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| lakers training camp roster: Saving the Lakers: A Be the General Manager Book Bryant T. Jordan, 2014-06 Saving the Lakers: A Be the General Manager Book, is a game-changer in every sense of the word! This book could literally revolutionize the field of sports publishing by creating two new genres, namely Be the General Manager books as well as Choose Your Own Ending Sports Adventure books for adults! In Saving the Lakers, you the reader have the opportunity to try and convince Lakers owner Jim Buss to hire you as the new Lakers General Manager, draft the best available prospect (Julius Randle, Doug McDermott, etc.), use your available cap space to re-sign former Lakers or new free agents, hire a new coach, make trades, and ultimately win the NBA championship at the end of the 2014-15 season. Saving the Lakers is a 244 page adventure that is a hilarious and fun read, as well as a workout for your brain. Stat-geeks, hoops junkies, die-hard Lakers fans and casual basketball fans alike could read and re-read this book and never get bored. It's literally like a video-game on paper! |
| lakers training camp roster: Showtime Jeff Pearlman, 2014-03-04 The New York Times bestselling author of Sweetness delivers the first all-encompassing account of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of professional sports’ most-revered—and dominant—dynasties. The Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s personified the flamboyance and excess of the decade over which they reigned. Beginning with the arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the number-one overall pick of the 1979 draft, the Lakers played basketball with gusto and pizzazz, unleashing their famed “Showtime” run-and-gun style on a league unprepared for their speed and ferocity—and became the most captivating show in sports and, arguably, in all-around American entertainment. The Lakers’ roster overflowed with exciting all-star-caliber players, including center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and they were led by the incomparable Pat Riley, known for his slicked-back hair, his Armani suits, and his arrogant strut. Hollywood’s biggest celebrities lined the court and gorgeous women flocked to the arena. Best of all, the team was a winner. Between 1980 and 1991, the Lakers played in an unmatched nine NBA championship series, capturing five of them. Bestselling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman draws from almost three hundred interviews to take the first full measure of the Lakers’ epic Showtime era. A dazzling account of one of America’s greatest sports sagas, Showtime is packed with indelible characters, vicious rivalries, and jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes stories of the players’ decadent Hollywood lifestyles. From the Showtime era’s remarkable rise to its tragic end—marked by Magic Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he had contracted HIV—Showtime is a gripping narrative of sports, celebrity, and 1980s-style excess. |
| lakers training camp roster: Shake and Bake Bob Kuska, Archie Clark, 2021-02 Shake and Bake is the story of Archie Clark, one of the top playmaking guards in the 1970s pre-merger NBA. While not one of the game's most recognized superstars, Clark was a seminal player in NBA history who staggered defenders with the game's greatest crossover dribble (shake and bake) and is credited by his peers as the originator of today's popular step-back move. Signed as the Lakers third-round draft pick in 1966, Clark worked his way into the starting lineup in his rookie year. But Clark was more than a guaranteed double-double whenever he stepped on the floor. He was a deep-thinking trailblazer for players' rights. Clark often challenged coaches and owners on principle, much to the detriment of his career and NBA legacy, signing on as a named litigant in the seminal Robertson v. NBA antitrust case that smashed the player reserve system and jump-started the modern NBA. So lace up your high-top Chuck Taylors, squeeze into a pair of short shorts, and shake and bake back in time to the days of Wilt, Russell, Oscar, Jerry, Elgin, Hondo--and Archie. |
| lakers training camp roster: Showboat Roland Lazenby, 2016-10-25 The definitive portrait of Kobe Bryant, from the author of Michael Jordan. Lazenby's detailed research and fantastic writing paint a complex, engaging picture of one of the NBA's greats (Kurt Helin, NBC Sports). Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball's absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography. Even within the flashiest franchise in all of sports -- the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played his entire career -- Bryant always took center stage, and his final game captivated the basketball world, indeed the country. Roland Lazenby delves deep to look behind this public image, using classic basketball reporting and dozens of new interviews to reveal the whole picture, from Bryant's childhood through his playing years. Showboatis filled with large personalities and provocative stories, including details of Bryant's complicated personal life and explosive relationships on the court, and is a riveting and essential read for every hoops fan. |
| lakers training camp roster: No Malice Metta World Peace, Ryan Dempsey, 2018-05-15 Metta World Peace knows what it means to be both the hero and the villain. In his 17-season professional basketball career, he's darted back and forth between extremes, taking on the roles of youthful phenom, league-wide disgrace, All-Star, unlikely international ambassador, and fan favorite. Along the way, there have been awards, teammate rifts, an NBA championship trophy, plus a name change or two. It's more than the guy born Ronald William Artest, Jr. might have imagined for himself as a kid growing up in Queens. In No Malice, World Peace speaks candidly about his life on and off the court, from his difficult upbringing, to his time as a star athlete and budding math major at St. Johns; from the infamous Malice at the Palace brawl in Detroit, where he earned one of the lengthiest suspensions the NBA has ever handed down, to his sunnier days as a Los Angeles Laker. World Peace also opens up on such diverse subjects as his forays into business and entertainment, the truth behind his volatile, unbelievable antics which have puzzled fans and team management alike, as well as his outspoken advocacy for mental health awareness. No topic is off the table, making this a must-read for hoops fans in Indianapolis, LA, Chicago, China, and any place in between. |
| lakers training camp roster: Summary of Jeff Pearlman's Showtime Everest Media,, 2022-03-21T22:59:00Z Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Jack Kent Cooke was the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was a snarling bully behind closed doors. However, he was a financial genius when it came to buying struggling radio stations and magazines, and turning them around and selling them for large profits. #2 In 1966, the Los Angeles Lakers played in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, a seven-year-old facility located near the University of Southern California’s downtown campus. The only other professional organization to regularly use the building was the Los Angeles Blades, a minor league hockey team. In 1967, the Kings made their NHL debut, sharing the Forum with the Lakers. #3 By the mid- to late 1970s, Cooke was, arguably, the most powerful man in professional sports. He also, secretly, wanted out. In 1977, the City News Service published a piece that revealed Cooke may have to sell some of his interests to meet a community property challenge by his recently divorced wife. #4 The owner of the Los Angeles Strings, Jerry Buss, was asked to move his team to the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena by Claire Rothman. He agreed, and the two began speaking semiregularly. They were an odd couple, with Buss wearing denim jeans and a rumpled western shirt unbuttoned from the chest up. |
| lakers training camp roster: Can I Keep My Jersey? Paul Shirley, 2008-03-25 He’s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn’t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN’s “The Sports Guy,” has said of Paul Shirley, “We could finally have an answer to the question ‘What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player?” There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age. With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink. From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf. |
| lakers training camp roster: The Los Angeles Lakers Encyclopedia Richard J. Shmelter, 2016-03-18 Against the backdrop of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, California, the Los Angeles Lakers have become not only one of professional basketball's most treasured gems, but an internationally-renowned sports icon. With the wizardry of players who require only one name--Elgin, West, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Shaq, Kobe--the Lakers grew from a promising Midwestern team starting afresh in the City of Angels and becoming one of the most successful corporate giants in the history of athletic competition. This definitive encyclopedia of the Lakers provides all vital data pertaining to each season of the team's first 50 years in Los Angeles, including biographies of Hall of Famers, other great performers, and coaches; complete rosters; season-by-season schedules and statistics; draft picks; and records and individual accomplishments. |
| lakers training camp roster: 100 Things Lakers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Steve Springer, James Worthy, 2021-06-08 Now in its third edition, an essential guide for all Lakers fans, including the 2020 NBA championship! Most Los Angeles Lakers fans have taken in a game or two at the Staples Center, have seen highlights of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or remember the epic battles with the Celtics in the 1980s. But only real fans know how the Lakers acquired Hot Rod Hundley, which hobby fascinated both Chick Hearn and Elgin Baylor, or the best place to grab a bite in LA before a game. Whether you were there for the Showtime era or started watching during Kobe Bryant's prime, this is the ultimate guide for Lakers faithful. Every essential piece of Lakers knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, is ranked from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for those on their way to fan superstardom.Readers will experience a vivid tour of Lakers history, featuring LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the team's 2020 championship season. |
| lakers training camp roster: The Rivalry John Taylor, 2006-09-26 A BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF THE NBA’S GLORY DAYS, AND THE RIVALRY THAT DOMINATED THE ERA In the mid-1950s, the NBA was a mere barnstorming circuit, with outposts in such cities as Rochester, New York, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most of the best players were white; the set shot and layup were the sport’s chief offensive weapons. But by the 1970s, the league ruled America’s biggest media markets; contests attracted capacity crowds and national prime-time television audiences. The game was played “above the rim”–and the most marketable of its high-flying stars were black. The credit for this remarkable transformation largely goes to two giants: Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. In The Rivalry, award-winning journalist John Taylor projects the stories of Russell, Chamberlain, and other stars from the NBA’s golden age onto a backdrop of racial tensions and cultural change. Taylor’s electrifying account of two complex men–as well as of a game and a country at a crossroads–is an epic narrative of sports in America during the 1960s. It’s hard to imagine two characters better suited to leading roles in the NBA saga: Chamberlain was cast as the athletically gifted yet mercurial titan, while Russell played the role of the stalwart centerpiece of the Boston Celtics dynasty. Taylor delves beneath these stereotypes, detailing how the two opposed and complemented each other and how they revolutionized the way the game was played and perceived by fans. Competing with and against such heroes as Jerry West, Tom Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, and Elgin Baylor, and playing for the two greatest coaches of the era, Alex Hannum and the fiery Red Auerbach, Chamberlain and Russell propelled the NBA into the spotlight. But their off-court visibility and success–to say nothing of their candor–also inflamed passions along America’s racial and generational fault lines. In many ways, Russell and Chamberlain helped make the NBA and, to some extent, America what they are today. Filled with dramatic conflicts and some of the great moments in sports history, and building to a thrilling climax–the 1969 final series, the last showdown between Russell and Chamberlain–The Rivalry has at its core a philosophical question: Can determination and a team ethos, embodied by the ultimate team player, Bill Russell, trump sheer talent, embodied by Wilt Chamberlain? Gripping, insightful, and utterly compelling, the story of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain is the stuff of sporting legend. Written with a reporter’s unerring command of events and a storyteller’s flair, The Rivalry will take its place as one of the classic works of sports history. |
| lakers training camp roster: Kobe Bryant The Los Angeles Daily News, 2016-03-24 After 20 unforgettable years in the NBA, Kobe Bryant is calling it a career. All he’s done in those two decades is establish himself as one of the best to ever play the game, arguably the greatest Laker ever and the most popular athlete in the history of Los Angeles sports. The Black Mamba’s path to iconic status started quietly as the 13th pick of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets but with a draft day trade to the legendary Lakers, the rest is resounding history. Kobe’s credentials are impeccable with five NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVPs, one NBA regular season MVP, 18 All-Star game appearances and countless other accolades to his name. Kobe Bryant: Laker for Life is the ultimate tribute to the Lakers superstar as he concludes his legendary career, covering 20 years of hardwood genius. Including nearly 100 full-color photographs, fans are provided a glimpse into the early days of Kobe’s career, bursting onto the NBA scene winning the Slam Dunk Contest to his individual brilliance and NBA titles with the Lakers to his celebratory swan song through the league during his final season. A must-have keepsake for Lakers fans and Kobe aficionados alike, Kobe Bryant is the perfect commemoration of a Los Angeles icon and Laker for Life. |
| lakers training camp roster: Focus On: 100 Most Popular National Basketball Association All-Stars Wikipedia contributors, |
| lakers training camp roster: Mind Games Roland Lazenby, 2013-03-05 MIND GAMES follows the journey of Phil Jackson to the top of basketball’s coaching hierarchy, a rise that took him from obscurity in the Continental Basketball Association to nine championship rings in the NBA. Along the way he turned multimillionaire players on to meditation, transformed the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls from a one-man show to a five-man team of domination, and after battling with Bulls management, ended one dynasty to start another on the West Coast. Sportswriter Roland Lazenby, author of the bestselling BLOOD ON THE HORNS, reveals the fascinating story of Jackson's life, from his years with the New York Knicks under the legendary Red Holzman to his remarkable nine championships coaching first the Chicago Bulls and then the Los Angeles Lakers. In MIND GAMES Lazenby compellingly portrays a man with a unique determination to control the competitive environment he inhabits. A clear picture of the Jackson mystique emerges: philosopher, teacher, manipulator, counselor, psychologist, shaman, champion, master of mind games. Originally published in 2007, now available in eBook format for the first time. |
| lakers training camp roster: Focus On: 100 Most Popular 21St-century American Musicians Wikipedia contributors, |
| lakers training camp roster: Focus On: 100 Most Popular United States Men's National Basketball Team Players Wikipedia contributors, |
| lakers training camp roster: The Last Banner Peter May, 2007-02 Of the 16 NBA championships won by the Boston Celtics, the most memorable is that of the 1985-1986 season--the Celtics' last championship to date. Powered by the Hall of Fame skills of the legendary Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, and Kevin McHale, the team was virtually unstoppable. The Last Banner offers a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at this remarkable team. |
| lakers training camp roster: Earl the Pearl Earl Monroe, Quincy Troupe, 2013-04-23 Earl The Pearl Monroe is a basketball legend whose impact on the game transcends statistics, a player known as much for his unorthodox, playground style of play as his championship pedigree. Observers said that watching him play was like listening to jazz, his moves resembling freefloating improvisations. I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball, Monroe once admitted, and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either. Traded to the New York Knicks before the 1971–72 season, Monroe became a key member of the beloved, star-studded 1972–73 Knicks team that captured the NBA title. And now, on the 40th anniversary of that championship season—the franchise's last—Monroe is finally ready to tell his remarkable story. Written with bestselling author Quincy Troupe (Miles, The Pursuit of Happyness) Earl the Pearl will retrace Monroe's life from his upbringing in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood through his record-setting days at Winston-Salem State, to his NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1967, his tremendous years with the Baltimore Bullets and ultimately his redemptive, championship glory with the New York Knicks. The book will culminate with a revealing epilogue in which Monroe reflects on the events of the past 40 years, offers his insights into the NBA today, and his thoughts on the future of the game he loves. |
| lakers training camp roster: New York Knicks Alan Hahn, 2012-11-03 Playing in the “Basketball Mecca� of Madison Square Garden, the New York Knickerbockers are a team steeped in history. With origins dating back to 1946 in the Basketball Association of America, the Knicks were a charter member of the NBA and have boasted a long list of all-time great players, from Harry “The Horse� Gallatin to Walt “Clyde� Frazier and Bill Bradley, Patrick Ewing and John Starks, to current stars Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, as well as such legendary coaches as Red Holtzman and Pat Riley. The legend of the New York Knicks has been enhanced by several heated rivalries over the course of the team’s history: from Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics in the late 1960s, to 1990s battles with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers, and Alonzo Mourning’s Miami Heat. Today, as the Knicks emerge as a team on the rise, these Eastern Conference rivalries are fierce once again. New York Knicks: The Complete Illustrated History presents the full history of this storied franchise, with all the on-court feats and off-court exploits of the orange and blue. Profiles of the top players and coaches from the team’s history, along with a rich collection of photography and memorabilia, create the ultimate, authoritative celebration of a beloved basketball team. |
| lakers training camp roster: Los Angeles Lakers Salvatore Malfitano, 2024-01-25 L'oro del successo e il viola della magia: questi i colori che si intrecciano nella gloriosa storia dei Lakers. Nascono a Minneapolis nel 1947, dalle ceneri dei Detroit Gems, per trasferirsi nella ben più glamour Los Angeles solo tredici anni dopo. È l'inizio di una dinastia vincente, che ha visto passare dalla California tante delle più grandi stelle della pallacanestro Nba: da George Mikan a Jerry West, dallo “Showtime” di Magic Johnson e Kareem Abdul-Jabbar a Shaquille O'Neal, dal compianto Kobe Bryant al leggendario LeBron James, l’uomo dei record. Molti di questi, poi, transitati sotto la proprietà della storica famiglia Buss, ormai diventata uno dei simboli della franchigia. I diciassette anelli conquistati sono un record per l'Nba, condiviso con i rivali di sempre, i Boston Celtics: due filosofie di gioco e di vita a confronto, West Coast contro East Coast. Salvatore Malfitano racconta con dovizia di particolari oltre settant’anni di storia “lacustre”, ma sono tante le pagine ancora tutte da scrivere. Perché a Los Angeles, si sa, il basket è di casa. |
| lakers training camp roster: The New York Times Index , 2005 |
| lakers training camp roster: Bubbleball Ben Golliver, 2021-05-04 A captivating account of the NBA’s strangest season ever, from shutdown to championship, from a prominent national basketball writer living inside the bubble When NBA player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2020, the league shut down immediately, bringing a shocking, sudden pause to the season. As the pandemic raged, it looked as if it might be the first year in league history with no champion. But four months later, after meticulous planning, twenty-two teams resumed play in a bubble at Disney World-a restricted, single-site locale cut off from the outside world. Due to health concerns, the league invited only a handful of reporters, who were required to sacrifice medical privacy, live in a hotel room for more than three months, and submit to daily coronavirus testing in hopes of keeping the bubble from bursting. In exchange for the constant monitoring and restricted movement, they were allowed into a basketball fan's dream, with a courtside seat at dozens of games in nearly empty arenas. Ben Golliver, the national NBA writer for the The Washington Post, was one of those allowed access. Bubbleball is his account of the season and life inside, telling the story of how basketball bounced back from its shutdown, how players staged headline-grabbing social justice protests, and how Lakers star LeBron James chased his fourth ring in unconventional and unforgettable circumstances. Based on months of reporting in the exclusive, confined environment, this is an entertaining record of an extraordinary season. |
| lakers training camp roster: Bingo! Ralph Lawler, Chris Epting, 2022-11-08 Bingo!: 40 Years in the NBA is the memoir of legendary Los Angeles Clippers and sports broadcaster Ralph Lawler. The book covers Lawler’s extraordinary life and career, from his childhood in Peoria, Illinois; through his time at Bradley University; to the beginning of his sports announcing career at the Riverside International Raceway; his years spent in Philadelphia with the Flyers, Phillies, and 76ers; his years in San Diego with the Sails and the Chargers; and culminating in his 40-year career with the Clippers. Along the way, basketball and the NBA is the focus of the book, with Lawler’s observations and stories about players, coaches, and teams from the 1940s through his retirement at the close of the 2019 season forming the core of the book. Included among the myriad stories and reflections will be his relationships with NBA legend Bill Walton, infamous Clippers owner Donald Sterling, Clippers GM and NBA great Elgin Baylor, and a variety of famous players and coaches from throughout the NBA. As Lawler used to famously say from behind the microphone, Fasten your seatbelts! Bingo! is a fun-filled journey through professional basketball, with plenty of Oh me, Oh my! moments, and the definitive answer to the burning question all NBA fans want to know: Is there any truth to Lawler's Law? |
| lakers training camp roster: Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson Roland Lazenby, 2023-10-24 The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, from the highly respected, career sportswriter and author of Michael Jordan: The Life. Magic Johnson is one of the most beloved, and at times controversial, athletes in history. His iconic smile lifted the dowdy sport of American professional basketball from a second-tier sport with low ratings into the global spotlight—a transformation driven by Magic’s ability to eviscerate opponents with a playing style that featured his grand sense of fun. He was a master entertainer who directed the Los Angeles “Showtime” Lakers to the heights of both glory and epic excess, all of it driven by his mind-blowing no-look passes and personal charm. Then, in 1991, at the height of his charismatic power, Johnson shocked the world with a startling cautionary tale about sexually transmitted disease that pushed public awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Then out came his confession of unprotected sex with hundreds of women each year, followed by his retirement, an attempted return, and a proper farewell on the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Longtime biographer Roland Lazenby spent years tracking the unlikely ascension of Johnson—an immensely popular public figure who was instantly scandalized but who then turned to his legendary will to rise again as a successful entrepreneur with another level of hard-won success. In Lazenby’s portrayal, Johnson’s tale becomes bigger than that of one man. It is a generational saga spanning parts of three centuries that reveals a great deal, not just about his unique basketball journey but about America itself. Through hundreds of interviews with Johnson’s coaches, representatives past and present, teammates, opponents, friends, and loved ones, as well as key conversations with Johnson himself over the years, Lazenby has produced the first truly definitive study, both dark and light, of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr.—the revolutionary player, the icon, the man. |
| lakers training camp roster: Inside Sports , 1980-08 |
| lakers training camp roster: Summary of Jeff Pearlman's Three-Ring Circus Everest Media,, 2022-04-17T22:59:00Z Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 After the disappointing conclusion to the 1995–96 NBA season, Jerry West knew things needed to change. The executive vice president of the Los Angeles Lakers liked his coach, the steady if unspectacular Del Harris, and believed the front office personnel were skilled, wise basketball men capable of rebuilding a dynastic brand. But he saw problems with the roster. #2 In 1996, the Lakers had the 24th pick in the draft. They didn’t bother to work out Iverson, Marbury, and Allen, who were long gone by the time they picked. #3 In the 1980s, with the rise of Nike and various top-level sports academies and camps, highly skilled American athletes were discovered at infantile ages and developed. It was no longer sufficient to let kids be kids. #4 When Joe Bryant went to play in Italy, he was rediscovering his love for the sport. He was free, flamboyant, and jovial. Italian basketball fans came to use a singular word to describe his play: bella. |
| lakers training camp roster: The (Inter) National Basketball Association Joel Gunderson, 2020-11-03 For most of its existence, the National Basketball Association was a league filled with (almost) all American-born players. Players from overseas were looked at as less-skilled and not worth the risk. Americans playing overseas were looked at as those who couldn’t cut it in the NBA, now playing in, essentially, the minor leagues of basketball. But that’s no longer the case. Today, a full one-third of those in the league were born overseas. Out are the days of foreign-born players from unknown countries sitting at the end of the bench. Now, they’re the face of the franchise. A lottery draft pick. They are carrying the game into the new millennium. So the question remains: what brought about this change? How did the skillsets of players born overseas become comparable to those in the states? In The (Inter) National Basketball Association, author Joel Gunderson explores how the international game has become so integral to the growth of the NBA. It’s not, as former commissioner David Stern described at the 1985 NBA Draft, “America’s Game.” No longer does Team USA expect to steamroll through the Olympics. With stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Cameroon), Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia), and many more, the game of basketball has become a universal language. With almost forty different countries represented in the National Basketball Association today, the evolution of the sport has transcended across international waters. Teams no longer shy away from players born abroad, but instead welcome them with open arms. And for those who come over, not knowing the language, unfamiliar with the American lifestyle, they are now arriving with fluency in the most important language: basketball. |
| lakers training camp roster: The Last Season Phil Jackson, Michael Arkush, 2005-10-04 An inside look at the season that proved to be the final ride of a truly great dynasty—Kobe Bryant, Shaq, and the LA Lakers For the countless basketball fans who were spellbound by the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2003–2004 high-wire act, this book is a rare and phenomenal treat. In The Last Season, Lakers coach Phil Jackson draws on his trademark honesty and insight to tell the whole story of the season that proved to be the final ride of a truly great dynasty. From the signing of future Hall-of-Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton to the Kobe Bryant rape case/media circus, this is a riveting tale of clashing egos, public feuds, contract disputes, and team meltdowns that only a coach, and a writer, of Jackson’s candor, experience, and ability could tell. Full of tremendous human drama and offering lessons on coaching and on life, this is a book that no sports fan can possibly pass up. |
| lakers training camp roster: Three-ring Circus Jeff Pearlman, 2020 From 1996 through 2004, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal combined-- and collided-- to help bring the Lakers three straight championships and restore the franchise as a powerhouse. From public sniping and sparring, to physical altercations and the repeated threats of trade, it was warfare. The eight years of infighting and hostility were by turns mediated and encouraged by coach Phil Jackson. Pearlman shows how the Shaq-Kobe duo resulted in one of the most enduring, and ever-evolving, teams in NBA history. -- adapted from jacket |
| lakers training camp roster: Tall Men, Short Shorts Leigh Montville, 2022-05-24 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. |
| lakers training camp roster: Rebound Brian Grant, Ric Bucher, 2021-04-06 Basketball gave me a life; Parkinson's taught me how to live it. —Brian Grant After 12 years of playing basketball at the highest professional level, Brian Grant could have been forgiven for thinking that the hardest part of his life was behind him, that he'd be able to kick back and enjoy the fruits of his considerable labors. But soon after?his retirement from the NBA, Grant was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson's disease, ushering in a challenge greater than any he'd faced before, as well as an opportunity to embrace what really matters. With esteemed basketball writer Ric Bucher, Grant shares his story in raw and candid fashion, as he takes readers to Sacramento, Portland, Miami, and beyond; to the airplane 30,000 feet in the air where he first came to understand the source of the tremors in his hand; and to the summit of Mount St. Helens alongside five others with PD, where he once again put himself to the test and defied expectations. In Rebound, Grant shares his remarkable life before, during, and after those NBA years with no shortage of compassion and wit. |
| lakers training camp roster: Narrating the NBA Lukasz Muniowski, 2021-04-20 This book analyzes career narratives of selected prominent NBA players after the Michael Jordan era, understood as the time after his second retirement in January 1999. It was a pivotal time for the league, as Jordan became synonymous with NBA basketball and the face of its global expansion. The players discussed in the book have been selected because of the significance of their career narratives, as all of them correspond with certain archetypes, prevalent in the world of not only professional basketball, but professional sports in general. The private and public personas of eight players as well as their depiction by the media are analyzed not only regarding their success on the basketball court, but also in light of what they have come to represent for the modern NBA. The players discussed in this book are Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Vin Baker, Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant. Collectively, these eight players embody the distinguishing character profiles and career arcs of sports superstars with dominance, individualism, and athleticism being as much a part of sports star culture as egotism, injuries, boredom, addiction, and bankruptcy. |
| lakers training camp roster: Barkley Timothy Bella, 2022-11-01 *A Good Morning America Buzz Book* *A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2022* The definitive biography of Charles Barkley, exploring his early childhood, his storied NBA career, and his enduring legacy as a provocative voice in American pop culture He’s one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Raised by his mother and grandmother in Leeds, Alabama, he struggled in his early years to fit in until he found a sense of community and purpose in basketball. In the NBA he went toe-to-toe with the biggest legends in the game, from Magic to Michael to Hakeem to Shaq. But in the years since, he has become a bold agitator for social change, unafraid to grapple, often brashly, with even the thorniest of cultural issues facing our nation today. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella’s Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked-about icons in the world of sports. |
| lakers training camp roster: Turnpike Team Łukasz Muniowski, 2022-11-28 A sense of impending doom surrounded the New Jersey Nets. No matter how well things were going for the perennial underdogs, something would go wrong sooner or later--injuries, bad trades, inner conflicts. But if the Nets were never a stable organization, it made following them as entertaining as it was painful. The team's 2012 move to Brooklyn was supposed to make a clean break with their past. That past was in fact rich and eventful, filled with heroes, often unfairly vilified or underappreciated. Shedding new light on the careers of such figures as Julius Erving, Buck Williams, Sam Bowie, Derrick Coleman, Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, this book celebrates a team of strong-willed individuals whose best efforts always ended in heartbreak. |
| lakers training camp roster: I Did It My Way Bud Grant, Jim Bruton, 2013-09-01 Minnesota sports legend Bud Grant tells the story of his remarkable life as a player and coach in this rich firsthand account. From surviving polio in childhood to a shining college sports career and playing both basketball and football professionally, and from coaching a championship-winning Canadian team to leading the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls, Grant shares his personal perspective for the first time in this autobiography with entertaining detail and refreshing openness. The book recounts his experiences with star players and gives the inside story on Grant’s controversial retirement in 1983 and his return to the sideline in 1985. Minnesota sports lovers will also enjoy Grant’s reflection on his own idiosyncrasies, including his famous love of cold-weather football and banning of sideline heaters, and his postretirement life spent devoted to environmental protection and being an outdoorsman. |
| lakers training camp roster: Heart of Gold Triumph Books, 2022-06-21 In 2022, the Golden State Warriors proved critics wrong and resurrected a dynasty, triumphing over the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals to reign supreme once again. Steve Kerr's squad dug deep following years of injury and disappointment to form new bonds and reclaim their glory. The stellar trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green was finally reunited, this time with a new supporting cast including Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, and Jordan Poole. Heart of Gold: The Golden State Warriors' Remarkable Run to the 2022 NBA Title chronicles their incredible accomplishments through in-depth analysis and expert insight from The Athletic. Featuring dynamic full-color photography, this commemorative edition traces the key storylines of the 2021-2022 season, including Curry's quest to break Ray Allen's 3-point record, Thompson's march to recovery, and of course a momentous postseason journey. With in-depth profiles on Curry, Thompson, Green, Wiggins and more, this commemorative book is an essential chronicle for all Warriors faithful. |
| lakers training camp roster: Character Driven Derek Fisher, 2009-09-08 The Three Time NBA Champion and starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers shares his Christian faith and inspirational values for success and happiness. Since his inaugural season with the NBA in 1996, Derek Fisher has had a dramatic impact on the great success of the Lakers. Playing alongside legendary players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Lamar Odom, Fisher has held his position at point guard, participating in some of the most dramatic post-season games and moments in recent memory. In 2007 Derek Fisher and his wife Candace’s lives were upturned by news that their eleven-month-old daughter, Tatum, had been diagnosed with a degenerative and rare form of eye cancer called retinoblastoma. Although his team, the Utah Jazz, was in the midst of a heated playoff series, Fisher immediately put his family first to be with his daughter at the time of her required emergency surgery and chemotherapy. Nominated the best moment in the 2007 ESPY Awards, Derek was able to make a dramatic late entrance and performance in the fourth quarter of game 2 to help the Jazz to an emotional victory. Following the season, Fisher asked the Jazz to release him of his contract so he could devote his energies to fighting his daughter’s retinoblastoma without knowing if he would ever play basketball again. Fisher officially rejoined the Lakers, resuming his role as point guard, and provided a veteran influence alongside Kobe Bryant to a relatively young Lakers squad. In his compelling new book, Fisher shares the Christian values that have guided him on the court and off. With anecdotes from his personal and professional life, Fisher offers lessons learned along the way. Drawing on the power of faith, he shows how anyone can play for a successful team: whether that team is family, community, or just happens to be one in the NBA. |
| lakers training camp roster: Called for Traveling Tyler Smith, 2017-10-24 Called for Traveling is a pro basketball journey that spans four continents, seven countries and twelve teams over eleven hilarious and adventurous years. After playing his college ball at Penn State, Tyler Smith had a path in mind of where he wanted his pro basketball career to lead. Bringing his own toilet paper to away games, courts made of concrete, and fully-geared riot police at every stadium were not part of his original dream. Where were all the big contracts people talked about? Would he even have a job next season—or next week? And would he be playing for free this month because the team didn’t feel like paying him? In this highly unstable and unorthodox overseas lifestyle as a professional basketball player, Smith draws readers in quickly with his humor and ability to share his clever stories that seem outrageous, but are 100 percent true. His attitude and faith are tested relentlessly through bounced paychecks, injuries, and the seemingly endless frustrating reality of people around him speaking a language he could not understand. From Italy to Japan to Uruguay, and even the NBA, the challenges and adventures only accelerate as Tyler’s wife and kids are added to the overseas equation. His unique story is highly engaging whether or not you’re a basketball junkie. Called for Traveling is an honest and entertaining inside look at one man’s journey playing pro basketball around the world. |
| lakers training camp roster: Long Shots Jay Jennings, 1990 CHILDREN'S BOOKS/AGES 9-12 |
| lakers training camp roster: Earl the Twirl Earl Cureton, Jake Uitti, 2023-12-25 Earl The Twirl Cureton was never a star player in the NBA, but then again, few people will ever be a celebrity athlete. Earl's story, instead, is about a life on the fringes of the league during its Golden Era of the '80s and '90s. A teammate of Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Michael Jordan, Charles Oakley, Muggsy Bogues, Hakeem Olajuwon, and others, Earl was a part of seven NBA teams in his twelve-season career. He won two championships during his career, first in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, and then in 1994 with the Houston Rockets. And yet, as a professional basketball journeyman, every day was a struggle. Growing up in Detroit during race riots, Earl worked hard and became a standout player at the University of Detroit. A 6' 9 center in the pros, he battled with Karem Abdul-Jabbar in back-to-back NBA Finals. While many people know the stories of big names like Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, few understand the life of a player on the outskirts of the league. This is Earl's own story, a unique perspective on the trials of a journeyman player: non-guaranteed contracts, tryouts and cuts, playing overseas, coming back from injury, and the looming right of first refusal. |
| lakers training camp roster: Mad Game Roland Lazenby, 1999-11 At just 19 years of age, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant is arguably the youthful sensation of the NBA. Mad Game documents the highs and lows this future legend's first two NBA seasons. Color photo insert. |
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
r/lakers: The home of your 17x NBA World Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
r/LALakers: Community for basketball and Los Angeles Lakers fans for deeper discussions on Lakers
Good sites for streaming Laker games free? : r/lakers - Reddit
Apr 2, 2012 · The home of your 17x NBA World Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers. Members Online Game Thread: Los Angeles Lakers (46-35) at New Orleans Pelicans (49-32) Apr 14 …
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
Draft-related discussions are fine in the weekly discussion thread as well as individual comment trees and posts where the FO mention draft prospects or vise versa, however at the end of the …
Posts from lakers, nba - Reddit
NFL NBA Megan Anderson Atlanta Hawks Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics Arsenal F.C. Philadelphia 76ers Premier League UFC Business, Economics, and Finance GameStop …
Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers - Reddit
Game Thread: Los Angeles Lakers (6-6) at Portland Trail Blazers (3-8) Nov 17 2023 7:00 PM
r/Losangeleslakers - Reddit
A second, smaller subreddit for lakers fans after the original, big, fan-based subreddit r/Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. …
How do you watch the Lakers? : r/lakers - Reddit
A lot of people do NBA league pass with VPN but lots of Lakers games aren’t on League pass so annoying. Pirated streams suck because near end of games there’s so much traffic it always …
Went to last night's Jazz vs Lakers game, here are my ... - Reddit
6 Lakers warmed up pre-game when fans were allowed in. JTA, Austin, Beverly, Brown, Ryan and Wenyen. By comparison, I think I saw 10-11 Jazz players shooting the ball pregame including …
What does [team] in 5 mean? : r/nba - Reddit
So for a 5 game series they would win 3 (4 for a 7 game series). But the teams will play 5 games meaning that the series will be 2-2 going into game 5 with the lakers winning game 5. in a 7 …
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
r/lakers: The home of your 17x NBA World Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
r/LALakers: Community for basketball and Los Angeles Lakers fans for deeper discussions on Lakers
Good sites for streaming Laker games free? : r/lakers - Reddit
Apr 2, 2012 · The home of your 17x NBA World Champions, the Los Angeles Lakers. Members Online Game Thread: Los Angeles Lakers (46-35) at New Orleans Pelicans (49-32) Apr 14 …
Los Angeles Lakers - Reddit
Draft-related discussions are fine in the weekly discussion thread as well as individual comment trees and posts where the FO mention draft prospects or vise versa, however at the end of the …
Posts from lakers, nba - Reddit
NFL NBA Megan Anderson Atlanta Hawks Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics Arsenal F.C. Philadelphia 76ers Premier League UFC Business, Economics, and Finance GameStop …
Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers - Reddit
Game Thread: Los Angeles Lakers (6-6) at Portland Trail Blazers (3-8) Nov 17 2023 7:00 PM
r/Losangeleslakers - Reddit
A second, smaller subreddit for lakers fans after the original, big, fan-based subreddit r/Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. …
How do you watch the Lakers? : r/lakers - Reddit
A lot of people do NBA league pass with VPN but lots of Lakers games aren’t on League pass so annoying. Pirated streams suck because near end of games there’s so much traffic it always …
Went to last night's Jazz vs Lakers game, here are my ... - Reddit
6 Lakers warmed up pre-game when fans were allowed in. JTA, Austin, Beverly, Brown, Ryan and Wenyen. By comparison, I think I saw 10-11 Jazz players shooting the ball pregame including …
What does [team] in 5 mean? : r/nba - Reddit
So for a 5 game series they would win 3 (4 for a 7 game series). But the teams will play 5 games meaning that the series will be 2-2 going into game 5 with the lakers winning game 5. in a 7 …
