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Madmen's Ball
Madmen's Ball

Madmen's Ball

The Continuing Saga of Kobe, Phil, and the Los Angeles Lakers
By Mark Heisler, Foreword by Jerry West

SPORTS & RECREATION

307 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Cloth, PDF, Mobipocket, EPUB

Cloth, $24.95 (US $24.95) (CA $27.95)

ISBN 9781600781988

Rights: WOR

Triumph Books (Nov 2008)

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Overview

In this revised and expanded edition, Los Angeles Times writer Mark Heisler investigates the 45-year history of the Los Angeles Lakers and unveils a pattern of pampered and/or misguided players, megalomaniacal executives, and owners whose obsessive drives for championships and attention combined to create an atmosphere of conflict for decades Throughout the entire 2003–04 season, fans and the media called the L.A. Lakers the biggest reality show in the country. But the laundry list of conflicts—the ongoing Kobe-Shaq bickering, Kobe's sexual assault trial, Phil Jackson's final season, Gary Payton's refusal to admit his physical decline, and the loss to Detroit in the championship—was just another year in the history of the Lakers. Madmen's Ball goes back to the Lakers' unceremonious arrival in Los Angeles in 1960 to show that the franchise has been embroiled in controversy, in-house battles and personality clashes for generations.

Author Biography

Mark Heisler
See Author
Mark Heisler covers the NBA for the Los Angeles Times. He has been on the professional basketball beat for 25 years, starting at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Bulletin, and was the winner of the Naismith Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Award in 2006. He lives in Los Angeles. Jerry West played for 14 seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers, leading them to nine NBA Finals and the 1972 championship. After retiring as the third-highest scorer in NBA history, West coached the Lakers to a 145–101 record over three seasons. He became the team’s general manager in 1982, helping to build the dynasty of the 1980s, and currently serves as the president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Media

Sports Illustrated runs an excerpt taking a closer look the the Shaq & Kobe fued
Read Now
Mark Heisler joins Mason & Ireland on KSPN to talk Lakers past and present
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The Los Angeles Times runs an excerpt looking at the
beginning of the end of Kobe & Shaq" target="_blank">
beginning of the end of Kobe & Shaq" target="_blank"> Read Now

Press Releases

 

MADMEN'S BALL: THE CONTINUING SAGA OF KOBE, PHIL,

AND THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS

by Mark Heisler

 

Win or lose, one thing the Los Angeles Lakers have never been is boring.  Since they moved to the world capital of glitz and seduction in 1960, no franchise in sports has been as consistently stressed-out, wacky, or tumultuous as the Lakers.  Along the way there have been devastating heartbreaks and glorious triumphs, relationships formed and lost, as well as enough superstars, oversized egos, media attention, scandals, heroes, goats, and backstabbing to last a lifetime.

 

Madmen's Ball: The Continuing Saga of Kobe, Phil, and the Los Angeles Lakers by Mark Heisler (Foreword by Jerry West) investigates the history of the Los Angeles Lakers to unveil a pattern of pampered and/or misguided players, megalomaniacal executives and owners whose obsessive drives for championships and attention (not necessarily in that order) combined to create an atmosphere of conflict for decades.

 

In this revised and expanded edition, acclaimed author and Los Angeles Times journalist Mark Heisler details the colorful, dysfunctional, and often hard-to-believe stories behind all of the greatest and worst moments in the team's history, including:

 

       ¨ Why Jerry West's personality traits made him so eager to retire from playing

       ¨ How coach Butch van Breda Kolff's disdain of Wilt Chamberlain lost the 1968 finals

       ¨ Why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's quirky personality alienated teammates so easily

       ¨ Why owner Jerry Buss's infamous "two-coaches" announcement was so embarrassing

       ¨ The team's resurrection in 2008 and suddenly bright future

 

And, of course, all the details behind the entire Kobe-Shaq drama that took the Lakers from a decent team, to one of unequaled greatness, to absolute destruction and back again.

 

Madmen's Ball is an insider's look at how big egos, big salaries, big media exposure and even bigger expectations have all combined over the years to make the L.A. Lakers a cauldron of high emotions and bitter clashes no matter who is playing, coaching, owning or running the organization. 

 

About the Author:

Mark Heisler covers the NBA for the Los Angeles Times.  He has been on the professional basketball beat for 25 years, starting at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Bulletin, and was the winner of the Naismith Hall of Fame's Curt Gowdy Award in 2006.  He andhis wife, Loretta, live in the San Fernando Valley with their daughter, Emily.

 

CONTACT: Josh Williams, Triumph Books, 312.252.1261, j.williams@triumphbooks.com

 

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