Larry Legend

by Mark Shaw

The life and times of NBA superstar Larry Bird, including a chronicle of his rookie coaching season with the Indiana Pacers

Genres: Sports, Biography

Hardcover

First published October 28, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

A former criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for USA Today, CNN and ESPN, Mark Shaw is the author of 25 books and counting. His most recent is "The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What's My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen." Additional books include "The Poison Patriarch," Miscarriage of Justice," "Stations Along the Way," "Down for the Count," "Beneath the Mask of Holiness," "Larry Legend," "Bury Me In Pot Bunker," and "How to Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication."

Mr. Shaw has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, and the Aspen Daily News. He formally was a host or correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America, CBS's People, The World of People, Disney's The Scheme of Things and also hosted a three hour radio program in the Midwest. He is married to librarian Wen-ying Lu and lives in the San Francisco area.

More about Mr. Shaw may be learned at markshawbooks.com and on Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Patrick Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

His old playing anecdotes and coverage of his youth were good, but the other half of the book is totally focused on the Pacers and how Larry sat on the bench coaching. While I enjoyed the insight into his coaching style I really didn't need the descriptions of how he sat on the bench, hands folded, seemingly uncaring. I would have preferred more about Larry's playing days and not as much about the Indiana Pacers which he coached.

A much better read on his playing days is: "When the Games was Ours." That was a very good book. Larry Legend was just an average book. Paling in comparison to the aforementioned book and "Drive" which Larry wrote.

This is a good insight into the Indiana Pacers turnaround season though, chock full of game by game reasoning and thoughts on how to get a club to turn 180 degrees. Your enjoyment, or lack there of, o this book is most likely based on what you are looking for. I wanted more Larry playing days.

[Rob Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on the heels of watching The Last Dance. So much nostalgia! I enjoyed reliving Bird's playing career and the first year he spent coaching.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

His old playing anecdotes were great, but the other half of the book is totally focused on the Pacers and how Larry sat on the bench coaching. The editing was so poor there were times it was hard to understand. A much better read is: "When the Games was Ours." It includes sections about Magic Johnson, and has more about the Bird.

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 2007