Six years after Michael Jordan won his last NBA championship, American basketball hit rock bottom. The perception of NBA players reached an all-time low. Team USA lost three times, disgracing the nation at the 2004 Olympics. With great historical sweep, bringing in the voices of all-time greats like Jordan, Bill Russell, Julius Erving and Jerry West, the book will show how American basketball bottomed out. It will chart the path of Jerry Colangelo, a great sportsman who set out to change the stained image of USA Basketball. And with great insight and fresh detail, it will show how two of the best players in history – Kobe Bryant and LeBron James – spun their own tails of redemption in while winning gold medals.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Six years after Michael Jordan won his last NBA championship, American basketball hit rock bottom. The perception of NBA players reached an all-time low. Team USA lost three times, disgracing the nation at the 2004 Olympics. With great historical sweep, bringing in the voices of all-time greats like Jordan, Bill Russell, Julius Erving and Jerry West, the book will show how American basketball bottomed out. It will chart the path of Jerry Colangelo, a great sportsman who set out to change the stained image of USA Basketball. And with great insight and fresh detail, it will show how two of the best players in history – Kobe Bryant and LeBron James – spun their own tails of redemption in while winning gold medals.
About the Author
Dan Bickley is an award-winning journalist and radio talk show host in Arizona. He is a veteran sports columnist for the Arizona Republic newspaper and azcentral.com. He spent the first 11 years of his career in Chicago, mostly as a sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times. He is the author of “No Bull: The Unauthorized Biography of Dennis Rodman.” He has covered numerous Olympics and NBA Finals.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Story,
By
This review is from: Return of the Gold: The Journey of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team (Paperback)
Dan Bickley's story, Return of the Gold, of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team offers terrific insights and behind-the-scene stories of a group of dedicated individuals who set out to return the Olympic Gold Medal in basketball to the United States.
Having grown up in Los Angeles, I became accustomed to reading great sports writing from the Pulitzer Prize winning columinst, Jim Murray. While I have long enjoyed Dan's writing in the Arizona Republic, his new book reminds me of something that even Jim would have been most proud of - it's really that good! While the outcome is never in doubt, the journey is exciting; filled with success and failures, passion, sacrifice and even humor. It's a story of leadership, forgiveness, and respect, all directed towards one objective, a higher calling. Along the way, Dan provides great insights into the lives of not only Jery Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski and the players who were ultimately selected for the team (LeBron, Kobe, Dwyane, Dwight, Carmelo, etc.), he also offers a unique look a such individuals as Michael Jordan, Jerry West and Shaq. The chapters on announcer, Doug Collins, and former Olympian and NBA great, Bill Russell, are alone worth the price of the book. After reading the book in a single day (it's much like a mystery novel where you find yourself saying - just one more chapter) I went out and bought five aditional copies for my father, son and three best friends. (My wife even enjoyed the passages I read to her.) And while this year's NBA season is only beginning, I have a new found respect for a group of young men who I now realize I never really knew before. Dan Bickley winning a Pulitzer Prize someday? I for one will not be surprised.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun read,
By
This review is from: Return of the Gold: The Journey of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team (Paperback)
Of all places, I found about this book watching an NBATV video during an Air Canada flight from Denver to Toronto last April 2010. I'm kind of surprised this book didn't get much marketing.
This was a fun read, lots of inside stories that you don't get to hear from anywhere else. The book talks about the different individual stories of the Redeem Team that includes Jerry Colangelo, LeBron, Doug Collins, Kobe, etc. and how it all connects. I wish there were more from the other guys too, like CP, Teyshon Prince, Boozer, etc. Their stories are inspiring but not hair-tingling inspiring. It's a story about redemption of our own wrongdoing. USA basketball was at it's lowest point in 2004 because of our own arrogance. But hey, I think we got it fixed. Proof is in the pudding as you've seen during the Olympics and as told in this book. Can I just point out though that I really don't like Kobe? I'll root for any other team except for Kobe and the Fakers. Maybe because I'm such a big Jordan fan that I just don't want this copycat succeed. But as much I hate to admit, I was rooting for Kobe during the Olympics. He was humble, he was a team player. You can see that in 2008 and this book tells more about him... My support of Kobe, however, ended after the Olympics. Hehe. Beat LA! Beat LA! I have one gripe about this book: editing. Oh my goodness, I don't know how much typographical and grammatical errors you'll find in this book. I'm not an English major or anything, but those errors could've been easily fixed is someone would've proof read them.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inspirational!,
This review is from: Return of the Gold: The Journey of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team (Paperback)
Aside from a few editing typos (reason I gave it only 4 stars), this is an excellent historical account of how Jerry Colangelo helped to assemble and shape the USA Olympic basketball team that went on to win the gold in China.
It is a sort of biography of Colangelo's life, and a story of humility and redemption of certain players. Jerry Colangelo is one of the few owners in the Basketball Hall of Fame for several reasons. As the former owner of the Phoenix Suns he has lived out his Christian faith by showing a business acumen relative to his employees and players that is second to none. He was the first owner to recruit a European player into the NBA. It was his idea to change the NBA rules which led to a faster-paced more exciting style of play. He has in my opinion done more to positively transform his community than any other leader in Phoenix' history. Aside from his sports and real estate investments in the community, he has empowered hundreds of non-profits in the Phoenix area alone that continue to serve the less fortunate in the community. Jerry leadership style compels people to evaluate their own lives and stirs their desire to humbly serve. To have that effect on NBA players - that is a miracle, and that is one of the most significant themes of this book. I have seen Jerry Colangelo as a mentor of mine for years. I was in China recently and visited the Olympic complex so the venue described in the book was meaningful to me from that standpoint as well. The book is fast paced and gave me details of Jerry's life and events of the USA basketball team that I wouldn't otherwise have known about. You won't be disappointed. Every businessperson, sports fan, or aspiring leader should read this book!
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