Dynasty: The Rise of the Boston Celtics [Hardcover]

Lew Freedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2008

The behind-the-scenes story of one of professional basketball's most respected and beloved teams.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the spring of 1957 the Boston Celtics, led by coach Red Auerbach, won a National Basketball Association championship for the first time. Auerbach had been building the team throughout the 1950s but was still missing what he considered an essential piece—a single player in the middle who could hoist the team on his shoulders by doing the dirty work of rebounding and playing defense. That player was Bill Russell.

By blending unselfish yet talented players into a roster led by Russell’s unconquerable will, Auerbach and the Celtics put together an unprecedented run of championships rarely challenged before or since in team sports. Between 1957 and 1969, Boston won eleven titles in thirteen seasons. Only when Russell retired did the era of dominance end.

Written by Lew Freedman, an award-winning veteran sportswriter who personally witnessed many of the Celtics’ antics and special moments over the years, Dynasty is a celebration of the basketball team Auerbach melded into one of the greatest franchises in NBA history.

Freedman grew up attending Celtics games, from his first game as a boy in 1960 he befriended the players and the team management as an adult. In Dynasty, he draws on dozens of interviews as well as courtside observation to reveal dramatic moments both on and off the floor.

Half a century after the Celtics’ legendary first championship, here is a riveting
behind-the-scenes account of one of sports’ greatest franchises—a terrific book about a vibrant sports town, the greatest players in basketball, and one of professional basketball’s best and most beloved teams.

From the Back Cover

The behind-the-scenes story of the glory years of one of professional basketball’s best and most beloved teams

 

I so admired Cousy and Russell as a kid, and I rooted from the depths of my heart for Tommy Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, Tom Sanders, Jim Loscutoff, Bill Sharman, Sam Jones, K. C. Jones, John Havlicek, and all the others in green. I knew I was watching something special, but it wasn’t until I was much older, when time provided perspective, that some of their feats seemed so incredible. . . .
Year after year, the Celtics won, with essentially the same cast—a circumstance now impossible given the free
agency of the modern era—men molded by a singularly wise master of the game, Red Auerbach. The Dynasty is a great sports story, but it is a story rooted in a transcending and tumultuous period in American history. . . .
The Celtics players were a diverse group of men from all corners of the country, but they had more in common than they, or anyone else, would have thought. Dramatic changes swirled about them . . . but none of those developments distracted the players enough to disturb their artistry on the court. All the Celtics did between 1957 and 1969—while their nation changed forever—was win.
—from the Prologue

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press (June 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599211246
• ISBN-13: 978-1599211244
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,117,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding overview of a team and a period in sports and cultural history, October 1, 2008

By 

R. C Sheehy "deadsox" (Foxboro,MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dynasty: The Rise of the Boston Celtics (Hardcover)

I read Dynasty primarily because I am a fan of the Boston Celtics and given their recent championship thought this might make for a timely if somewhat self serving book trying to time the market right. Let me say that this is an excellent all around sports book that all fans of sports and people who think sports doesn't matter in our society should read.

The Celtics during their amazing dynasty of the 1960's took the old sports adage that they were a team and put it to truth. It didn't matter where you sat on the bench you were as equal to the success of the team as if your name were Cousy or Russell. The Celtics players did not see black versus white and socialized with each other because the guy next to them was a teammate nothing more. Dynasty shows that the team did exist in a bubble during this period but chose to fight their battles on the court and prove that blacks and whites can exist together at a time when the country wasn't sure they could.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see how you succeed as a team and how ultimately the matters we can't control matter little next to those we can.

1 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars So poorly executed I couldn't finish it, December 19, 2008

By 

Joseph C. Sweeney (Portland, Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dynasty: The Rise of the Boston Celtics (Hardcover)

As you can see if you look under my other reviews, I read plenty of books. And partially due to that, I don't waste time on poorly written stuff. This book is one example.