Larry Legend [Hardcover]

Mark Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group is America's largest publisher and distributor of sports books. We cover all the bases for 32 sports and have more than 300 titles in print. Our list boasts such sports heavyweights as The Sporting News, Gold's Gym, /Ironman, and Joe Weider. More than just rules and equipment books, NTC/Contemporary's titles include biographies, commentary, humor, instruction, and statistics. NTC/Contemporary is the one team that produces winners every season.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Even without his masterful debut as coach of the 1997-1998 Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird's brilliant, gutsy career with the Boston Celtics--three NBA championship rings and a trio of Most Valuable Player trophies--cries out for celebration and reassessment. He was a dominant player, a thinking player who controlled the game as much with his leadership as his keen passing, tough "D," and the soft touch of his jumper. In Larry Legend, Shaw interweaves chapters of Bird's biography with chapters chronicling his Coach of the Year season to create a hybrid volume; rather than do both well, he does both adequately. Everything is here--Bird's French Lick, Indiana, childhood; why he left Bobby Knight and the Indiana University pressure cooker for lower profile Indiana State; the glory years with the Celtics; the rivalry with Magic Johnson; the back problems; and the ways he re-created the Pacers in his own court-burned image. The problem is presentation. As he jumps back and forth in time, Shaw impedes his own flow, a foul that Bird never committed. That's too bad, because Shaw is a capable reporter who loves his subject and does an otherwise admirable job of fleshing out the life of a man beneath the "Legend" of the title. --Jeff Silverman

From Booklist

This book capitalizes on the phenomenal success of Larry Bird in his first season as a head coach in the National Basketball Association. In coaching, Bird wisely stuck to the farmerlike work habits of his playing career, habits that elevated him from high-school star in tiny French Lick, Indiana, to having his jersey hung in the hallowed rafters of Boston Garden. The simple approach to coaching worked, and Bird's team, the Indiana Pacers, far exceeded expectations, earning him Coach of the Year honors. Despite alternate chapters on Bird's whole career, Shaw's book does little to augment Bird's autobiography, Drive (1989). This is mainly a game log of Bird's rookie year as a coach, and it rarely takes us inside the action or relationships between thoroughbred athletes. Still, Bird's status as one of the key figures in basketball's exponential rise in popularity, along with last year's coaching success, is certain to attract fans to this journeyman effort. Dane Carr

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Masters Pr (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570282358
• ISBN-13: 978-1570282355
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,802,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( B ) > Bird, Larry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Larry Legend is a prizewinner, a great sports book., October 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Larry Legend (Paperback)

What I like about Mark Shaw books is that he tells it like it is. Larry Legend not only portrays Larry Bird as a great basketball player but the author criticizes him re his coaching ability and also says he is a failure as a father to his only daughter. That gives a balanced look at Bird, one that I feel is important.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shaw brilliantly captures why Bird is one of the greatest., January 8, 1999

By 

Rachel M. Stenberg (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Larry Legend (Hardcover)

Of all the books I read about Bird, Mark Shaw truly captures why he is one of the greatest minds in the game of basketball. The insights and interviews of the players who played against him and for him showed why he is revered not just by Celtic fans, but by basketball fans worldwide. If you are a basketball fan, this is a must have for your collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to treasure, December 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Larry Legend (Hardcover)

Fantastic portrait of Larry Bird, specially of his first season as a NBA coach. Shaw has the great ability to make imaginative metaphores and to create surprising game reports. I wonder if Larry Bird suspected that a writer was watching him closely during an entire season?