cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Road to the NBA Curtis W. Carter, 2010-07-15 The Road to the NBA, Volume 3 continues the tradition of the first two volumes. It is a basketball sports book that has a “Powerful Analysis” of the workings of the professional basketball world as we know it. The reality of life and its circumstances are made vivid in this new addition to the series. Perseverance, determination, diligence, confidence, spiritual strength, academic success, and internal desire are the building blocks to the foundation that is laid in this must-read edition. The amazing grace of God lights up this whole story! The dramatic reality will keep you glued to the pages until the very end. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Tales from the Cleveland Cavaliers Roger Gordon, 2004 In Tales from the Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James's Rookie Season, readers will find anecdotes about everything and anything that happened to this special rookie and the rest of the Cavaliers. This book is a must-own for any Cavs fan! |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: All In Vince McKee, 2016-10-18 The Cleveland Cavaliers franchise has been in existence for more than forty-five years, and it hasn’t been an easy ride for the team or their fans, with many ups and downs along the way. They had seen the “Miracle in Richfield” in 1976, “The Shot” by Michael Jordan to knock them out of the playoffs in 1989, the arrival of “The Chosen One,” LeBron James, in 2003, and a trip to the NBA Finals in 2007, but never a title. All In: The Story of LeBron James annd the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers takes readers on the rollercoaster ride from LeBron coming back to Cleveland, to their 2015 NBA Finals appearance, through the unforgettable 2015–16 season that gave the city of Cleveland their first major sports championship in fifty-two years. Author Vince McKee brings to life all the drama on and off the court, including how the team was built, why coach David Blatt was fired and replaced by Tyronn Lue midway through the season, and every big game and play along the way, straight through to the dramatic 2016 NBA Finals and epic comeback against the seemingly unbeatable Golden State Warriors. LeBron James finally earned his long-awaited redemption, Kevin Love made his presence felt under the boards, Kyrie Irving took to the NBA’s biggest stage and made it his own under the brightest of lights, and J. R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Richard Jefferson, and Iman Shumpert all made key contributions. All In is a must-have for all Cleveland sports fans! |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: LeBron James, King of the Court B. J. Robinson, 2005 Within LeBron James' story are lessons that echo from the years when he and his mother struggled to survive. He faced his share of naysayers and skeptics, but he silenced all doubters with his stellar rookie performance during his first NBA season. Despite his new wealth and fame, the lessons he learned as a young player keep him focused and grounded. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Road to the NBA Curtis Carter, 2005 THE ROAD TO THE NBA is a book about heart, drive and internal motivation, when going the standard route is unavailable. It captures and conveys the experiences of one man's unwavering ability to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA, despite being faced with adversity and disappointment, both on and off the court. THE ROAD TO THE NBA is captivating, informative and heart wrenching. It encourages the reader to never give up on their own dreams, whatever they may be. The example of how to get back up and brush yourself off, each and every time you're knocked down, disappointed, disenfranchised and/or disqualified, is demonstrated on the pages of this must read. THE ROAD TO THE NBA is intended to create, in the lives of each and every person who reads it, the same spirit of hope, strength and motivation found in its pages. It is the Author's desire that you the reader catch hold of that spirit. Quite frankly this book is absolutely Fabulous! There is no book like it in all of professional basketball. Once you start reading it you will never want to stop. This is as intellectual, emotional, motivational, and triumphant as it get´s in the game of life. The book is amazing! And very thought provoking. The reality kept me glued to the pages. I highly recommend this book. -Charmane Townsell, Sheriff´s Depart. Employee. Educational, Refreshing, and Bones Reality! -Paul Higgins, Award Winning T.V. Producer. I can see what a tough life is, to search a dream or just to survive. I am very glad for you. You are an example of Determination. -Eneko Herreros, Pro Basketball Coach, Spain |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers Terry Pluto, Brian Windhorst, 2007-12-06 Not your typical sports biography . . . Take[s] the reader behind the scenes in the Cavaliers’ front office, revealing how championship contenders are built — Library Journal Two award-winning sports journalists give an in-depth look at how a team and a city were rebuilt around superstar LeBron James. When the Cleveland Cavaliers drew the top pick in the 2003 NBA draft, an entire city buzzed with excitement. After all, how often does a LeBron James come along? Especially for Cleveland, a midmarket Rust Belt city without a sports championship in forty years. Especially for the Cavaliers, a long-struggling team that had never reached the NBA finals. Soon, everyone had something riding on LeBron—billionaire team owner Dan Gilbert looking for a return on his investment . . . teammates eager for a championship ring . . . the league in need of the next Michael Jordan to promote . . . the shoe company with its multimillion-dollar endorsement deal . . . even popcorn vendors in the stands of Quicken Loans Arena and servers waiting restaurant tables in a downtown that now booms every game night. Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst tell the converging stories of a struggling franchise that had to get worse in order to get better and a highly touted teenage phenom, the local kid who became their future. This book will fascinate any basketball fan who wants the inside story of how LeBron James became the young superstar shouldering the weight of an entire NBA franchise. Chock full of facts and analysis. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Can I Keep My Jersey? Paul Shirley, 2008-03-25 He’s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn’t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN’s “The Sports Guy,” has said of Paul Shirley, “We could finally have an answer to the question ‘What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player?” There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age. With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink. From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Return of the King Brian Windhorst, Dave McMenamin, 2017-04-11 In this New York Times bestseller, get the inside scoop into LeBron James's return -- and ultimate triumph -- in Cleveland. What really happened when LeBron James stunned the NBA by leaving a potential dynasty in Miami to come home to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers? How did the Cavs use secret meetings to put together the deal to add star Kevin Love? Who really made the controversial decision to fire coach David Blatt when the team was in first place? Where did the greatest comeback in NBA history truly begin-and end? Return of the King takes you onto the private planes, inside the locker-room conversations, and into the middle of the intense huddles where one of the greatest stories in basketball history took place, resulting in the Cavs winning the 2016 NBA title after trailing the Golden State Warriors three games to one. You'll hear from all the characters involved: the players, the executives, the agents, and the owners as they reveal stories never before told. Get the background on all the controversies, the rivalries, and the bad blood from two reporters who were there for every day, plot twist, and social media snafu as they take you through the fascinating ride that culminated in a heart-stopping Game Seven. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Fight for Your Life Winston Bennett, 2011-05-10 In life, we are all faced with many challenges, both positive and negative. There is no question whether you will face adversity and get knocked down; the only question is will you get back up once life hits you with its deadly punch. Coach Winston Bennett has been knocked down on numerous occasions, but refused to stay down. Through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, Coach Bennett has fought his way back from job losses, personal addiction, and more. He believes that with Christ all things are possible. When you live for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, nothing is too hard for you to overcome. If you are determined to gain your place in the kingdom, you will have to fight. Fight for Your Life is a provocative and detailed description of what it takes to master life's unforeseen challenges. If you are lacking self-esteem, fight; if you are lacking a positive attitude, fight; if you are lacking a relationship with the savior, fight for it. Anything in life worth having is worth fighting for. Fight for Your Life will inspire you to trust the Lord and keep on fighting. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Inside Game Wayne Embry, Mary Schmitt Boyer, 2004 In the fall of 1999, Wayne Embry was so highly thought of by his peers that he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. In the summer of 1999, the Cleveland Cavaliers thought so little of him that they replaced him as general manager. Now in his new autobiography, The Inside Game, Embry, who was once sent home from a game when a bullet was found on his seat, tells the inside story of his fall from grace and the part he believes racism played in it. He deals with the unsavory dealings that led to his departure from the Cavs and introduces startling information about one of the most highly regarded coaches in the league. He discusses the social and economic changes affecting the league and other problems threatening to destroy it. His book is part historical perspective, part inside look behind the scenes, part business strategy and part social commentary |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Kyrie Irving Martin Gitlin, 2019-10-01 Perhaps no NBA player today is as exciting and yet enigmatic as Kyrie Irving. Martin Gitlin's biography chronicles Irving's brilliance on the court as a devastating one?on?one talent, examines the influence of his father, the untimely death of his mother, his growth as a basketball player in high school and college, and his journey in the NBA. Nicknamed the Isolation Assassin, Irving has earned the distinction as the most incredible isolation player in the league, outperforming rivals such as Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook with his crossover dribble, drives to the basket, stop?and?go moves, and smooth, feathery jumpers, a distinction borne out, moreover, by his championship-clinching shot against Curry's Golden State Warriors in 2016. Yet while he speaks of maximizing his talent, he has shown reluctance to maximize the production of his teammates by passing the ball, as well as his overall defense. Irving expresses his desire to win championships yet demanded a trade away from the franchise best suited to deliver him a second. Off the court there is no one like Irving either. An educated individual who claims that the earth could be flat and that dinosaurs perhaps never existed, Irving is a man of puzzling contradictions who seeks self-actualization and contentment through a variety of pursuits, including reflection, music, and acting. Gitlin, a veteran writer who has followed Irving's career from the beginning, has much to tell about one of the most mysterious and sensational athletes of our time whose appeal transcends his sport. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Isiah Thomas Story Paul Challen, 2004 This revised edition of a landmark biography follows the life of basketball star Isiah Thomas from his childhood on Chicago's South Side to his current position as president of the New York Knicks. His entire professional and athletic career is covered, including his successful collegiate career with Indiana University and his role in turning the Detroit Pistons' squad from one of the league's laughingstocks to an NBA powerhouse. All aspects of Thomas's contributions are examined to reveal how he revolutionized the game with his energy and skill, introduced professional basketball to Canada, and transitioned to his controversial roles off the court as coach and executive. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Kings of the Garden Adam J. Criblez, 2024-04-15 In Kings of the Garden, Adam J. Criblez traces the fall and rise of the New York Knicks between the 1973, the year they won their last NBA championship, and 1985, when the organization drafted Patrick Ewing and gave their fans hope after a decade of frustrations. During these years, the teams led by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bob McAdoo, Spencer Haywood, and Bernard King never achieved tremendous on-court success, and their struggles mirrored those facing New York City over the same span. In the mid-seventies, as the Knicks lost more games than they won and played before smaller and smaller crowds, the city they represented was on the brink of bankruptcy, while urban disinvestment, growing income inequality, and street gangs created a feeling of urban despair. Kings of the Garden details how the Knicks' fortunes and those of New York City were inextricably linked. As the team's Black superstars enjoyed national fame, Black musicians, DJs, and B-boys in the South Bronx were creating a new culture expression—hip-hop—that like the NBA would become a global phenomenon. Criblez's fascinating account of the era shows that even though the team's efforts to build a dynasty ultimately failed, the Knicks, like the city they played in, scrappily and spectacularly symbolized all that was right—and wrong—with the NBA and the nation during this turbulent, creative, and momentous time. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Life in the G Alex Squadron, 2023-10 Welcome to the G League--the official minor league of the National Basketball Association. Life in the G is about the arduous quest to achieve an improbable goal: making it to the NBA. Zeroing in on the Birmingham Squadron and four of its players--Jared Harper, Joe Young, Zylan Cheatham, and Malcolm Hill--Alex Squadron details the pursuit of a dream in what turned out to be the most remarkable season in the history of minor league sports. Life in the G League is far from glamorous. Players make enormous sacrifices and work unimaginable hours in the hope that someone in the NBA will give them a chance. To this day, very few fans--even the most passionate followers of the NBA--know much about the G League. In the fall of 2021, the Birmingham Squadron granted author Alex Squadron complete access to the team to capture the experience of playing in the league. That year, with hundreds of NBA players sidelined by the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, the G League saw a record number of call-ups. Sports Illustrated labeled it the year of the NBA replacement player. Many of those players stayed in the NBA, earning life-changing contracts and taking on significant roles for their new teams. In addition to recounting the organization's inaugural season, Squadron's access to the Birmingham Squadron enabled him to document the incredible journeys of G League players and to tell the larger story of life in the G. This is the inspiring tale of an unforgettable season and the emotional roller coaster for everyone involved in the chase for an NBA dream. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Unguarded Lenny Wilkens, Terry Pluto, 2001-09-01 Unguarded reveals the Lenny Wilkens we have never seen before, the tough, strong, thoughtful, and analytical man who has spent a life in basketball making his teammates and players better than they knew they could be. Thought-provoking, candid, always honest, Wilkens shares all the secrets he's learned in his four decades surviving in the NBA storm. For forty years, he has been the Quiet Man of the NBA. As a rookie, he was overshadowed by two pretty fair guards who entered the league at the same time: Jerry West and Oscar Robertson. As a veteran, he was—both figuratively and literally—a coach on the floor, but he had the misfortune to play for several struggling teams. As a general manager, he won a championship and made back-to-back Finals appearances—but he did it without superstars, a year before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird revitalized the league. And as a coach, he has won more games than anyone in NBA history—but spent his best years locked in the same division as Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. Basketball connoisseurs have long appreciated the style and intelligence with which Lenny Wilkens played and the unflappability and class he's brought to coaching. The respect he has earned resulted in his joining the legendary John Wooden as the only men to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame twice—first as a player, and then as a coach. Now, in Unguarded, Lenny Wilkens steps out from behind his placid demeanor to speak plainly and unequivocally on the enormous social and athletic changes he's seen in his career. Wilkens sounds off about the challenges he had to overcome in the course of his journey: the racism that left him off the 1960 Olympic basketball team and kept him from being chosen as head coach of the first Dream Team; the fatal miscalculation that kept his Cleveland Cavaliers from getting past Michael Jordan to the NBA Finals; the painful, frustrating task of coaching a troubled and troublesome J.R. Rider, a player who contributed to his departure from Atlanta. And he credits those who went out of their way to help him: the priests and nuns who taught him the value of discipline and reinforced his faith; the coaches who pushed him to develop his talents to the fullest; the selfless players such as John Johnson, Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, Steve Smith, and many others who sacrificed individual glory for the good of their teams; his mother, Henrietta, and his wife, Marilyn, who stood beside him in many trying times. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Focus On: 100 Most Popular Centers (Basketball) Wikipedia contributors, |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Parcells Carlo DeVito, 2014-09-01 In this revealing biography, the exhaustive research of acclaimed sports historian Carlo DeVito sheds new light on football coaching legend Bill Parcells, exposing the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach's moxie and lifelong dedication to football. The book digs deep into Bill Parcells' past to unlock the secrets of what made him who he is today, following him from his childhood, through 15 years of college coaching, to his first big chance in the pros and the year that almost broke him. With more than 3,000 interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, and scores of primary resources, DeVito's book brings Parcells to life as readers have never seen him before. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Earl The Pearl Earl Monroe, 2013-04-23 The personal story of the Hall of Fame NBA star traces his upbringing in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood and his statistic-transcending career, offering insight into his playground competitive style and his views on the game today. Co-written by the co-author of The Pursuit of Happyness. 75,000 first printing. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Focus On: 100 Most Popular United States Men's National Basketball Team Players Wikipedia contributors, |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Focus On: 100 Most Popular National Basketball Association All-Stars Wikipedia contributors, |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Game Face Bernard King, 2017-11-07 A memoir by the NBA Hall of Fame player, active from 1977-1993 and widely regarded as one of the all-time great New York Knicks. NBA Hall of Famer Bernard King is one of the most dynamic scorers in basketball history. King was notoriously private as a player, and rarely spoke to the press-not about his career and never about his personal life. And even beyond his prolific scoring, King will forever be remembered for the gruesome knee injury he suffered in 1985. Doctors who told him he'd never play again were shocked when he not only became the first player to return to the NBA from a torn ACL, but returned at an All Star level. In Game Face, King finally opens up about his life on and off the court. In his book, King's basketball I.Q. is on full display as he breaks down defenses using his own unique system for taking shots from predetermined spots on the floor. King talks about matching up against some of the all-time NBA greats, from Michael Jordan, Julius Erving and Charles Barkley to Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and many others. He also tackles issues of race and family off the court, as well as breaking a personal cycle of negativity and self-destructiveness with the help of his family. Engaging, shocking, revelatory, yet always positive and upbeat, Bernard King's memoir appeals to multiple generations of basketball fans. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal , 2003 |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: More Than a Game Phil Jackson, Charley Rosen, 2011-01-04 More than a Game covers the years that follow the one featured in the ESPN documentary series The Last Dance. After leaving the Bulls at the end of the 1997-1998 season—the year featured in the new ESPN documentary series The Last Dance—Phil Jackson had one year off and started to write this book—together with his old friend, fellow player and coach, the basketball novelist Charley Rosen. Then Phil took the LA Lakers coaching job, Rosen followed him there, and by the time they finished writing this book it was 2000 and Phil had won yet another NBA championship, the first of five he would win with his new team. In More than a Game, Jackson and Rosen look backward to their origins as players and coaches, forward to the future of the game of basketball, and linger in the moving target of the present—lavishing page after page on the Triangle Offense and all the ways it reveals the essence of the game of basketball they both love so much. This is Jackson in his prime, transitioning from the Bulls to the Lakers, a master of the art of winning, who would go on to claim more NBA championships, eleven, than any other coach in NBA history. As he writes in More than a Game of his newest championship team: We won because our fundamentals were sound, because Shaq was so dominant and Kobe was so creative, but we also won because we developed a certain confidence in our ability to win. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: America's Game Michael MacCambridge, 2008-11-26 It’s difficult to imagine today—when the Super Bowl has virtually become a national holiday and the National Football League is the country’s dominant sports entity—but pro football was once a ramshackle afterthought on the margins of the American sports landscape. In the span of a single generation in postwar America, the game charted an extraordinary rise in popularity, becoming a smartly managed, keenly marketed sports entertainment colossus whose action is ideally suited to television and whose sensibilities perfectly fit the modern age. America’s Game traces pro football’s grand transformation, from the World War II years, when the NFL was fighting for its very existence, to the turbulent 1980s and 1990s, when labor disputes and off-field scandals shook the game to its core, and up to the sport’s present-day preeminence. A thoroughly entertaining account of the entire universe of professional football, from locker room to boardroom, from playing field to press box, this is an essential book for any fan of America’s favorite sport. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Beyond Championships Teen Edition Dru Joyce II, 2015-04-07 In Beyond Championships Teen Edition, Coach Dru Joyce lays out the steps teens can follow to become winners on and off the court. Much more than a sports book, Beyond Championships Teen Edition is a blueprint for anyone looking to make better choices and reach their full potential. The book speaks to athletes aspiring to emulate LeBron’s success, as well as anyone who feels either uninspired or unable to change the direction of their lives. In less than ten years, Coach Dru went from someone resigned to a dull-yet-stable existence to one of the highest profile basketball coaches in the country, despite having virtually no background in the sport. It was an incredible transformation, the type most people only dream of, but one Coach Dru proved can become a reality with the right combination of faith and hard work. Beyond Championships Teen Edition focuses on the nine principles Coach Dru promotes to his players and tries to live his own life. While these principles act as the foundation on which Coach Dru has built so many successful basketball teams, their universality ensures that they can be applied to any situation. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Immortality in Sports Wib Leonard, 2015-12-03 Sports have taken on tremendous importance in the world in which we live. Their social significance - economic, political, and personal - both nationally and internationally is unprecedented. What may not be so immediately obvious is the sociological nature of sports. Sport offers one of the most visible public arenas for understanding the role that 'immortality' plays in individual action, group dynamics, and with audiences and the media. Following a brief introduction to the sociology of sport, Leonard explores these dimensions of the sporting world through the idea of the 'post-self' - how individuals regard themselves and want to be remembered by the public. From the individual psyche to the global arena of sports, this book features vivid examples and quotations from star athletes, coaches, and the media, offering poignant insights into the sporting world and about individuals and society. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: WCW , 2001 Featuring photographs from the WCW archives, this book is ideal for the ever increasing young fan-base of professional wrestling. Includes facts and photos of the outrageous personalities of the WCW. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Jet , 1997-10-13 The weekly source of African American political and entertainment news. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls Chicago Tribune, 2016-10-17 A gorgeous and comprehensive look at one of the NBA’s most storied and valuable franchises—from their first season to Michael Jordan and beyond. The Chicago Bulls have been building their highly decorated legacy for five decades now. To this day, the Bulls are one of the most popular teams the world over. Six championships, the league’s best-ever single-season record, and perhaps the greatest player of all time will do that, and Bulls fans wouldn’t have it any other way. From the beginning, the Bulls have set records. They are still the only NBA expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season with the best record ever for a first-year team. They soared to new heights after drafting Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft. Joined by fellow Hall of Famers Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson, the team won two sets of three consecutive championships in the 90s. The new millennium saw repeated attempts to reignite the magic of the Jordan-era Bulls, but soon a new identity emerged of tough, hardworking team players reminiscent of the Bulls’ earlier years. The Chicago Tribune Book of the Chicago Bulls is a decade-by-decade look at the pride of the city’s West Side produced by the award-winning journalists who have been documenting their home team since the beginning. This beautiful volume details every era in the team’s history through original reporting, in-depth analysis, interviews, archival photos, comprehensive timelines, rankings of top players by position, and other features. Profiles on key coaches, Hall of Famers, and MVPs provide an entertaining, blow-by-blow look at the team’s greatest successes and most dramatic moments. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Prehistoric Alex Wong, 2023-10-24 The improbable story of the birth of modern-day pro basketball in Toronto In just over 25 years, the Toronto Raptors have evolved from an intrepid expansion team to an NBA champion. But for all the triumphs of the past decade, the beginning looked a bit different. When the franchise began its first season in 1995, a pro basketball team in Toronto was viewed as an experiment. There was no playbook to follow, and very few people gave them a chance to succeed. In Prehistoric, irreverent Raptors voice and culture writer Alex Wong explores the franchise's fascinating and unconventional inception through 140 original interviews with those involved with the team's very beginning, examining the process of how the team came up with their name and logo inspired by the blockbuster film Jurassic Park, taking a behind-the-scenes look at the drafting of star point guard Damon Stoudamire, telling the backstories of a group of misfits who formed the first-year roster, and providing an in-depth look at the team's opening night victory at the SkyDome and the expansion franchise's signature win over Michael Jordan and a 72-win Chicago Bulls team. The Raptors boldly and intentionally pursued a much different audience in a hockey-first town. The result is a team who went through the necessary growing pains and eventually captured the heart of a city, as told in this essential origin story through the lens of the people who were there to help lay the foundation for a thriving modern-day basketball franchise in Toronto. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Beyond Championships Dru Joyce II, 2015-03-10 As the coach of one of high school basketball’s greatest programs, Coach Dru Joyce has been mentor and motivator to some of the nation’s best young players, including basketball legend LeBron James. Despite having virtually no experience in the sport, in less than ten years Dru went from a no-name fan to one of the highest profile basketball coaches in the country. With insight and grit earned from his years on and off the court, Coach Dru shares for the first time the secrets to his teams’ success and his own coaching achievements. Far more than a sports book, Beyond Championships is a blueprint for anyone looking to make better choices, reach their full potential, and become winners in all areas of life. As Dru outlines the nine principles that he promotes to his players and tries to live in his own life as well, you’ll discover that the solid foundation on which he built so many successful basketball programs can be applied to almost any situation. As you assess your chosen path in life and look for ways to embark on a more inspiring and rewarding journey, Coach Dru offers an accessible and relatable roadmap for personal evolution. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Golden Boys Bay Area News Group, Jim Barnett, 2015-06-18 Strength in Numbers. The Warriors' 2014-2015 slogan fit this championship team to a T. While they were spearheaded by NBA MVP Stephen Curry, it took a true team effort and display of depth to claim their first NBA title in four decades. Buoyed by a dominant regular season in which they won a league-leading 67 games, the Warriors throttled the NBA with an explosive yet precise offense and a versatile and stingy defense. They cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs, only losing three games as they dispatched the Pelicans, Grizzlies and Rockets, setting up a dream NBA Finals matchup with LeBron James and the Cavaliers, where coach Steve Kerr's team overcame a 2-1 series deficit to defeat Cleveland in six games. Packed with unmatched analysis and dynamic color photography from the Bay Area's largest newspaper publisher, Golden Boys takes fans through the Warriors' historic journey, from Steve Kerr taking over as head coach to Klay Thompson's red-hot 37-point quarter to Stephen Curry's MVP brilliance to the final horn sounding in Cleveland. This commemorative edition also includes in-depth profiles of Curry, Kerr, Thompson, breakout star Draymond Green, gritty defender Andrew Bogut, rising talent Harrison Barnes and other fan favorites. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Jordan Rules Sam Smith, 2012-07-26 The New York Times Bestseller, updated With a New Introduction This is the 20th anniversary of the explosive bestseller that changed the way the world viewed one of the greatest athletes in history, revealing for the first time Michael Jordan's relentless drive to win anything and everything, at any cost. NBA Hall of Fame columnist Sam Smith had unlimited access to the team and its players during their championship 1991-92 season, which he details in the new introduction, along with candid revelations about his sources, and the reaction from Michael, his teammates, the media, and the fans when the book blasted onto the bestseller lists in 1992 (where it stayed for three months). With more than a million copies in print, The Jordan Rules remains the ultimate inside look at one of the most legendary teams in sports history. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Tall Tales and Short Shorts Adam J. Criblez, 2017-06-09 In basketball, just as in American culture, the 1970s were imperfect. But it was a vitally important time in the development of the nation and of the National Basketball Association. During this decade Americans suffered through the war in Vietnam and Nixon’s Watergate cover-up (not to mention disco music and leisure suits) while the NBA weathered the arrival of free agency and charges that its players were “too black.” Despite this turmoil, or perhaps because of it, the NBA evolved into a cultural phenomenon. Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA traces the evolution of the NBA from the retirement of Bill Russell in 1969 to the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson ten years later. Sandwiched between the youthful league of the sixties and its mature successor in the eighties, this book reveals the awkward teenage years of the NBA in the seventies. It examines the many controversies that plagued the league during this time, including illicit drug use, on-court violence, and escalating player salaries. Yet even as attendance dwindled and networks relegated playoff games to tape-delayed, late-night broadcasts, fans still pulled on floppy gray socks like “Pistol Pete” Maravich, emulated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sweeping skyhook, and grew out mushrooming afros à la “Dr. J” Julius Erving. The first book-length treatment of pro basketball in the 1970s, Tall Tales and Short Shorts brings to life the players, teams, and the league as a whole as they dealt with expansion, a merger with the ABA, and transitioning into a new era. Sport historians and basketball fans will enjoy this entertaining and enlightening survey of an often-overlooked time in the development of the NBA. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Boom, Baby! Bobby "Slick" Leonard, Lew Freedman, Larry Bird, 2013-10-01 Bobby Slick Leonard has etched his name forever on the Mount Rushmore of Indiana basketball, and in Boom, Baby! he shares memories from his storied career. Leonard takes readers inside the Indiana locker room with legendary head coach Branch McCracken and onto the court when he hit the deciding free throws as the Hurrying Hoosiers topped Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks. He recalls the NBA's early years, including being drafted by a Baltimore Bullets team that folded soon after selecting him. He tells of his time as the winningest coach in the ABA's nine-year history, securing three championships in his first five seasons with the Indianapolis Pacers. In his final act, Slick endeared himself to new generations of Hoosier hoops fans as the longtime Pacers radio voice, with his trademark call Boom, Baby! for a successful three-point shot. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Blueprint Jason Lloyd, 2017-10-24 An unputdownable, must-have sports book for every LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, and NBA fan. 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 fifty-two 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. But how did they get there? It was a roller-coaster ride from tragedy to triumph, one that Jason Lloyd, a longtime Northeast Ohio resident turned reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, got to see firsthand. He was witness to the Blueprint, as he calls it, which the Cavs put together to win their star player back from Miami and build a team that could win the ultimate championship. It incorporated several losing seasons, some high-risk draft picks, and an entirely new understanding of how to build a championship team. The best part of the plan is that it worked, culminating in the most exciting Finals series in NBA history. And, most important, the end of the Cleveland Curse. Jason Lloyd, a true insider, tells the story of how the NBA really works, and how everyone—from the front office to the stars on the court to the new generation of coaches—worked together to create an unforgettable winning team. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The Sixth Man Łukasz Muniowski, 2021-11-19 While the starting lineup of an NBA team consists of five players, there are at least 12 on each roster. Allocating time on court to keep each of them satisfied is challenging. Theoretically the worst position on the roster is the sixth man--so close to being the starter yet seeming to be the odd man out. This book aims at dispelling that notion, presenting many important players who through the years came off the bench for NBA teams, proving that despite not starting, they were worthy of playing in the best basketball league in the world. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: The NBA Book of Fantastic Facts, Feats & Super Stats Zander Hollander, 1996 |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: Sports Talk Radio Is a Waste of Time (And so Is This Book) Tim Holland, 2010-10-13 A fun, common sense approach to sports from the perspective of someone who LOVES it and wants it to be BETTER than it already is for everyone young and old. Written in hopes of bringing people together to discuss sports topics past, present, fun and serious. If you decide to read it, I can assure you that it will make you think whether you agree or disagree with what is written. I hope that you find a chapter or two in which you DON'T agree with me or the book wasn't worth writing. Most important, I hope you have fun reading this book, learn something from it and come away with thoughts of your own which I would like to hear. Enjoy. |
cleveland cavaliers training camp: How Life Imitates Sports Ira Berkow, 2020-08-04 Memorable Stories From a Half Century of Sports Journalism For the last half century, Pulitzer Prize–winning sportswriter Ira Berkow has been at the center of some of the most memorable moments in sports history. From the World Series, NBA Finals, and Super Bowl, to Heavyweight Title Fights, the Olympics, and The Masters, he has seen and covered them all. After fifty years covering sports, with more than twenty-five as a journalist for the New York Times, How Life Imitates Sports shares how these events—and their participants—have significantly shaped how we as a nation have come to understand and perceive our culture (and even our politics). They are a historical record of one significant sphere of our life and times: sports. From Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Jackie Robinson to Derek Jeter, Billie Jean King to Tonya Harding, O. J. Simpson to Tiger Woods and beyond, this collection is a historical record of our times over this past half century, in terms of society, race and gender, politics, legal issues, and the fabric of our sports passions and human condition, ranging from pathos to humor, from introspection to perception. Including additional commentary on when these events first occurred and how they have impacted us today, Berkow shares the knowledge of someone who sat ringside, in the press box, and on the sidelines for some of the most notable moments in our history. So whether you’re a fan of baseball and basketball, or tennis and soccer, How Life Imitates Sports shows you our history from someone who witnessed it first-hand; a worthy collection for anyone who appreciates the highest quality sports journalism. |
Browns Archives November 2010 - topics.cleveland.com
Cleveland Browns wobble but win, 24-23, as John Kasay misses last-second field goal: Tony's take. Live on DSN: Browns Aftermath Post-Game Show. Cleveland Browns drag Panthers …
Browns Archives October 2020 - topics.cleveland.com
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Prediction poll for Week 8. Browns starpower could make a difference in Sunday’s game. Browns, Cavaliers and Indians executives lay out the …
Browns Archives September 2023 - topics.cleveland.com
Browns vs. Ravens is tricky, but have faith in that Cleveland defense: Tyler Shoemaker’s ‘Betting the Browns’ Browns QB Deshaun Watson: ‘I’m OK, I’ll play’ vs. Ravens despite being …
Browns Archives November 2010 - topics.cleveland.com
Cleveland Browns wobble but win, 24-23, as John Kasay misses last-second field goal: Tony's take. Live on DSN: Browns Aftermath Post-Game Show. Cleveland Browns drag Panthers back into …
Browns Archives October 2020 - topics.cleveland.com
Cleveland Browns vs. Las Vegas Raiders: Prediction poll for Week 8. Browns starpower could make a difference in Sunday’s game. Browns, Cavaliers and Indians executives lay out the goals of …
Browns Archives September 2023 - topics.cleveland.com
Browns vs. Ravens is tricky, but have faith in that Cleveland defense: Tyler Shoemaker’s ‘Betting the Browns’ Browns QB Deshaun Watson: ‘I’m OK, I’ll play’ vs. Ravens despite being questionable …