When The Game Was Ours

Author : Larry Bird
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0547416814
Total Pages : 369 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book When The Game Was Ours written by Larry Bird and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2009-11-04 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestseller from Hall of Fame basketball legends Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson. From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. In Celtic green was Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick, with laser-beam focus, relentless determination, and a deadly jump shot, a player who demanded excellence from everyone and whose caustic wit left opponents quaking in their high-tops. Magic Johnson was Mr. Showtime, a magnetic personality with all the right moves. Young, indomitable, he was a pied piper in purple and gold. And he burned with an inextinguishable desire to win. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s — Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness — together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships, six MVP awards and helped save the floundering NBA at its most critical time. When it started they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends. With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail, When the Game Was Ours transports readers to this electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players dead set on besting one another. From the heady days of trading championships to the darker days of injury and illness, we come to understand Larry’s obsessive devotion to winning and how his demons drove him on the court. We hear him talk with candor about playing through chronic pain and its truly exacting toll. In Magic we see a young, invincible star struggle with the sting of defeat, not just as a player but as a team leader. We are there the moment he learns he’s contracted HIV and hear in his own words how that devastating news impacted his relationships in basketball and beyond. But always, in both cases, we see them prevail. A compelling, up-close-and-personal portrait of basketball’s most inimitable duo, When the Game Was Ours is a reevaluation of three decades in counterpoint. It is also a rollicking ride through professional basketball’s best times.

Author : Jack McCallum
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0345520491
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dream Team written by Jack McCallum and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2013-04-09 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. As a writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona. Drawing on fresh interviews with the players, McCallum provides the definitive account of the Dream Team phenomenon. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at the controversial selection process. He takes us inside the team’s Olympic suites for late-night card games and bull sessions where superstars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird debated the finer points of basketball. And he narrates a riveting account of the legendary intrasquad scrimmage that pitted the Dream Teamers against one another in what may have been the greatest pickup game in history. In the twenty years since the Dream Team first captivated the world, its mystique has only grown. Dream Team vividly re-creates the moment when a once-in-a-millennium group of athletes came together and changed the future of sports—one perfectly executed fast break at a time. With a new Afterword by the author “The absolute definitive work on the subject, a perfectly wonderful once-you-pick-it-up-you-won’t-be-able-to-put-it-down book.”—The Boston Globe “An Olympic hoops dream.”—Newsday “What makes this volume a must-read for nostalgic hoopsters are the robust portraits of the outsize personalities of the participants, all of whom were remarkably open with McCallum, both then and now.”—Booklist (starred review)

Author : Larry Bird
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0446930431
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Bird Watching written by Larry Bird and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 1999-12-14 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Larry Bird captured the imagination and admiration of basketball fans throughout his thirteen-year career with the Boston Celtics with his trademark style of creative, intelligent, exciting, and hard-nosed play. And then, last year in his rookie season as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, he infused the team with these same qualities -- and the results were remarkable. He turned around a slumping franchise and led the Pacers to the conference finals. To finish off a great season, Bird was named the NBA's "Coach of the Year" -- quite an accolade for Bird, who had never coached before and surprised many fans with his unusual and unorthodox coaching methods. This book is a look into one of the greatest minds to have ever stepped on a hardwood court. Larry Bird shares his inner thoughts on basketball that to date only his Celtic teammates and Pacers players have been privy. From dissecting offensive and defensive strategies to assessing the talent of NBA players; from sharing the genesis of his coaching philosophies to how he deals with today's overpriced and temperamental players, it's all there. This book is Larry Bird's basketball playbook, and it's the one book every basketball fan will want to read. Cover design by Tom Tafuri Cover photograph by Glenn James/NBA Photos

Author : Seth Davis
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 0805088105
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book When March Went Mad written by Seth Davis and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-03-03 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Davis recounts the dramatic story of how two legendary players--Earvin Magic Johnson and Larry Bird--burst on the scene in a 1979 NCAA championship that gave birth to modern basketball.

Author : Eric Simonson
Publisher : Dramatists Play Service Inc
ISBN 13 : 0822228017
Total Pages : 61 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Magic/Bird written by Eric Simonson and published by Dramatists Play Service Inc. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: MAGIC/BIRD is the inspiring true story of basketball legends Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, their rivalry and touching friendship.

Author : John Bischoff
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 : 9780201142099
Total Pages : 128 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Bird On Basketball written by John Bischoff and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 1988-01-21 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Larry Bird, the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the three years 1984–1986 and the Boston Celtics' star since 1979, shares his insights on one of America's favorite games. Now completely updated to include statistics and photographs from the 1987-88 season, Bird on Basketball puts fans right on the court. With over 100 dramatic action photos, charts, and diagrams, this how-to guide covers all the building blocks of the game—passing, shooting, defense, dribbling, and rebounding—from a champion's point of view. But as every fan knows, Larry Bird doesn't just play basketball—he wins. Bird pounds the boards, charges fearlessly to the hoop, and plays a bruising brand of defense. Yet his true strength is his mastery of the game's subtle elements. In Bird on Basketball he emphasizes the little things that add up to big victories with tips on moving without the ball, rebound positioning, court sense, being a team player, and training. Bird on Basketball is an all-out effort to give fans and students of the game an inside look at how basketball should be played.

Author : Larry Bird
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780547225470
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book When the Game was Ours written by Larry Bird and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail, "When the Game Was Ours" transports readers to an electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players--Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson--dead set on besting one another.

Author : Rich Cohen
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 0593229568
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book When the Game Was War written by Rich Cohen and published by Random House. This book was released on 2023-09-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The gritty, no-holds-barred account of the 1987 NBA season, a thrilling year of fierce battles and off-the-court drama between Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan—from New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen. “Cohen brings new life to these athletes and their legendary rivalries.”—Bob Ryan, sports columnist emeritus, The Boston Globe Four historic teams. Four legendary players. One unforgettable season. The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies. In When the Game Was War, bestselling author Rich Cohen tells the story of this incredible season through the four teams, and the four players, who dominated it: Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, and a young Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. From rural Indiana to the South Side of Chicago, suburban North Carolina to rust-belt Michigan, Cohen explores the diverse journeys each of these iconic players took before arriving on the big stage. Drawing from dozens of interviews with NBA insiders, Cohen brings to vivid life some of the most colorful characters of the era—like Bill Laimbeer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Ainge, and Charles Oakley—who fought like hell to help these stars succeed. For anyone who longs to understand how the NBA came to be the cultural juggernaut it is today—and to relive the magic and turmoil of those pivotal years—When the Game Was War brilliantly recasts one unforgettable season and the four transcendent players who were at the center of it all.

Author : Larry Bird
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 : 9780553287585
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Drive written by Larry Bird and published by Bantam. This book was released on 1990-10-01 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Of all the people I play against, the only one I truly fear is Larry Bird.”—Magic Johnson, from the Foreword. The heart and soul of a champion: his life, his career, his game. To understand basketball, you have to understand Larry Bird. Arguably the greatest all-around player the game has ever known, he led the Boston Celtics from the basement to three world championships, collecting three NBA Most Valuable Player awards along the way. Yet, despite these massive accomplishments, Bird has rarely talked to the press, and much about the man has remained a mystery. Now in Drive, the long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealed a side of himself-and of basketball-you’ve never see before. Inside, you’ll learn Bird's most private feelings about: The momentous decision to transfer from Bobby Knight’s Indiana University to Indiana State. The heartbreak of his father's suicide and his own failed marriage. The single-minded discipline that tumed a small-town hero into a national superstar. The Boston Garden and the legendary Celtic charm. The Isiah Thomas controversy and the fierce Celtic-Laker rivalry. The great players of the NBA: including Magic Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan, and much more. here is the book that puts a basketball legend-and his game-on the line. And scores!

Author : Joshua Wolf Shenk
Publisher : HMH
ISBN 13 : 0544032020
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Powers of Two written by Joshua Wolf Shenk and published by HMH. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The power of collaboration, from Lennon and McCartney to Wozniak and Jobs: “An inspiring book that also happens to be a great read” (Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive). Throughout history, partners have buoyed each other to better work—though often one member is little known to the general public. (See Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, or Vincent and Theo van Gogh.) Powers of Two draws on neuroscience, social psychology, and cultural history to present the social foundations of creativity, with the pair as its primary embodiment. Revealing the six essential stages through which creative intimacy unfolds, this book shows how pairs begin to talk, think, and even look like each other; how the most successful ones thrive on conflict; and why some cease to work together while others carry on. At once intuitive and deeply surprising, Powers of Two will reshape the way you view individuals, relationships, and society itself. “A rare glimpse into the private realms of duos . . . A natural storyteller.” —The New York Times “A book about magic, about the Beatles, about the chemistry between people, about neuroscience, and about the buddy system; it examines love and hate, harmony and dissonance, and everything in between . . . Wise, funny, surprising, and completely engrossing.” —Susan Orlean “We sometimes think of creativity as coming from brilliant loners. In fact, it more often happens when bright people pair up and complement each other. Shenk’s fascinating book shows how to spark the power of this phenomenon.” —Walter Isaacson “Surprising, compelling . . . Shenk banishes the idea of solitary genius by demonstrating that our richest art and science come from collaboration: we need one another not only for love, but also for thinking and imagining and growing and being.” —Andrew Solomon