The current Lakers’ season has been a challenging one. If there was a single year that would have fans longing for a previous era of glory, this one would certainly be it. Well, for those wanting some nostalgia and great insight in one of the great dynasties in league history, you are in luck. On […]
book review
Phil Jackson’s ‘Eleven Rings’ Is A Highlight After A Rough Season
I received my copy of Phil Jackson’s Eleven Rings on Friday and immediately delved into the 334 page journey through Phil Jackson’s 11 (well actually, 13) championships (two as a player). The book begins, however, with Jackson describing the Lakers’ 2009 championship parade. “Here I was sitting in a limo at the ramp leading into the […]
Earl The Pearl On The Lakers – From West To Kobe
In any field of endeavor, prodigious talent is idolized, achievement rewarded, lasting greatness immortalized. What then, of transcendent talent that achieves not only greatness, but actually furthers the evolution of the endeavor in which it is deployed? Whatever his place in the Pantheon of basketball greats, that Earl Monroe is one of NBA history’s most […]
Roundtable Review: The Dream Team
Yesterday, Jack McCallum’s highly anticipated book “Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles And The Greatest Team Of All Time Conquered The World And Changed The Game Of Basketball Forever” was released for purchase (you can get a copy here). A few of us here at FB&G were able to get an advanced copy of […]
Shaq Uncut: Tales of a former Laker
Stop me if you have heard this before: Shaquille O’Neal has always been entertaining. Whether it’s in his press conferences before or after games, or simply being interviewed by reporters, the man never minced words and always found ways to keep the mood light all the while providing good sound bytes. And thus, when news […]
The Great Book of L.A. Sports Lists: A Link-tastic Review
The genre of the sports list book has received a new addition. This new series that has been released has gone to several of the major sports towns (or at least those with rabid sports fans) and tapped local sports personalities or journalists to create an insiders view of that city’s sports culture. A nice […]
When March Went Mad…A Review
ESPN was in its infancy, the internet was a sparkle in Al Gore’s eye, the NBA was an afterthought or not thought of at all, and March had yet to go Mad. When March Went Mad by Seth Davis chronicles an important developmental era of basketball, and more specifically how its marketing and hype machine […]
Sam Bowie and the 1984 draft: A Cautionary Tale
“You can’t pass up a great player at the big position for a great player at a another position…history bears this out.†-Bill Fitch On the eve of the 2007 draft the Portland Trailblazers are caught, once again. Select the anchor in the middle, the man who has the back to the basket game that […]
Quotable Lakers
One of my early Christmas gifts this year is a book called “Laker Glory,” a collection of quotes from and about the Lakers, compiled by freelance author Alan Ross. It’s not going to be confused with “The Show†anytime soon, but there are some interesting quotes I’ve found already, so I thought I’d pass them […]
In God We trust; all others bring data.
There is a poetry that can be found in numbers. When you turn numbers over and around, when you attempt to make them tell you a specific story, those numbers begin to speak to you. When the numbers melt into the Language, they acquire the power to do all of the things which language can […]