Madmen's Ball: The Inside Story of the Lakers' Dysfunctional Dynasties
- Book Review,
by Mark Heisler
Book Description
They were the luckiest basketball players ever, the toast of Tinseltown, as big as movie stars. They were the most driven players ever, haunted by their own expectations. Then, when things looked like they couldn’t get any better, or crazier, they discovered a new enemy . . . each other.
From the Inside Flap
No other team in sports—not Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s of the early seventies, or the "Bronx Zoo" Yankees of the late seventies and early eighties, or the Michael Jordan-Dennis Rodman Bulls of the nineties—was ever as wacky as the modern Los Angeles Lakers. It’s been a wild, 44-year ride since 1960, when the Lakers, as stressed-out and zany a crew as any that ever demanded victory of itself, moved to Los Angeles, the world capitol of glitz and seduction. Amazingly, that was only the start of a narrative as tumultuous as it is glorious, and which leads up to the piece de resistance: the long-running Shaq-Kobe Duel of the Titans.As the Lakers came down the homestretch of another season in 2004, their star-studded fan base waited breathlessly to see if its team would win its fourth title in five years—or finally realize its potential for self-destruction and blow itself all over the landscape (which it ultimately did). Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who have been feuding for years, made it abundantly clear that they would have to settle for hating each other long distance after the 2004 campaign. Of course, Shaq and Kobe could have just as easily knocked off another three or four titles as the greatest duo the game has ever seen (Boston general manager Danny Ainge says it was like Wilt playing with Michael Jordan). But with Shaq being upset that the team’s owner liked Kobe more, and Kobe wanting to win titles like Jordan had—with all the glory for one man—the pair couldn’t withstand its feud. Kobe, of course, had more important business pending anyway, with his imminent sexual assault trial-of-the-century approaching. But this is a book about all the artists who made the Lakers great, so many of whom went at least a little out of their minds in the process. This is the story of Jerry West, the icon who was so haunted that he couldn’t even bear to be present when the dynasty he resurrected began winning titles again; Pat Riley, the nobody who became a coaching star and grew so full of himself that he burst like a balloon; Magic Johnson, who was lionized all his career for his smile, and then reviled at the end of it when his secrets came out; the flamboyant Wilt Chamberlain; the forbidding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and the enigmatic Phil Jackson. If you want to know how the Lakers ever got this nuts, the answer is they’ve been practicing for years.
About the Author
Mark Heisler covers the NBA for the Los Angeles Times. He worked 10 years for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Bulletin and has been on the pro basketball beat for 20 seasons. He lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Loretta, and their daughter, Emily.
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