Basketball Memoir

What happens when a 6' 9" kid from Lobelville, Tennessee is recruited by legendary basketball coach Bob Knight? Kirk Haston’s life was changed forever with just a two-minute phone call. Containing previously unknown Knight stories, anecdotes, and choice quotes, fans will gain an inside look at the notoriously private man and his no-nonsense coaching style. Which past Hoosier basketball greats returned to talk to and practice with current teams? How did the players feel when Knight was fired? In this touching and humorous audiobook, Haston shares these answers and more.

June 19, 2016: the greatest moment in Cleveland sports history, when the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Finals and broke the Cleveland Curse. It was the triumph fans had been waiting 52 years for, and it wasn't easy to get there - but thanks to LeBron James, an audacious plan to build a winning team, a couple of maverick GMs, and an incredible community of fans, it happened, and 2016 saw the birth of a new Cavaliers dynasty.

Stephen Curry was intent in showing the world that he was not just "lucky" - he wanted to show that he deserved to be playing in the Finals. He deserved to be the MVP. He deserved to win a championship. He deserved to be recognized as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Michael Carter-Williams has emerged as a high-profile point guard in the NBA, among the likes of Derrick Rose, Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook, and Rajan Rondo, after sporting a stellar 2013-2014 NBA season. While the Philadelphia 76ers still have a way to go before becoming a contending team in the NBA, Michael Carter-Williams has offered new hope for the city.

If you fall down, get up and finish. Dwight Slaughter graduated from Verbum Dei High School, a school with one of the top 10 winning basketball teams of all time. While at Verbum Dei High School Dwight was voted number one player in the country in 1972 by different sports magazines. He then went on to further his education and play basketball at Cal State Los Angeles from 1972 to 1976 - a period that would set a precedent with new laws changing how colleges accept athletes.

In 2008, the surviving members of the Crenshaw Post 715 American Legion team gathered in Sedona, Arizona, to honor the memory of Billy Consolo. Stories of their fallen teammate opened a door to cherished memories of time spent together in childhood, learning the game of life through the game of baseball. With no adults to supervise them in the playgrounds and sandlots, Carl Paul Maggio and his friends grew to understand the principles of fair play.

With the whole world watching his every move, Jeremy Lin has become an international phenomenon. Everyone is talking about him, breaking down his basketball skills and analyzing him in every way. But does anyone really understand where he came from and how he got here? With Jeremy Lin: An Unauthorized Biography, listeners will learn everything there is to know about Jeremy Lin and discover exactly how he went from obscurity to ''Linsanity'' - seemingly overnight.

Julius Erving, aka Dr. J, was a wizard with the basketball, performing feats the world had never seen before: midair spins and whirls punctuated by powerful slam dunks, which he was the first to glamorize. In a career that lasted from the 1970s well into the 1980s, he was one of the first players to make extemporaneous individual expression an integral part of the game, setting the style of play that has prevailed ever since. He's also long been respected as a gracious, dignified, and disciplined man. As there are great men of history, there are great men of sports, and Dr. J is just such a man.

Anthony's exceptional skills have fans and critics alike wondering where his career will take him next. Inside, you will discover where it all started and learn why fans both love and hate Anthony so much. From family to basketball to the future, all you need to know about Carmelo Anthony is right here, right now, in the most up to date coverage of his life. This audiobook also includes all of Carmelo Anthony's collegiate and NBA statistics.

For an elite athlete, the professional sports championship, also known as the brass ring of immortality, often dangles beyond their grasp. The longer you go without one, the more attention you will receive in the public, focusing on what you haven't accomplished rather than what you already had. LeBron James completely understands this very cruel irony. For eight frustrating seasons, he was considered a king without a crown in the NBA.

Kevin Love is an NBA superstar on the rise. He has accomplished more in his first few seasons in the NBA than most players achieve in their careers. Most true fans are aware of his amazing scoring and rebounding abilities and the fact that he holds the longest streak for consecutive games with double figures in points and rebounds since the ABA - NBA merger, but in order to truly understand Kevin Love, you must first understand where he came from.

Kevin Durant is a superstar on the rise. A six-foot, nine-inch small forward, Durant has worked his way into an elite class of NBA all-stars. The 2008 Rookie of the Year was the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title and continues to be the NBA's best scorer. This biography explores Durant's upbringing, his high school and college basketball careers, and details his breakthrough into the NBA, all the way through April 2013.

From 1971 to his retirement in 2011, Woody Durham was the "Voice of the Tar Heels," the radio play-by-play man for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this autobiography, Woody takes the reader on a nostalgic stroll down memory lane - from his descriptions of a sleepy Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and the days of football legend Choo Choo Justice to the enormous changes in college sports and how they are covered to his dozens of behind-the-scenes stories about the coaches and players he worked with during his tenure.

By 1970 racial tension was at a breaking point in the Southern town of Gallatin, Tennessee. Desegregation had emotions running high. The town was a powder keg ready to erupt. But it was also on the verge of something incredible. Eddie Sherlin and Bill Ligon were boys growing up on opposite sides of the tracks who shared a passion for basketball. They knew the barriers that divided them - some physical landmarks and some hidden in the heart - but those barriers melted away when the boys were on the court.

Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. His talent, passion, and will-to-win is known worldwide. He is a philanthropist, an endorser, an entertainer, and possibly a criminal. He is an intellectual, a man who speaks multiple languages. He was born a great athlete and became an even greater one. He is a complicated family man, a misunderstood leader, and an enigma to some. To others, he is truly one of the greatest athletes ever, one who can do things on a basketball court that no other human can do.

Griffin's exceptional talents and general popularity have many people wondering where his career will take him next. Inside, you will discover where it all started and learn why so many fans love Griffin so much. From family to basketball to the future, all you need to know about Blake Griffin is right here, right now, in the most up to date coverage of his life. This book also includes all of Blake Griffin's college and NBA statistics.

Derrick Rose is one of the best basketball players on the planet. Most people know that he is a dominating guard on the Chicago Bulls out of the University of Memphis but, in order to truly understand Derrick Rose, you must first understand where he came from. Derrick Rose: An Unauthorized Biography explores Rose's upbringing, his high school and college basketball careers, and details his breakthrough into the NBA, all the way through his 2012 playoff injury against Philadelphia.

Tony Parker is one of the best point guards of his generation. He is an All-Star and a champion. Despite his relatively small size, he is consistently among the league leaders in "points in the paint". Most fans are aware of his exceptional quickness and toughness, but in order to truly understand Tony Parker, you must first understand where he came from. This audiobook explores Parker's upbringing and international career, and details his breakthrough into the NBA, all the way through the end of the 2013-14 season.

Manute Bol was the first African-born player in the NBA and, at seven foot seven inches, the tallest. In the 1980s and 90s he was also among the league's most fearsome shot-blockers and its most beloved figures. Off the basketball court, however, Bol's story was more remarkable than most fans ever knew. Activist, gambler, joker, rebel-Bol was a complex man whose fate was inextricably bound with that of the Sudan, his homeland.

A young, Black kid from a hardworking family in one of the poorest sections of Washington, DC, despite being legally blind in one eye, leaps to the pinnacle of his sport: the Hall of Fame. A rookie bank teller rises to become one of the nation's most celebrated Black business leaders. A once-reluctant political neophyte answers the call to become a major of America's most troubled big city, and he establishes a mentoring program for African American boys that serves as a model for the nation. All of these stories belong to Dave Bing.