A Coach's Life


Book Description

For almost forty years, Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina basketball team with unsurpassed success, having an impact both on the court and in the lives of countless young men. In A Coach’s Life, he looks back on the great games, teams, players, strategies, and rivalries that defined his career and, in a new final chapter, discusses his retirement from the game. The fundamentals of good basketball are the fundamentals of character—passion, discipline, focus, selflessness, and responsibility—and superlative mentor and coach Dean Smith imparts them all with equal authority.




Character Driven


Book Description

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.




Chasing Perfect


Book Description

The famed basketball coach of St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City traces his decades-long career, citing his championship coaching strategies and memorable players from the team's seven undefeated seasons.




BASKETBALL and Life 2


Book Description

As his beloved affair with the game of basketball, ingrained in him as a young boy growing up in the gritty Brownsville section of Brooklyn, grew into a life-long journey around the world, Herb Turetzky suddenly found himself returning to his roots, at the newly-opened Barclays Center, just ten subway stops on the IRT New Lots line from his boyhood home. With the Brooklyn Nets' new home in his home borough, a short five-minute walk from his alma mater, Long Island University, and a thirty minute drive from his Bayside, Queens home, his almost fifty year Nets' career was rejuvenated, enabling Herb to envision continuing his amazing career while, at the same time, finding his memory of so many greats of the game rekindled. This lifetime fascination, coupled with his long-standing relationships with close boyhood friends and even closer family members, including the recent birth of his first grandchild, have enabled Herb to put together this autobiographical collection of original poetry, a strongly suggested read for followers of basketball, Brooklyn, the historic Brownsville and those with a hearty admiration of family ties.




Dr. Jack's Leadership Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Basketball


Book Description

What can one of the most successful coaches in the history of professional basketball tell CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and managers about leadership? Everything! In this fascinating account of his nearly seven decades as a player, coach, general manager, goodwill ambassador, color commentator, and NBA analyst for ESPN, basketball legend Dr. Jack Ramsay reveals the guiding principles and best practices that make for outstanding leadership both on and off the court.




Professional Basketball


Book Description




New Lives for Old


Book Description

All Jim Tolbert wants is a secure future-one where he can build upon his wealth and make a name for himself. By accepting Dr. Ray Himeler's most generous offer, he figures his lifelong goals will be assured. After all, Ray has guaranteed him his own genetics department at Pioneer Medical Group, a starting six-figure salary, and his daughter's hand in marriage. But once the ring encircles Jessica's finger, Jim's dreams are dashed. Returning from a nightmarish honeymoon, tainted by his wife's flashbacks of childhood abuse, Jim finds himself living with a suicidal-spouse-turned-Jesus-freak and working long days for a father-in-law performing medical miracles that, for some unknown reason, he wants to keep a secret. As Jim seeks answers, he finds the truth about his own life and learns the evil motivations behind his father-in-law's deception. Is it possible? Could Ray's vast and growing riches be the result of brain transplants? And are the missing college students actually hosts for his wealthy clients' new lives?




Sports


Book Description

Whether playing baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, tennis, soccer, softball, volleyball, or wrestling, millions of teens all over the country participate in some sporting activity. Despite widespread enthusiasm for such activities, not all teens know how to make the most out of their interests, and some teens who might want to get involved don’t know which sports are right for them. For high school athletes of all levels, this book provides up-to-date information on sports-related issues, practical tips, and valuable resources. Each chapter features quotes from current and former high school athletes who share their experiences related to the given topic. Issues discussed include choosing a sport to play balancing all aspects of life as a student-athlete dealing with the pressures of competition improving athletic performance consequences of performance-enhancing drugs and supplements common injuries and prevention measures training during the off-season playing in college sports-related careers and opportunities Throughout the book, readers will find sidebars containing various sports-related tidbits: high school sports stories, the history of various sports, interesting facts, short biographies, and sports-themed young adult novels. Filled with useful information, Sports: The Ultimate Teen Guide will help high school athletes of all levels, from freshman novices to highly competitive seniors.







The Soul of Basketball


Book Description

“A fascinating, thorough look at pro basketball’s continuing evolution to becoming the ‘sport of the American Dream.’”—Publishers Weekly The Soul of Basketball tells the story of an NBA prodigy, his league, and their sport in the throes of crisis during the pivotal 2010-11 season. It began with The Decision, that infamous televised moment when uber-star LeBron James revealed that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers—thereby distancing himself from his role model Michael Jordan—to pursue his first championship with his former opponents on the Miami Heat. To the great fortune of LeBron, the NBA, and basketball itself, the mission didn’t work out as planned. In this book, veteran NBA writer Ian Thomsen portrays the NBA as a self-correcting society in which young LeBron is forced to absorb hard truths inflicted by his rivals Kobe Bryant, Doc Rivers, and Dirk Nowitzki, in addition to lessons set forth by Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Larry Bird, David Stern, Joey Crawford, and many more. Brimming with inside access, The Soul of Basketball tells the inspiring story of LeBron’s loneliest year, insecure and uncertain, when his ultimate foe was an unlikely immigrant who renewed the American game’s ideals. From Miami to Boston, Los Angeles to Dallas, Germany to the NBA’s Manhattan headquarters, the biggest names in basketball are driven by something more valuable than money and fame—a quest that would pave the way for Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and future generations to thrive. “Ian Thomsen provides an antidote to the fast-food, twitter feed of instant information consumption…deft prose and snappy anecdotes…Great, great stuff.”—Leigh Montville, New York Times-bestselling author of Sting Like a Bee “A fine work of sports journalism.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)