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- Kobe Bryant / by Gitlin, Marty.;
Includes bibliographical references (p. 32) and index.LSC- Subjects: Bryant, Kobe, 1978-; Los Angeles Lakers (Basketball team); Basketball players;
- © c2011., ABDO Pub. Co.,
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- Magic : the life of Earvin "Magic" Johnson / by Lazenby, Roland,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Magic Johnson is one of the most beloved, and at times controversial, athletes in history. His iconic smile lifted the dowdy sport of American pro basketball from a second tier sport with low ratings into the global spotlight, a transformation driven by his ability to eviscerate opponents with a style that featured his grand sense of fun. He was a master entertainer who directed Los Angeles Lakers "Showtime" basketball to the heights of both glory and epic excess, all of it driven by his mind-blowing no-look passes and personal charm. At the charismatic height of his power, Johnson then shocked the world with a startling cautionary tale about sexually transmitted disease that pushed public awareness of an HIV and AIDS crisis. Then out came his confession of unprotected sex with hundreds of women each year, a retirement, an attempted return, then a proper farewell on the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Longtime biographer Roland Lazenby spent years tracking Johnson's unlikely rise to become an immensely popular public figure who was instantly scandalized in 1991, then turned to his legendary will to rise again as a successful entrepreneur with another level of hard-won success in business. In his portrayal, Johnson's tale becomes bigger than that of one man. It is a generational saga over parts of three centuries that reveals much not just about his unique basketball journey but about America itself. Through literally hundreds of interviews with Johnson's coaches, representatives past and present, teammates, opponents, friends and loved ones, including key conversations with Johnson himself over the years, Lazenby has produced the first truly definitive study, both dark and light, of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Jr., the revolutionary player, the icon, the man"--- Subjects: Biographies.; Johnson, Earvin, 1959-; Basketball players;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The rise : Kobe Bryant and the pursuit of immortality / by Sielski, Mike,1975-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture with never-before-seen material. Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has. In The Rise, readers will travel from the cracked concrete basketball courts of Philadelphia in the 1960s and '70s-where Kobe's father, Joe, became a playground, college, and professional standout-to the Bryant family's isolation in Europe, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe's legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion-he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player-and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe's dream of playing pro basketball culminated with his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers. In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski will have a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Bryant's life. Jeremy Treatman, a Kobe confidant who knew him for 28 years, conducted a series of never-before-released interviews with Bryant not long after his senior season ended. Treatman has shared these transcripts and tapes with the author. They will reveal Bryant's in-the-moment thoughts and tell stories, preserved for a quarter-century, that have never been told before. This will be more than a basketball book. This will be an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him-the essence of the man before he truly became a man"--- Subjects: Biographies.; Bryant, Kobe, 1978-2020.; African American basketball players; Basketball players;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 1 to 3 of 3