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Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA
The most winning coach in NBA history looks back on a life in professional basketball, offering a personal take on the remarkable changes that have shaped the sport over the past four decades. 35,000 first printing.
302 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2013
I have had this book for a few years and never could get interested in reading it. While I have always liked Lenny Wilkens and agreed he was a great coach and player. The problem was, Wilkens isn't a really animated person, and never seemed, shall I say, exciting?
After reading Terry Pluto and Bob Ryan's "Forty-Eight Minutes", a book outlining the details between a 1987 game between Cleveland and Boston, I got to see Wilkens operate on the sideline. I tend to follow themes when reanding balketball book. THerefore, since Wilkens and the 1987 Cavs were on my mind, and since Pluto also wrote this book, and I think he's about the best sports writer out there, and he writes for the Akron newspaper, Lenny Wilkens should be a topic of expertise for him. So with that, I picked it up and started.
Wow! This book was so good, it was difficult to put down. Wilkens is really a fascinating person. He came from a mixed race parents and raised Roman Catholic. He attended parochial schools. His father died when he was 5 years old and Wilkens grew up fast, working a lot of jobs to help his mother pay the bills. He played basketball in the streets, but only played half a season in high school. His priest pulled a few strings and through a seredipitous moment, he landed a scholarship to Providence, where he excelled in his studies and became a star basketball player.
Unfortunately, he was overshadowed after being snubbed for the 1960 Olympic Team and entered the league at the same time as Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. who for 25 years, were the consensus greatest guards in NBA history. Wilkens had a hall of fame career, but he is usually the "3rd guard from the class of '60."
He played in St. Louis, which was the most racist city in the NBA at that time (not Wilkens opinion -- just read a bunch of books from that period). He got a raw deal when he was shipped off to Seattle. He was known as a coach on the floor, but how he became a player-coach was an interesting story. After a stop in Cleveland and Portland, where he became a full-time coach, he became General Manager and coach of Seattle, where they made consecutive finals appearances, winning the 2nd year. However, that team is forgotton by most fans because it lacked a superstar and happened the season before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league. Furthermore, the finals were tape delayed and missed by most of the TV viewers.
He joined Cleveland along with their amazing 1986 rookie class (Brad Daughty, Mark Price, Ron Harper, Hot Rod Williams, and Johhny Newman) and blossomed into a powerful contender. He tells about the details of the Danny Ferry trade fiasco and how that possibly destroyed a championship team.
Wilkens then went to Atlanta where they became a contender, but never could get out of the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Hawks front office decided to solve their ills by trading Steve Smith for J.R. Rider - and the team fell apart. The book ends with Wilkens resigning from Atlanta and taking the Toronto coaching job.
He also tells about coaching the 1996 Olympic team and being an assistant coach for the original Dream Team (1992), and surpassing Red Auerbach's record for career coaching victories.
Wilkens carried himself with a quiet dignity on the court, but you learn what makes him tick, and why he has such a reputation as a player's coach. He's a man of quiet dignity, strong faith, solid values, and right priorities. He's honest and doesn't make excuses.
Terry Pluto's writing flows and makes Wilkens' story easy to read and get engulfed in. Easily the best autobiography from a head coach.
After reading Terry Pluto and Bob Ryan's "Forty-Eight Minutes", a book outlining the details between a 1987 game between Cleveland and Boston, I got to see Wilkens operate on the sideline. I tend to follow themes when reanding balketball book. THerefore, since Wilkens and the 1987 Cavs were on my mind, and since Pluto also wrote this book, and I think he's about the best sports writer out there, and he writes for the Akron newspaper, Lenny Wilkens should be a topic of expertise for him. So with that, I picked it up and started.
Wow! This book was so good, it was difficult to put down. Wilkens is really a fascinating person. He came from a mixed race parents and raised Roman Catholic. He attended parochial schools. His father died when he was 5 years old and Wilkens grew up fast, working a lot of jobs to help his mother pay the bills. He played basketball in the streets, but only played half a season in high school. His priest pulled a few strings and through a seredipitous moment, he landed a scholarship to Providence, where he excelled in his studies and became a star basketball player.
Unfortunately, he was overshadowed after being snubbed for the 1960 Olympic Team and entered the league at the same time as Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. who for 25 years, were the consensus greatest guards in NBA history. Wilkens had a hall of fame career, but he is usually the "3rd guard from the class of '60."
He played in St. Louis, which was the most racist city in the NBA at that time (not Wilkens opinion -- just read a bunch of books from that period). He got a raw deal when he was shipped off to Seattle. He was known as a coach on the floor, but how he became a player-coach was an interesting story. After a stop in Cleveland and Portland, where he became a full-time coach, he became General Manager and coach of Seattle, where they made consecutive finals appearances, winning the 2nd year. However, that team is forgotton by most fans because it lacked a superstar and happened the season before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league. Furthermore, the finals were tape delayed and missed by most of the TV viewers.
He joined Cleveland along with their amazing 1986 rookie class (Brad Daughty, Mark Price, Ron Harper, Hot Rod Williams, and Johhny Newman) and blossomed into a powerful contender. He tells about the details of the Danny Ferry trade fiasco and how that possibly destroyed a championship team.
Wilkens then went to Atlanta where they became a contender, but never could get out of the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Hawks front office decided to solve their ills by trading Steve Smith for J.R. Rider - and the team fell apart. The book ends with Wilkens resigning from Atlanta and taking the Toronto coaching job.
He also tells about coaching the 1996 Olympic team and being an assistant coach for the original Dream Team (1992), and surpassing Red Auerbach's record for career coaching victories.
Wilkens carried himself with a quiet dignity on the court, but you learn what makes him tick, and why he has such a reputation as a player's coach. He's a man of quiet dignity, strong faith, solid values, and right priorities. He's honest and doesn't make excuses.
Terry Pluto's writing flows and makes Wilkens' story easy to read and get engulfed in. Easily the best autobiography from a head coach.
November 23, 2013
Great read about a humble player/coach
May 16, 2014
excellent read- thoughtful and insightful-really explains Lenny and his accomplishments and his disapointments
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews