Another book that demonstrated the competitive drive amongst athletes was, Magic/ Bird written by Eric Simonson. This book highlighted the rivalry between Larry Bird and Earvin “Magic” Johnson throughout their respected basketball careers. In their professional careers, Bird played for the Boston Celtics and Magic played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Even with the intense rivalry of Magic and Bird they each highly respected one another, especially after shooting the commercial for Converse. While in Bird’s home town French Lick, Indiana, Bird and Magic discussed their personal lives, which gave them better understanding and a new-found friendship. Before the 1984 NBA Championship Magic stated to Bird “’L.B.! Hey, man, how are you doing? We were just talking about …show more content…
How’s the back, man? You want to go out for a beer after the game?’”. Bird replied, “’Your man Cooper over there? …We’re going to kick your ass.’” (Simonson 42). Even after years of intense hate and being rivals, Magic and Bird gained a personal understanding that led to their friendship off the court. The competitive drive between Magic and Bird led to their hatred for one another and caused difficulty when they were asked to shoot the Converse commercial together. Ultimately, a positive friendship and mutual respect for their athletic ability was gained through the sport of Basketball. Without the several championship bouts between Magic and Bird as well as the Converse commercial, a positive impact and friendship may have never been created. After their final game, Magic and Bird walked off the court simultaneously with the score tied in the seventh game of the Championship (Simonson 56). Consequently, the respected careers of Earvin Johnson and Larry Bird show the importance of a winning team, their competitive drive, and the positive effect and friendship that came about
In this book, you can see this theme presented in multiple ways, the first of which is how Gene interviews almost everyone on the team to get their unique stories. On page 252 he talks about Zhao’s story. Zhao is a Chinese immigrant who always had a dream of playing basketball. And even though including Zhao and his story isn't necessary to the plot he adds it anyway because his story is worth sharing and telling the world. On page 352 he talks about Austen Walker and how he decided he won’t play basketball in college and just wants to leave it all on the court.
Than he's been trying everything to make the NBA carre and has been getting the community involved with NBA and getting the help. Jerry West started his NBA Career in 1962 on the Los Angeles Lakers and played for 14 years than became a basketball coach for the lakers and the warriors. Jerry West took the Los Angeles lakers to the NBA Finals 9 times. Jerry West always made 30-40 points
G- Ervin “Magic” Johnson: 1979-1991, 1996 It goes without saying that Ervin “Magic” Johnson is not only one of the greatest Lakers of all-time, but also one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. He played 12 full seasons, reaching the NBA finals nine times, winning five of them. He was a 12-time All-Star, a member of 10 All-NBA Teams (9x First Team, 1x Second Team), and was the league MVP three times. Magic was not only the face of the Lakers, but also the face of the entire NBA. When you thought about basketball, you thought about Magic.
They were always partying , cocky , talking back and playing sloppy defense. They lost two games before the season halfway marked. Lebron was getting distracted by every little thing. They even had magazines that lebron knew nothing about that encounter another distraction. The article compared to Magic Johnson and Michael Johnson.
“Kareem was my source of motivation. Everything I did was to try to beat this guy. I lived to play against him, and I played my best ball against him. No matter what I threw at him, though, it seemed like he’d score 50 against me,” said by Bill Walton who is a retired basketball player who played with Kareem (Pinto, 2016). In the 60s and the 70s, the basketball gained huge popularity, and many famous players were being spotlighted.
On April 10th 2016, Nike released an ad tilted “Nike Athletes Salute Kobe Bryant” a couple of days before his final game in the NBA. The purpose of the advertisement was to the honor the end of a legend in Kobe Bryant. The ad deviated away from the usual Nike genre. By using other athletes, buzzwords, lighting, and allusions, Nike creates a unique ad for the retiring Kobe Bryant to be remembered by. Nike’s “Athletes Salute Kobe Bryant” begins with the new coming basketball star Kyrie Irving asking himself what does “Black Mamba” mean to him.
How He Came to Be Phil Jackson was raised in a farm community in North Dakota by parents who were both Pentecostal ministers and very strict practitioners of their faith. He explains in his book, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success (2013), that after growing up with such rigid rules and guidelines, he has taken an opposite approach as an adult and has become much more easy going and relaxed (p.15). He wrote about his search for spiritual grounding where he studied many different religions and their practices throughout his years in college. After combining many of them together he came up with his own set of beliefs and practices that provides him with the foundation he felt he needed all along (p. 15).
Bo Jackson, a man with god-given abilities and athleticism like the world had never seen before, captivated the world of sports into a state of awe in the late 80’s and early 90’s. “In 1989, Nike built a campaign with a series of commercials centered on Jackson’s athletic versatility—“Bo knows football. Bo knows baseball. Bo knows basketball. Bo knows tennis.”
They were led by arguably the greatest point guard of all time, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Earvin Johnson was born on August 14th, 1959 in Lansing, Michigan, with nine brothers and five sisters as his dad worked in a General Motors plant and his mother was a school custodian. Johnson first heard the nickname, Magic, when he was a star in High school, when a sports writer saw him put up 36 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists and the writer recalled that performance “Magic”. Magic Johnson was capable of many great performances and many memorable moments and some of his most famous moments consist of his Junior,Junior Skyhook to beat the Celtics, starting at center as a rookie and winning the championship, and Tragic Johnson when he choked in the final moments of big games. Magic was a great player who was winning championships, MVP awards, and cementing his own legacy for the game.
“The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy” by Bill Simmons, was a book only the Sports Guy could write. Save a few hundred pages for Simmons to inform the readers on how he became the basketball and Celtics fan he is today (hint: it was his dad choosing between a motorcycle and season tickets to the Celtics), why as a child he called himself Jabaal Abdul-Simmons, footnotes galore, his hatred for Isiah Thomas and Wilt Chamberlain, and many of the greatest “What-if’s” in basketball history. Other than that, Bill Simmons uses this behemoth of a book to indulge on what he has thought to be “The Secret” of basketball and winning championships, and gives his take on how the NBA Hall of Fame should be constructed. In a pyramid style ranking with five levels Bill Simmons has who he thinks should be where, as of 2009, and each level getting smaller and smaller due to the higher standard. It all ends with the 12 best of all time, sitting atop the pyramid like kings with Michael Jordan number one.
In this article,” In a Struggling City, Basketball Provides a Beacon of Hope” by Abby Gruen talks about how basketball is mush more than a game. Michael Coburn, the team captain of the Mount Vernon High School’s basketball team, explains how basketball has taught him to become a man. Mount Vernon has the second highest number of families in poverty. The town is made up 68,000 people and schools had to be shut down last year due to the amount of fights. Basketball has been the one thing the community has come together for.
Tracey Lindberg’s novel Birdie is narratively constructed in a contorting and poetic manner yet illustrates the seriousness of violence experience by Indigenous females. The novel is about a young Cree woman Bernice Meetoos (Birdie) recalling her devasting past and visionary journey to places she has lived and the search for home and family. Lindberg captures Bernice’s internal therapeutic journey to recover from childhood traumas of incest, sexual abuse, and social dysfunctions. She also presents Bernice’s self-determination to achieve a standard of good health and well-being. The narrative presents Bernice for the most part lying in bed and reflecting on her dark life in the form of dreams.
For years the captivation of the month of March has been known for its College Basketball. March Madness as it has come to be known hasn’t always had the captivation that it has now. The growth of the NCAA Tournament over the years has not only changed because of the game itself. How did the development of the NCAA tournament impact the growth of media coverage of college basketball?
The Jordan Influence When most people think about Michael Jordan, they think about him as the greatest basketball player who ever played. However, Jordan was not only a basketball player, but someone who influenced the American culture and society. Jordan’s influence was one that had never been seen before. Whether it was through basketball or his own brand, Jordan was making everyone want “to be like Mike”.
Thesis: To master the job of a Special Education teacher, it is important to have the right skills such as teaching, communicating, and patience. Organizational Pattern: Topical Introduction Attention Getter: According to brainyquote.com, Magic Johnson once said, “All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and somebody who believes in them”. Relevance: A Special Education teacher is someone that works with children with a variety of disabilities.