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Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA
Lance Allred was probably the last person you'd expect to make it in professional sports. Not only did he grow up on a polygamist commune in Montana, he struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. If those hurdles to the NBA don't seem large enough, Lance is also deaf.
Self-deprecating, witty, and wholly original, Longshot is the unlikely story of an unlikely athlete, who despite these factors and a lot of setbacks along the way, finally realized his dream of playing in the NBA, becoming the first legally deaf player in the league.
Lance refused to let others' expectations hinder his dreams, and his refreshing sense of humor about his disability allowed him to face these setbacks without giving up. From his childhood on the commune where he was "Mormon royalty" (his grandfather was prophet Rulon Allred of the fundamentalist sect) to his first time picking up a basketball (eighth grade), to his clumsy efforts to build his skills while growing into his 6' 11" frame, Longshot is a riveting account of a young man finding his purpose and letting the love of the game drive him toward his ultimate goal.
Going inside the competitive world of collegiate basketball and the strange experience of playing professionally in Europe, with paychecks that never arrive and a knee injury Lance's team didn't want to cover, Longshot recounts the moment when Lance hit rock bottom. When he came back to the United States for surgery, Lance was prepared to let go of his basketball dreams and become a high school history teacher like his dad.
But luckily he had an agent who didn't want to see Lance's dream die, and who found him a deal with the Idaho Stampede, an NBA Development League team in Boise. Although it was paltry pay, it was the last resort. And Lance slowly began to be noticed.
Revealing the resilient heart of a young man who truly believes that it's not about failure or success but about being willing to try, Longshot is a Rudy story for a new generation, a tale of inspiration, dedication, and the power of a dream.
276 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 13, 2017
It's fun to read something written by a friend.
I was attending the same high school at the same time as Lance (albeit a year younger) and knew many of the same people. His book made me feel ashamed that I was too self involved and had such low self esteem at the time to realize what others were going thru.
I also idolized University of Utah basketball during the time that Lance was playing and enjoyed reading about the players from a first hand account.
Lance wrote this in a way that made it easy to read. He makes you feel good about life and want to put in more effort to achieve your dreams.
I was attending the same high school at the same time as Lance (albeit a year younger) and knew many of the same people. His book made me feel ashamed that I was too self involved and had such low self esteem at the time to realize what others were going thru.
I also idolized University of Utah basketball during the time that Lance was playing and enjoyed reading about the players from a first hand account.
Lance wrote this in a way that made it easy to read. He makes you feel good about life and want to put in more effort to achieve your dreams.
May 5, 2023
So like, I just finished the book, and despite the quirky sexism and racism, I thought it was a riveting autobiography and I overall enjoyed myself. However, I’m kind of left stunned in the end. I read this book to understand more perspectives of deaf people, and I guess I wasn’t prepared to read the phrase “I look forward to the day when I will meet my Jesus, and He will give me my hearing…”
Deaf people I’ve known don’t view their deafness as something that is wrong with them. I’d viewed Allred’s portrayal of his own deafness until this point as generally matter-of-fact, and I suppose I read into his story an inability of those around him to accommodate him, rather than a yearning to be hearing. It answers my question, I suppose, as to why I’d never really seen him lauded as a Deaf pioneer before.
Regardless, I find his story interesting, inspiring, and worth the read. Just be prepared for the aforementioned difficulties within the text.
Deaf people I’ve known don’t view their deafness as something that is wrong with them. I’d viewed Allred’s portrayal of his own deafness until this point as generally matter-of-fact, and I suppose I read into his story an inability of those around him to accommodate him, rather than a yearning to be hearing. It answers my question, I suppose, as to why I’d never really seen him lauded as a Deaf pioneer before.
Regardless, I find his story interesting, inspiring, and worth the read. Just be prepared for the aforementioned difficulties within the text.
July 11, 2021
Great read for any basketball fan. At times hilarious, other times very poignant. Got to meet Lance while he was in the NBA's D-league. Very engaging and friendly.
September 13, 2013
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Lance Allred was a professional basketball player who made it to the NBA. He did not have a distinguished career as he appeared in three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007-08 season. That is not what makes this book and his story interesting. It is how he got there that is captured in “Longshot.”
He was raised in a small Montana compound where polygamy was practiced. His family was targeted for harm by fundamentalists. He later converted to the Mormon faith. Just his youth experiences would make for a tale that would be worth the time to read, but that is far from the whole story. He writes about his high school basketball coach with reverence, his college experience at the University of Utah and legendary coach Rick Majerus with a little less enthusiasm. The reason for this is that he believed that the coach was discriminating since Allred was deaf.
This handicap is important to the story. While Allred did not try to make the reader feel sorry for him because of this condition, it was mentioned often enough that it seems that way. At times while reading, I thought to myself, “Yes, I know you are deaf. Now carry on.” Thankfully he doesn’t do this with other afflictions he had, such as foot and knee injuries. In fact, some of the funnier parts of the book are his anecdotes about how he dealt with these. His tryout for a team when his foot was injured was one of the funnier parts of the book that I enjoyed. Although that particular passage would not be for the squeamish!
Basketball fans will especially enjoy the sections about his time in the NBA Developmental League, or D-League as it is commonly called. It will certainly remind people that not every professional athlete, no matter the sport, lives a life of luxury.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Allred’s memoir about his struggles and path to finally achieve his dream of playing in the NBA. Sometimes when looking for a book on an athlete, skipping the stories of the superstars and reading about a fringe player like Allred can be a rewarding experience. That was the case with this book.
Did I skim?
No
Did I learn something new?
Yes. In addition to learning about the culture of polygamy and Mormonism, I learned about the D-League and that it really isn’t the “minor league” of the NBA. The life of a D-League player is nothing like that of a minor league baseball player.
Pace of the book:
Very good. Lance’s story was never boring.
Positives:
I enjoyed the basketball portions of the book, especially his experience in Europe (another excellent source of humor in the book) and in the D-League.
Negatives:
The biggest negative I found was the constant reference to his deafness. This has been noted in the review, and while important, I felt Allred reminded the reader about this a little too often.
Do I recommend?
Yes, especially for those readers who like inspiring stories. Readers who are not basketball fans will like this book as well because of the information on other topics. There is very little about basketball in the first third of the book, and the story will grab any reader enough that he or she will want to keep going.
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Lance Allred was a professional basketball player who made it to the NBA. He did not have a distinguished career as he appeared in three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007-08 season. That is not what makes this book and his story interesting. It is how he got there that is captured in “Longshot.”
He was raised in a small Montana compound where polygamy was practiced. His family was targeted for harm by fundamentalists. He later converted to the Mormon faith. Just his youth experiences would make for a tale that would be worth the time to read, but that is far from the whole story. He writes about his high school basketball coach with reverence, his college experience at the University of Utah and legendary coach Rick Majerus with a little less enthusiasm. The reason for this is that he believed that the coach was discriminating since Allred was deaf.
This handicap is important to the story. While Allred did not try to make the reader feel sorry for him because of this condition, it was mentioned often enough that it seems that way. At times while reading, I thought to myself, “Yes, I know you are deaf. Now carry on.” Thankfully he doesn’t do this with other afflictions he had, such as foot and knee injuries. In fact, some of the funnier parts of the book are his anecdotes about how he dealt with these. His tryout for a team when his foot was injured was one of the funnier parts of the book that I enjoyed. Although that particular passage would not be for the squeamish!
Basketball fans will especially enjoy the sections about his time in the NBA Developmental League, or D-League as it is commonly called. It will certainly remind people that not every professional athlete, no matter the sport, lives a life of luxury.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Allred’s memoir about his struggles and path to finally achieve his dream of playing in the NBA. Sometimes when looking for a book on an athlete, skipping the stories of the superstars and reading about a fringe player like Allred can be a rewarding experience. That was the case with this book.
Did I skim?
No
Did I learn something new?
Yes. In addition to learning about the culture of polygamy and Mormonism, I learned about the D-League and that it really isn’t the “minor league” of the NBA. The life of a D-League player is nothing like that of a minor league baseball player.
Pace of the book:
Very good. Lance’s story was never boring.
Positives:
I enjoyed the basketball portions of the book, especially his experience in Europe (another excellent source of humor in the book) and in the D-League.
Negatives:
The biggest negative I found was the constant reference to his deafness. This has been noted in the review, and while important, I felt Allred reminded the reader about this a little too often.
Do I recommend?
Yes, especially for those readers who like inspiring stories. Readers who are not basketball fans will like this book as well because of the information on other topics. There is very little about basketball in the first third of the book, and the story will grab any reader enough that he or she will want to keep going.
January 16, 2010
This is the story of a legally deaf man (he can hear enough to function with his hearing aides in) from Utah and his journey to the NBA. Lance signed on with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and played with them for part of the 2008 season and preseason for 2008-2009. Although he isn't currently with the NBA - it's the struggle to get there that is amazing to me. He is the first deaf NBA player in history. I really liked it! Memoir is one of my favorite genres, and this book didn't disappoint. I don't even like basketball that much (at least I don't follow it - though I enjoy watching games) but I enjoyed this a lot! I read it fast (I think in about 3 days, maybe 4). Now what I'm not sure of is if I loved it because I know Lance and he is my cousin so I'm biased, or if I loved it because it is just good writing. I'm inclined to think it was the latter... but am not sure. I'd be really interested to see an outsiders opinion. His writing is very good - quite descriptive. He is LDS and there were several things in there I wasn't sure I liked coming from an LDS person (some strong language mostly) but I just had to roll my eyes and think "that's Lance" because it is.
February 17, 2013
What a treat! I was only reading this book for book group purposes! and am I ever glad I did! Yes, yes I am! I could really recommend this book to anyone. Lance is actually a pretty good writer and he moved from sentence to sentence to paragraph to paragraph, etc. pretty seamlessly. I always enjoy a book that isn't choppy. There are a couple of F-bombs hanging around. But seriously, how could there not be when your writing about Rick Majerus?
Okay, here it goes . . . His fundamentalist roots, his leaving his fundamentalist roots, his adjusting to "normal" life, friends, high school basketball, college basketball, pro-basketball in Europe and finally pro-basketball in America, all while being an allergic, deaf, 6'7ish boy. A very brave, interesting, enlightening story. One of the few things I didn't care for was how many times he cried, sobbed, wept, silent tears, crying, the hardest he ever cried . . . I'm not heartless, really, I'm not, but I was getting a little annoyed, just a little. READ IT!!!
Okay, here it goes . . . His fundamentalist roots, his leaving his fundamentalist roots, his adjusting to "normal" life, friends, high school basketball, college basketball, pro-basketball in Europe and finally pro-basketball in America, all while being an allergic, deaf, 6'7ish boy. A very brave, interesting, enlightening story. One of the few things I didn't care for was how many times he cried, sobbed, wept, silent tears, crying, the hardest he ever cried . . . I'm not heartless, really, I'm not, but I was getting a little annoyed, just a little. READ IT!!!
October 21, 2010
yawn. Just another memoir by an asthmatic, deaf son of a polygamist, with OCD, who makes it to the NBA.......
Even if you don't like basketball, his background story is pretty interesting. Making the NBA is the climax of the story -- most of the book concerns his upbringing in a Mormon sect, the pain of his family's leaving the sect after a conflict, growing up deaf in a hearing world, and playing for a (by this account) tyrannical coach at his first college before transferring, and then bouncing around in Europe and the NBA D-league (minors) before finally achieving his goal.
As someone whose basketball odyssey ended several steps short of the NBA, I found a lot of the behind the scenes stuff about agents and tryouts in Europe and such interesting, and on any topic his sense of humor was deployed to good effect.
Even if you don't like basketball, his background story is pretty interesting. Making the NBA is the climax of the story -- most of the book concerns his upbringing in a Mormon sect, the pain of his family's leaving the sect after a conflict, growing up deaf in a hearing world, and playing for a (by this account) tyrannical coach at his first college before transferring, and then bouncing around in Europe and the NBA D-league (minors) before finally achieving his goal.
As someone whose basketball odyssey ended several steps short of the NBA, I found a lot of the behind the scenes stuff about agents and tryouts in Europe and such interesting, and on any topic his sense of humor was deployed to good effect.
September 12, 2009
I'd probably give this book 3 1/2 stars. It was good, but not great. I was hoping to read about life in the NBA, but given that Allred has been with Cleveland just over a year now, the book ended just when they signed him. Allred is a fairly good writer and quite intelligent. For most of the book I felt somewhat inspired by the challenges he dealt with on his way to the NBA, but by the end I almost wanted to tell him to just quit whining. He might not have had any money, but if worn out shoes mean your feet end up bleeding and torn up to the point you are crying because you're in so much pain, put a pair on a charge card or swallow your pride and ask your parents to buy you a pair!
September 13, 2009
This is the autobiography of Lance Allred, the first legally deaf player in the NBA. Lance was raised in a cult-like Mormon sect that practiced polygamy. Thankfully, his parents had the sense to leave the group when Lance was13. Because of his height, everyone told him he should play basketball. Through basketball, Lance found a way to fit into his new community. Oh, yes, he also has OCD. He persisted through abusive coaches and injuries. His disabilities did not define him. I love inspirational stories like this.
November 17, 2009
A fun and enjoyable read. Allred has an easy to read style and is an entertaining author. I was fascinated by his descriptions of growing up in the world of polygamy. His account of playing basketball for Rick Majerus was interesting. I found his experiences of making it to the NBA to be quite inspiring, as well as his arrival at the LDS faith. It was an unusual combination of sports biography, exposé and motivation.
October 13, 2009
I'll give Lance credit for being very honest and open with his life. His path to the NBA is nothing short of amazing and a testament to his stubborn work ethic. He's a pretty funny guy and the book almost has a Holden Caulfield vibe to it. If Lance was an ancestor of mine, what a great book this would be to me. But he's not and there are way too many parts of his life that read like a journal entry for an audience of one.
July 9, 2010
So far I'm enjoying the book, thought there is a lot more swearing than I expected. I appreciate the author’s description of his severe hearing loss following rH incompatibility at birth. I also appreciate his description of his early life in Montana in a fundamentalist polygamist commune. His honest description is disturbing at times - but interesting. I appreciate his distinguishing this fundamentalist group from the main LDS church. Lance's parents seem like admirable people.
September 3, 2009
A good book. Allred compellingly discusses his childhood in a polygamous family, his family's disillusionment, his journey into basketball, his journeyman career in college and the pros, and other minutiae from his life. At times harrowing and, at other times, silly, this is a fun read from an interesting character.
April 10, 2010
on the cusp of 2 1/2 to 3 stars, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The book was more about him venting to the world and how he was the victim. I thought he complained too much. He was always looking for an excuse to justify his problems
June 19, 2009
Autobiography of Lance Allred. He has had a really interesting life, and he knows how to write. The basketball is important, but it is not just about the games and practices. He would have a story to tell even if he weren't a pro basketball player.
September 21, 2010
The first 1/3 of the book is about growing up in a polygmist colony and the last 2/3 is about basketball. I enjoyed both and makes me admire his journey more. Nice that he is my sisters neighbor in MT too!
Want to read
June 1, 2009I read an article about Allred in yesterday's newspaper. Not sure I want to read the book, but I'm interested enough to make note of the title.
August 19, 2009
The title says it all-- a deaf LDS kid actually makes it to the NBA, albeit only for about 30 games. But, overall, a surprisingly funny and honest account
August 25, 2009
This book was pretty good. If you're interested in Mormon fundamentalists, NBA players, or deaf people you'll find something to enjoy.
August 27, 2010
Quite a story. While many NBA and near-NBA players have difficult childhoods, I doubt there are very many who had one like Lance.
September 17, 2009
Interesting but not very well written.
April 21, 2010
Everyone go BUY this book...then read it.
March 14, 2015
This book contains only four sentences about being deaf. This book is mainly about the bullying from a coach and life in a polygamist family.
October 13, 2016
It's a very interesting and entertaining story. But, honestly, it felt like I was reading a rough draft. It needed one more pass to polish up the narrative a bit.
July 12, 2009
I started out liking this book however by the end I had a hard time finishing it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews