Synopses & Reviews
An in-depth look at the most influential Lakers championship team-the coach, the players, the season that changed the NBA.The 1971-72 basketball season was one to go down in history. For the Los Angeles Lakers it was a season of records, an incredible championship, and many personal victories-by a team featuring several players bound for the NBA Hall of Fame. For the sport of basketball it was a season of transition, when West Coast style overcame East Coast sophistication. And for the fans, it was simply a season to remember.
Charley Rosen, one of the best sports historians in recent years, brings to life all of the memories, events, and spectacles. Featuring an iconic all-star roster that includes Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, The Pivotal Season is an account of some of the greatest names in the game and their contributions to one of the most remarkable seasons in history. This dramatic narrative credits the Lakers coach, Bill Sharman, who, though virtually unknown today, was the best basketball coach of his time.
Photographs and action-packed narrative portray the pivotal 1971-72 season in this memorable book of sports history, which includes a special foreword by Phil Jackson. Basketball fans will be able to relive this amazing story of despair turned to triumph, when the Los Angeles Lakers won a record thirty-three consecutive games, persevered and defeated their archrival, the New York Knicks, won the championship-and in so doing changed the sport of basketball forever.
Review
"Charley Rosen, the NBA's foremost historian, brilliantly recreates that record-breaking Lakers season. The highlights include a thirty-three-game winning streak that will never be broken, as well as the 'Hollywood Lakers' astounding the sports world by proving that style and substance are not mutually exclusive concepts. Along the way, Rosen reveals secret sides of the participants-Chamberlain's disinclination for post-game showers, Jerry West's nit-picking perfectionism, and the inner workings of coach Bill Sharman's personal and professional game plans.... I've always believed that my Chicago Bulls championship teams in the later nineties would have easily handled Russell's Celtics and Magic Johnson's showtime Lakers. But the 1971-72 Lakers would have given us a battle royal."
- from the Foreword by Phil Jackson
"Charley Rosen has written an accurate, expert, and fascinating account of one of the most enjoyable seasons any coach could ever hope to have. Even though I can still remember how each turning of that season played out, just reading this book got me excited all over again."
- Bill Sharman, NBA Hall of Fame Player and Coach
Synopsis
Praise for Charley Rosen:
"Rosen is the game's foremost literary chronicler."
- The Wall Street Journal
"The best nonfiction treatment of the affair."
- The New York Times Book Review on Scandals of '51
"Underlying it all is a reverence for a game that, when played well, can be a transcendent personal experience and a joy to watch."
- Booklist on More Than a Game
"The technical details in this wonderful book will give any fan a better appreciation of the game."
- Publishers Weekly on More Than a Game
"A fascinating view of the seamy side of sports gambling."
- Library Journal on The Wizard of Odds
"This is not simply a novel about basketball in the dark ages. This is a book about guilt and redemption, about the loss of innocence, about racism and bigotry, about class differences. ... Mr. Rosen gets the ambiance just right."
- New York Times Book Review on The House of Moses All-Stars
Synopsis
This in-depth look at the 1972 Lakers--written by one of the greatest sports historians in recent years--is a dramatic narrative of a pivotal season and is loaded with an amazing cast of characters right out of the NBA Hall of Fame.
About the Author
Charley Rosen set scoring and rebounding records at Hunter College, earned a master's in medieval literature, played in the old Eastern League, and coached in the Continental Basketball Association.
The Pivotal Season is his thirteenth book, and he has also written dozens of articles for publications as diverse as
Rolling Stone and
The New York Times Book Review. He is currently the NBA analyst for foxsports.com. Rosen lives in Accord, New York, with his wife, Daia.