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ruelgaviola 's review for:
4.5 stars.
Solid, well-written overview of the greatest team of the greatest era in professional basketball. I'm a lifelong Lakers fan and I read, watch, and listen to almost anything Lakers-related, so perhaps my review should be taken with a grain of salt. Many of the stories here have been told before, but Pearlman manages to make it all seem fresh and new. There are even a few new anecdotes in here for die-hard fans.
My favorite part of this book were the early chapters focusing on Jack McKinney, the true genius behind the Showtime Lakers. There has not been enough written about him and Pearlman gives McKinney the long overdue credit he deserves. It's one of the great What Ifs of professional sports: What if McKinney doesn't have his freak bicycle accident and remains head coach -- do the Lakers go on to win five titles in 10 years? I believe any coach with Kareem Adbul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson could win championships, but the team might not have been as glitzy yet hard-nosed as they were under Pat Riley.
Pearlman also doesn't pull any punches, either, making sure the reader knows that Kareem is arrogant and unlikable, Magic is a sex addict and truly runs the Lakers, and Riley is paranoid and a megalomaniac. None of these are new revelations, but credit the author with creating a captivating and entertaining story out of such familiar material. This is a must-read for Lakers fans, but any fan of 80s-era basketball (even the most hardcore Celtics fan) will appreciate this.
Go Lakers!!!
Solid, well-written overview of the greatest team of the greatest era in professional basketball. I'm a lifelong Lakers fan and I read, watch, and listen to almost anything Lakers-related, so perhaps my review should be taken with a grain of salt. Many of the stories here have been told before, but Pearlman manages to make it all seem fresh and new. There are even a few new anecdotes in here for die-hard fans.
My favorite part of this book were the early chapters focusing on Jack McKinney, the true genius behind the Showtime Lakers. There has not been enough written about him and Pearlman gives McKinney the long overdue credit he deserves. It's one of the great What Ifs of professional sports: What if McKinney doesn't have his freak bicycle accident and remains head coach -- do the Lakers go on to win five titles in 10 years? I believe any coach with Kareem Adbul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson could win championships, but the team might not have been as glitzy yet hard-nosed as they were under Pat Riley.
Pearlman also doesn't pull any punches, either, making sure the reader knows that Kareem is arrogant and unlikable, Magic is a sex addict and truly runs the Lakers, and Riley is paranoid and a megalomaniac. None of these are new revelations, but credit the author with creating a captivating and entertaining story out of such familiar material. This is a must-read for Lakers fans, but any fan of 80s-era basketball (even the most hardcore Celtics fan) will appreciate this.
Go Lakers!!!