Customer Reviews

The Los Angeles Lakers: 50 Amazing Years in the City of Angels

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Picked this up at the Forum tonight. It is worth the money- many pictures I have never seen and some of the best sportwriting in LA history from the LA Times.
A long forward by Phil Jackson, lots of Scott Ostler and Jim Murray. I have so many Lakers books but this one is the best yet.

I received this book last night and could not put it down. It is the history of the great Lakers franchise with brilliant articles by some of the best writers, spectacular photos and even year by year key statistics. It makes me proud to be a Laker fan and I just placed it on my coffee table for all to see.
The L.A. Times has done a wonderful job along with the Lakers organization for keeping such a high standard after fifty years.

Like Magic said, let's go "back to back" again.

L.A. all the way !!!!!!

The pictures in this book are incredible, and the writing from the country's best sportswriters detail the incredible journey -- both the ups and the downs -- that this basketball team has traveled over the past 50 years. The introduction by Phil Jackson is both personal and telling, setting the stage for an honest history that reinforces why I love the team, the city ... and now this book.

This book really needed to happen after the Lakers' victory last summer, and it couldn't come in a better package at a better time. It's not the fan fluff that you might expect from a big, glossy book like this -- it's got hard-hitting sports writing from the Los Angeles Times throughout the years and brings a lot of Lakers history into play that I certainly didn't know about. Great photos, and Jackson's foreword clinches it.

This is a wonderful book! As one who grew up on the Lakers in the 1980's I was always curious about the pre-Showtime days and the transition from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. The old Los Angeles Times articles are great. The writing is superb and very insightful. The season by season breakdown is also very informative. It provides the rosters for every season through the 2008-2009 season. It gives a summary of each season, the win-loss total, and how far each team progressed into the post-season.

This book also gives lots of rich, detailed information about the franchise and the players. I always wondered when and why the Lakers switched their uniform colors from blue and white to purple and gold. The explanation is found in the chapter covering the building of the Fabulous Forum. The uniform change was done to coincide with the Lakers move into the Forum in December of 1967. Former owner Jack Kent Cooke hoped it would kick off a new era of Lakers basketball.

Reading through this book really made me wish there was more footage of West and Baylor from the early 1960's. Those two were a truly amazing tandem and I wish I could have witnessed some of their score feats. Lastly, the back of the book is loaded with stats. There is also a summary of the careers of all seven Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famers. I won't even list them. Real fans should be able to name them off the top of their heads. If you can't you need to buy this book learn about this great team.

Very enjoyable book. Photos are great and it is a well put together.
Lots of history and memories for any Laker fan. 50 Years of exciting basketball and lots of outstanding players. It is a rich history.

Excellent book not only for Lakers fans but also NBA fans in general! Great columns, super pictures, A+!!!

The first book, "50 Amazing Years" is an update from last year's version, necessitated by the back-to-back wins the team experienced in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. In it, the full Lakers' history is covered in glorious detail - from the early black and white era of the teams first superstar George Mikan, to all the glory years once the team moved from its Minnesota roots in 1961 (hence the name Lakers) to the hall-of-fame years associated with the superstars laden teams of L.A. Every major moment in Lakerdom is recounted through the writers, newspaper clippings and extraordinary photography bringing to life the energy and enthusiasm of cliff-hanger games and series and milestone moments in the team's illustrious, record-breaking history.
WIth teams that included such NBA greats as Elgin Baylor, Jerry West. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant (along side such other greats as James Worthy, Gail Goodrich, Derek Fisher, Pao Gasol, etc.), famed coaches from Bill Sharman to Pat Riley to the league's winningest coach, Phil Jackson, to arenas like the L.A. Sports Arena, the Fabulous Forum and Staples Center, it is clear that Laker history is major, multi-faceted and, complete with a full stats appendix, all captured here. (Long-time L.A. Times' writers on the Laker beat - Dan Hafner, Mal Florence, Jim Murray and Scott Ostler - provide the bulk of the text) For a team that graced the cover of the first 50 years of Sports Illustrated second only to the New York Yankees, that history is a rich story and this is the first book to accurately and completely capture it in all its splendor. (Even including the irreplaceable broadcaster that helped put the Lakers on the map, Chick Hearn.)

I purchased this book as a gift for a soldier that I adopted. It is the ultimate Lakers fan history guide. Great hardback book with amazing history about the team. This is the ultimate gift for a true fan.

I grew up watching and admiring the Lakers. So when I saw this book here in Amazon I didn't hesitate to buy it.
It's a lovely book with pictures I've never seen before. Truly amazing!!!