Download or read book The Story of the Seattle Supersonics written by Nate LeBoutillier and published by The Creative Company. This book was released on 2006-07 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book highlights the history of the Seattle Supersonics.
Download or read book Hoops Heist written by Jon Finkel and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the untold story of the city of Seattle, their beloved Sonics, and how the legacy of their stolen team created a transcendent hoops culture and a pipeline of NBA All-Stars, champions and icons with roots in the Emerald City and the Pacific Northwest.Few cities in the history of modern sports had a visceral connection to a professional sports team like the citizens of Seattle and their Sonics. Beginning with their first season in 1967 through their last in 2008, the city's love affair with their team and players was unlike any other. From Lenny Wilkens, Spencer Haywood, Slick Watts, "Downtown" Freddie Brown and Jack Sikma, through Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp and the electric 90s era, all the way up to Ray Allen's run and Kevin Durant's single season, Hoops Heist explores the incredible impact of the Sonics locally and the importance of the franchise nationally.Featuring exhaustive research and exclusive interviews with Seattle legends, NBA Hall of Famers and the players who came of age in the Sonics' shadow, including Isaiah Thomas, Brandon Roy, Doug Christie, Jason Terry, Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford and more, Hoops Heist captures the transcendence of the Pacific Northwest's basketball scene and its ongoing influence in today's NBA.
Download or read book Boys Among Men written by Jonathan P. D. Abrams and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the trend of teenage basketball stars skipping college and making the transition to playing professionally, resulting in the 2005 age limit instituted by the NBA, mandating that all players must attend college or another developmental program for at least a year.
Download or read book Black Planet written by David Shields and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2006-12-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploration of how, in a predominantly black sport, white fans think and talk about black heroes, black scapegoats, and black bodies.
Download or read book Furious George written by George Karl and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most outspoken and combative coach in NBA history—and one of the most successful, amassing more than 1,175 victories, the sixth best winning record ever—reflects on his life, his career, and his battles on and off the basketball court in this no-holds-barred memoir A man of deep passion and intensity, George Karl earned his bad boy reputation while playing at the University of North Carolina, a rap that continued through the five years he spent with the San Antonio Spurs—and long after he stopped playing. Karl’s beery nights, fistfights, and barking followed him into a thirty-five-year coaching career. In a game defined by big stakes and bigger egos, rabid fans and an unforgiving media, Karl was hired and fired a dozen times. After leading a team beset by injuries and with no superstar to its best season of all time—an achievement that earned Karl the title NBA Coach of the Year—he was dumped by the Denver Nuggets in 2013. Less than a year and a half later, Karl was at the helm of the Sacramento Kings, snarling and bellowing on the sidelines before being cut loose in May 2016. Intense, obstinate, and loud, Karl has never backed down from a confrontation, whether with management, officials, or star players, as NBA legends from Allan Iverson to Gary Payton to Carmelo Anthony to Demarcus Cousins can attest. Telling his story, Karl holds nothing back as he speaks out about the game that has defined his life, including the greed, selfishness, and ass-covering he believes are characteristic of the modern NBA player, and the rampant corruption that leads all the way to the office of the NBA commissioner, David Stern. Karl also reveals how he’s learned to deal with the personalities, the pressure, and the setbacks with a resilience he acquired from his three bouts with cancer. Raw, hard-hitting, and brutally honest, Furious George is as thrilling, unpredictable, and entertaining as the game that has defined Karl’s life.
Download or read book Shawn Kemp written by Stew Thornley and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the professional career and personal accomplishments of Shawn Kemp, NBA star forward for the Seattle Supersonics. His exciting style of play includes a thundering slam dunk. Kemp is also one of a select group of NBA players who went straight into the NBA without ever having played college basketball.
Download or read book Slick Watts s Tales from the Seattle Supersonics written by Slick Watts and published by Sports Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2005 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Slick Watts arrived in Seattle with nothing but his name, shiny head, headband, and his personality. He remains there to this day--one of the most memorable and likable icons of Seattle sports history. Not only did he win over the his first coach--Bill Russell--he won over an entire city that seemed desperate to embrace a role model with whom it could relate. Watts's sense of style, his humble beginnings, his down-to-earth personality and his determined hustle on the court made him more than a sports hero; he became larger than life. Some say if Watts ran for governor of Washington in the '70s, he would have won. He achieved the impossible: he became bigger than Russell. Watts details how his relationship with Russell deteriorated at the same time that relationships blossomed with Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Frazier, Bill Walton, Bob Lanier, Reggie Jackson, Jessie Jackson, Pistol Pete Maravich, and many others. He also reveals how a promising career abruptly ended at the hands of Hall of Fame coach and player Lenny Wilkens. Watts gives an insider's view of how Seattle's first professional sports team evolved through growing pains and into a world champion. In his unique Mississippi dialect, Watts spins tales about teammates, coaches, opponents, and some of the most memorable games in which he participated. He also outlines his journey from an unknown entity to an overnight celebrity--forced to move twice because people were camping outside his house. Much like the way he played the game, Watts combines boundless energy and unexpected entertainment as he spins, jumps, and shoots his way through this collection of tales from Seattle's original hardwood.
Download or read book From the Ground Up written by Howard Schultz and published by Random House. This book was released on 2019-01-28 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the longtime CEO and chairman of Starbucks, a bold, dramatic work about the new responsibilities that leaders, businesses, and citizens share in American society today—as viewed through the intimate lens of one man’s life and work. What do we owe one another? How do we channel our drive, ingenuity, even our pain, into something more meaningful than individual success? And what is our duty in the places where we live, work, and play? These questions are at the heart of the American journey. They are also ones that Howard Schultz has grappled with personally since growing up in the Brooklyn housing projects and while building Starbucks from eleven stores into one of the world’s most iconic brands. In From the Ground Up, Schultz looks for answers in two interwoven narratives. One story shows how his conflicted boyhood—including experiences he has never before revealed—motivated Schultz to become the first in his family to graduate from college, then to build the kind of company his father, a working-class laborer, never had a chance to work for: a business that tries to balance profit and human dignity. A parallel story offers a behind-the-scenes look at Schultz’s unconventional efforts to challenge old notions about the role of business in society. From health insurance and free college tuition for part-time baristas to controversial initiatives about race and refugees, Schultz and his team tackled societal issues with the same creativity and rigor they applied to changing how the world consumes coffee. Throughout the book, Schultz introduces a cross-section of Americans transforming common struggles into shared successes. In these pages, lost youth find first jobs, aspiring college students overcome the yoke of debt, post-9/11 warriors replace lost limbs with indomitable spirit, former coal miners and opioid addicts pave fresh paths, entrepreneurs jump-start dreams, and better angels emerge from all corners of the country. From the Ground Up is part candid memoir, part uplifting blueprint of mutual responsibility, and part proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. At its heart, it’s an optimistic, inspiring account of what happens when we stand up, speak out, and come together for purposes bigger than ourselves. Here is a new vision of what can be when we try our best to lead lives through the lens of humanity. “Howard Schultz’s story is a clear reminder that success is not achieved through individual determination alone, but through partnership and community. Howard’s commitment to both have helped him build one of the world’s most recognized brands. It will be exciting to see what he accomplishes next.”—Bill Gates
Download or read book The Story of the Oklahoma City Thunder written by Nate LeBoutillier and published by Creative Education. This book was released on 2014 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basketball is known for its fast-breaking, buzzer-beating action, and Creative Education is known for its stellar sports publishing. That excitement is capturedand that tradition continuedin The NBA: A History of Hoops, a series celebrating all 30 franchises of the National Basketball Association. With thrilling texts, interesting side panels, and lively player profiles set alongside vibrant photos, every teams origins, stars, greatest triumphs, and most unforgettable moments can be experienced like never before. This title provides an informative narration of the Oklahoma City Thunder professional basketball teams history from its 1967 founding as the Seattle SuperSonics to today, spotlighting memorable players and events.
Download or read book Boom Town written by Sam Anderson and published by Crown. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant, kaleidoscopic narrative of Oklahoma City—a great American story of civics, basketball, and destiny, from award-winning journalist Sam Anderson NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Chicago Tribune • San Francisco Chronicle • The Economist • Deadspin Oklahoma City was born from chaos. It was founded in a bizarre but momentous “Land Run” in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team’s 2012-13 season, when the Thunder’s brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Presti’s all-in gamble on “the Process”—the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the team’s best hope for long-term greatness—kicked off a pivotal year in the city’s history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed. Boom Town announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic for New York magazine and now a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, Boom Town offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics.
Download or read book NBA Jam written by Reyan Ali and published by Boss Fight Books. This book was released on 2019-10-22 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When NBA Jam dunked its way into arcades in 1993, players discovered just how fun basketball can be when freed from rules, refs, and gravity itself. But just a few years after the billion-dollar hit conquered the world, developer Midway, publisher Acclaim, and video arcades themselves fell off the map. How did a simple two-on-two basketball game become MVP of the arcade, and how did this champ lose its title? Journalist Reyan Ali dives deep into the saga, tracking the people and decisions that shaped the series. You'll get to know mischievous Jam architect Mark Turmell, go inside Midway's Chicago office where hungry young talent tapped into cutting-edge tech, and explore the sequels, spin-offs, and tributes that came in the game's wake. Built out of exhaustive research and original interviews with a star-studded cast —including Turmell and his original development team, iconic commentator Tim Kitzrow, businessmen and developers at Midway and Acclaim alike, secret characters George Clinton and DJ Jazzy Jeff, Doom co-creator John Romero, and 1990s NBA demigods Glen Rice and Shaq—Ali's NBA Jam returns you to an era when coin-op was king.
Download or read book Basketball on Paper written by Dean Oliver and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2020-02-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journey "inside the numbers" for an exceptional set of statistical tools and rules that can help explain the winning, or losing, ways of a basketball team. Basketball on Paper doesn't diagram plays or explain how players get in shape, but instead demonstrates how to interpret player and team performance. Dean Oliver highlights general strategies for teams when they're winning or losing and what aspects should be the focus in either situation. He describes and quantifies the jobs of team leaders and role players, then discusses the interactions between players and how to achieve the best fit. Oliver conceptualizes the meaning of teamwork and how to quantify the value of different types of players working together. He examines historically successful NBA teams and identifies what made them so successful: individual talent, a system of putting players together, or good coaching. Oliver then uses these statistical tools and case studies to evaluate the best players in history, such as Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Charles Barkley and how they contributed to their teams' success. He does the same for some of the NBA's "oddball" players-Manute Bol, Muggsy Bogues, and Dennis Rodman and for the WNBA's top players. Basketball on Paper is unique in its incorporation of business and analytical concepts within the context of basketball to measure the value of players in a cooperative setting. Whether you're looking for strategies or new ideas to throw out while watching the ballgame at a sports bar, Dean Oliver'sBasketball on Paper will give you amazing new insights into teamwork, coaching, and success.
Download or read book Celebrating Your Gift of Life written by James Donaldson and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-31 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Donaldson, a former NBA All Star, business owner, and community fixture in Seattle, WA for 40 years, tells his story of a harrowing, heart breaking journey of working his way through darkness and depression back to a promising and productive life. He made it through, you can too!
Download or read book Glory Road written by Don Haskins and published by Hyperion. This book was released on 2006 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A basketball coach describes how, in 1966, as coach of Texas Western College, he used a starting lineup of five black players to beat the top-ranked University of Kentucky team, paving the way for desegregation of all Southern college teams.
Download or read book The Second Season written by Emily Adrian and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-27 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ruth Devon starred for Georgetown Basketball back in college—until she injured her knee, married her coach, and found a new career calling games on the radio. Twenty years later, Ruth and her now-ex-husband, Lester, are two of the most famous faces in sports media. When Lester decides to retire from the announcers’ booth, Ruth goes after his job. If she gets it, she will be the first woman to call NBA games on national television. For now, Ruth is reporting from the sideline of the NBA finals, immersed in the high-pressure spectacle of the post-season. But in a deserted locker room at halftime, Ruth makes a discovery that shatters her vision of her future. Instantly, she is torn between the two things she has always wanted most: the game and motherhood. With warmth and incisive observation, Adrian brings to life the obsessions, emotions, and drama of fandom. The Second Season asks why, how, and whom we watch, while offering a rich and complicated account of motherhood, marriage, and ambition. Adrian’s character study of Ruth Devon illuminates a beautiful basketball mind—and the struggle of a woman who claims authority in a male-dominated world.
Download or read book Spencer Haywood written by Spencer Haywood and published by Amistad. This book was released on 1992 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Spencer Haywood was still a teenager when he drew worldwide attention and created controversy by not only joining the U.S. Olympic basketball team, but leading it to win a gold medal, when many of his fellow Black athletes had boycotted the Olympics and staged acts of protest." "He earned a reputation for his outstanding talent on the basketball court, and for his willingness to go against the grain, off of it. After one great season with the University of Detroit, he signed with the Denver Rockets, of the American Basketball Association. In the process, he broke a rule heretofore followed by basketball and football players - that they remain in school and on a college team for four years before signing with a professional-league team. Haywood took his case against the rule to court - the Supreme Court - won, and became professional basketball's first so-called hardship case. His victory in the courts made him a troublemaker in the eyes of team management, but opened the way for players like Isiah Thomas, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and Michael Jordan to enter the pro draft when they thought they were ready, rather than after four years of college." "Haywood reached for the stars on the court and was the American Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 1970 with Denver. He led the league in scoring and rebounding and was the All-Star Game's MVP. He jumped from the ABA to the National Basketball Association, playing for the New York Knicks and then the L.A. Lakers. He played hard on the court and off, where he partied with the stars of fashion, society, and entertainment. He married one of the world's most glamorous, and fashion's most photographed, women - Iman. In public and private they shared the idealistic dream of linking Africa to African American through their own romantic union. But the idealism turned into a celebrity fast lane of self-indulgence and drug abuse that caused the dream to explode." "He nearly lost it all, but this is a story about success and recovery, not failure. It is a story of triumph, as Haywood reveals how he recovered from addiction through a 12-step program and his own willingness to struggle to heal himself."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book The Jordan Rules written by Sam Smith and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times Bestseller, updated With a New Introduction This is the 20th anniversary of the explosive bestseller that changed the way the world viewed one of the greatest athletes in history, revealing for the first time Michael Jordan's relentless drive to win anything and everything, at any cost. NBA Hall of Fame columnist Sam Smith had unlimited access to the team and its players during their championship 1991-92 season, which he details in the new introduction, along with candid revelations about his sources, and the reaction from Michael, his teammates, the media, and the fans when the book blasted onto the bestseller lists in 1992 (where it stayed for three months). With more than a million copies in print, The Jordan Rules remains the ultimate inside look at one of the most legendary teams in sports history.
