book.”—Slate
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0399591168
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
A coming-of-age novel about race, privilege, and the struggle to rise in America, written by a former Obama campaign staffer and propelled by an exuberant, unforgettable narrator. “A riot of language that’s part hip-hop, part nerd boy, and part pure imagination.”—The Boston Globe Boston, 1992. David Greenfeld is one of the few white kids at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Middle School. Everybody clowns him, girls ignore him, and his hippie parents won’t even buy him a pair of Nikes, let alone transfer him to a private school. Unless he tests into the city’s best public high school—which, if practice tests are any indication, isn’t likely—he’ll be friendless for the foreseeable future. Nobody’s more surprised than Dave when Marlon Wellings sticks up for him in the school cafeteria. Mar’s a loner from the public housing project on the corner of Dave’s own gentrifying block, and he confounds Dave’s assumptions about black culture: He’s nerdy and neurotic, a Celtics obsessive whose favorite player is the gawky, white Larry Bird. Before long, Mar’s coming over to Dave’s house every afternoon to watch vintage basketball tapes and plot their hustle to Harvard. But as Dave welcomes his new best friend into his world, he realizes how little he knows about Mar’s. Cracks gradually form in their relationship, and Dave starts to become aware of the breaks he’s been given—and that Mar has not. Infectiously funny about the highs and lows of adolescence, and sharply honest in the face of injustice, Sam Graham-Felsen’s debut is a wildly original take on the American dream. Praise for Green “Prickly and compelling . . . Graham-Felsen lets boys be boys: messy-brained, impulsive, goatish, self-centered, outwardly gutsy but often inwardly terrified.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) “A coming-of-age tale of uncommon sweetness and feeling.”—The New Yorker “A fierce and brilliant book, comic, poignant, perfectly observed, and blazing with all the urgent fears and longings of adolescence.”—Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk “A heartfelt and unassumingly ambitious book.”—Slate
Tall Men, Short Shorts
Author: Leigh Montville
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0525567313
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
This "part memoir, part sports story" (Wall Street Journal) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Big Bam chronicles the clash of NBA titans over seven riveting games—Celtics versus Lakers, Russell versus Chamberlain—covered by one young reporter. Welcome to the 1969 NBA Finals! They don’t set up any better than this. The greatest basketball player of all time - Bill Russell - and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of ten (ten!) of the previous twelve NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. Bill Russell and John Havlicek versus Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The 1969 Celtics are at the end of their dominance. The 1969 Lakers are unstoppable. Add to the mix one newly minted reporter. Covering the epic series is a wide-eyed young sports writer named Leigh Montville. Years before becoming an award-winning legend himself at The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, twenty-four-year-old Montville is ordered by his editor at the Globe to get on a plane to L.A. (first time!) to write about his luminous heroes, the biggest of big men. What follows is a raucous, colorful, joyous account of one of the greatest seven-game series in NBA history. Set against a backdrop of the late sixties, Montville’s reporting and recollections transport readers to a singular time – with rampant racial tension on the streets and on the court, with the emergence of a still relatively small league on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry, and to an era when newspaper journalism and the written word served as the crucial lifeline between sports and sports fans. And there was basketball – seven breathtaking, see-saw games, highlight-reel moments from an unprecedented cast of future Hall of Famers (including player-coach Russell as the first-ever black head coach in the NBA), coast-to-coast travels and the clack-clack-clack of typewriter keys racing against tight deadlines. Tall Men, Short Shorts is a masterpiece of sports journalism with a charming touch of personal memoir. Leigh Montville has crafted his most entertaining book yet, richly enshrining luminous players and moments in a unique American time.
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0525567313
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
This "part memoir, part sports story" (Wall Street Journal) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Big Bam chronicles the clash of NBA titans over seven riveting games—Celtics versus Lakers, Russell versus Chamberlain—covered by one young reporter. Welcome to the 1969 NBA Finals! They don’t set up any better than this. The greatest basketball player of all time - Bill Russell - and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of ten (ten!) of the previous twelve NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. Bill Russell and John Havlicek versus Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The 1969 Celtics are at the end of their dominance. The 1969 Lakers are unstoppable. Add to the mix one newly minted reporter. Covering the epic series is a wide-eyed young sports writer named Leigh Montville. Years before becoming an award-winning legend himself at The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, twenty-four-year-old Montville is ordered by his editor at the Globe to get on a plane to L.A. (first time!) to write about his luminous heroes, the biggest of big men. What follows is a raucous, colorful, joyous account of one of the greatest seven-game series in NBA history. Set against a backdrop of the late sixties, Montville’s reporting and recollections transport readers to a singular time – with rampant racial tension on the streets and on the court, with the emergence of a still relatively small league on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry, and to an era when newspaper journalism and the written word served as the crucial lifeline between sports and sports fans. And there was basketball – seven breathtaking, see-saw games, highlight-reel moments from an unprecedented cast of future Hall of Famers (including player-coach Russell as the first-ever black head coach in the NBA), coast-to-coast travels and the clack-clack-clack of typewriter keys racing against tight deadlines. Tall Men, Short Shorts is a masterpiece of sports journalism with a charming touch of personal memoir. Leigh Montville has crafted his most entertaining book yet, richly enshrining luminous players and moments in a unique American time.