Lebron James: The Making of an MVP

by Terry Pluto, Brian Windhorst

#1 draft pick . . . Rookie of the Year . . . All Star . . . Olympic gold . . . Most Valuable Player-- Cleveland Cavaliers player LeBron James has had an exciting ride to superstardom. This book, by Cleveland Plain Dealer sports columnist Terry Pluto and NBA beat writers Brian Windhorst, takes a close-up and thorough look at the forces that shaped LeBron into an MVP.
Pluto and Windhorst have covered the LeBron phenomenon closely from the start. Drawing from a decade of reporting and scores of personal interviews, their new book provides an inside look at each stage of LeBron's development--how his childhood shaped his personality and sparked his drive to succeed; how budding stardom in high school challenged him to grow up fast; how his first steps in the NBA weren't always easy; how he quickly grew into a forceful team leader in the NBA and on Team USA; and how he now works relentlessly to improve his game.
The book has been nominated for the American Library Association's "Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers" (2011).

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nations top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrateds list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called Perhaps the best American writer of sports books, by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio."

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Authors Pluto and Windhorst were trying to make a full length biography of NBA star LeBron James that would also serve as a coffee table book. They did a nice job of it. There were interesting points brought up that helped explain a lot about King James that I didn't know (family life, influence of 2008 Olympic, pitfalls of playing with Ricky Davis), idiodic stories (like how his junior year of football he wasn't allowed to be hit it practice, always ran out of bounds, never ran routs over the middle, and still had 16 Tds in 13 games... Stupid) and a ton of cool pictures.

My major problem with this book was that I read it too fast (not enabling me to really enjoy it) and they spent a whole chapter trying to show LeBron isn't the greatest player of all time yet, but will be once he gets some help.

It does get bonus points for being signed by the author and being a great gift for Christmas.

[Le'ricus Agnew]

September 19, 2012

MVP
By: Le’Ricus Agnew
LeBron James the Making of an MVP
By: Terry Pluto and Brain Windhorst
Gray and Company. $15.95

No one has had a faster and exciting rise to stardom than LeBron James. “The making of an MVP“by the sports columnist terry Pluto and the award winning reporter Brian windhorst. LeBron James a man that grew up not knowing who his father becomes the NBA MVP in the 2008 -2009 season. Which he has also been the #1 draft pick and the rookie of the year and has broken numerous records. In this Biography it gives a colorful look at LeBrons life and career from the people who helped shaped the man we call MVP.

[Jordan Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved everything about the LeBron James book. About how when he was younger he moved from house to house and played for the shooting stars AAU basketball team. He went to Saint Vincent Saint Mary's High School in Akron, Ohio and played football and basketball, but he loved the game of basketball better. LeBron had four other best friends he played sports with name Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, and Romeo Travis. Now LeBron currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[Lauren]

Terrific book. Particularly great insights about LeBron's intense training regimen and unwavering dedication to being the best and putting in the necessary work to get there.

[Bernard Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lebron naot the best player in the nba but he the second best after kobe