Pascal Siakam: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Stars

Pascal Siakam: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Stars
Author: Clayton Geoffreys
Publisher:
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2019-09-26
Genre:
ISBN: 9781695699496

Learn the Inspiring Story of the Toronto Raptors' Rising Star, Pascal Siakam! Read on your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet or Kindle device! One of many riveting reads in the Basketball Biography Books series by Clayton Geoffreys. In Pascal Siakam: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Stars, you will learn the incredible story of one of basketball's emerging stars, Pascal Siakam. Since being selected in the late first round by the Raptors in the 2016 NBA Draft, Siakam has quickly risen as a meaningful player in the evolving league. In 2019, his value to the Raptors was clear as he alongside Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry helped the franchise capture its first NBA Championship. That same year, Siakam was recognized as the league's Most Improved Player. Now with Kawhi Leonard having left Toronto in the 2019 offseason for the Los Angeles Clippers, Pascal Siakam has a great opportunity to truly establish himself as a perennial star in the NBA. It will be exciting to continue to watch Siakam as he becomes one of the next unforgettable power forwards to play professional basketball. Pick up this unauthorized biography today to learn the inspiring story behind rising star, Pascal Siakam! This is the perfect basketball chapter book for sports fans of all ages. Here is a preview of what is inside this Pascal Siakam biography book: Childhood and Early Life Learning How to Play Basketball College Career Getting Drafted, Rookie Season, G-League Finals MVP Playing with the Bench Mob Breakout Season, First NBA Championship, Winning the Most Improved Player Award Life Without Kawhi Leonard, Becoming the Franchise Player Pascal Siakam's Personal Life Siakam's Impact on Basketball Legacy and Future An excerpt from this Pascal Siakam biography: The NBA is full of underdog stories that people all over the world love to follow. We have seen players that literally came from nowhere but suddenly became successful in the NBA and even went on to become stars or champions. These are the stories that are both heart-warming and sometimes tear-jerking because we cannot help but root for such players, who worked their hardest to get to the point where they could be successful in the NBA. The league has never been short of such stories. LeBron James, who grew up without a father, only had his mother to rely on as he went on to use his physical gifts to become one of the greatest players in the world. Stephen Curry, who may have lived a comfortable life in his younger days, was considered someone who could not star in the NBA because of his lack of size and athleticism. However, he went on to become the only player in league history to win the MVP award unanimously. If we are talking about players who lifted themselves from obscurity, we should never forget about Giannis Antetokounmpo. Called the "Greek Freak," Antetokounmpo used to peddle in the streets of his hometown in Greece but worked his way up to become an MVP-caliber player in the NBA. Then there is Joel Embiid, who was an unknown in Cameroon before he picked up basketball at the age of 15, but eventually became one of the greatest centers in the modern-day NBA. Another Cameroonian had a story that is very similar to what Joel Embiid had gone through in life. Born in Cameroon, a developing country where basketball is still in its infancy stage, Pascal Siakam did not play basketball until he was about 15 years old. His life had a different direction during his early teen years, and he had little to no interest in becoming a basketball player much less an NBA player. Tags: Pascal Siakam biography, Pascal Siakam story, Toronto Raptors basketball, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, books for basketball fans, rising basketball stars

We The Champs

We The Champs
Author: Alex Wong
Publisher: Triumph Books
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2019-06-14
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1641253762

We The North. The slogan for the most successful era of Raptors' basketball was elevated to a new level with the stunning off-season acquisition of superstar Kawhi Leonard. Finally breaking through after years of knocking on the door of the Eastern Conference, the Raptors made history and brought the first championship home to Toronto since the Blue Jays in 1993. From an intriguing new coaching hire in Nick Nurse, to the Leonard trade, to a midseason addition of Marc Gasol, the 2018-2019 season was one of changing the identity of the team, building chemistry, and leading to the franchise's long-awaited first title. From making quick work of the Magic in the first round of the playoffs, to a Game 7 classic against the 76ers, to ripping off four straight wins versus the Bucks, the Raptors were destined to take down the defending champion Golden State Warriors on their way to becoming kings of the NBA. Packed with expert analysis and dynamic color photography, We The Champs: The Toronto Raptors' Historic Run to the 2019 NBA Title takes fans through the Raptors' historic and unforgettable journey, from Nurse and Leonard replacing Dwane Casey and DeMar DeRozan, to Pascal Siakam blossoming into a star, to Leonard's unbelievable four-bounce Game 7 game-winner against the 76ers. This commemorative edition also includes in-depth profiles of Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Masai Ujiri, and other fan favorites who played key roles in Toronto's extraordinary championship run.

Rapture

Rapture
Author: Nick Nurse
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2020-10-13
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0316540161

Nick Nurse distills the wisdom, insight, and experiences that helped him lead the Toronto Raptors to the NBA championship in his first year as head coach. Foreword by Phil Jackson. NBA fans had modest expectations for rookie coach Nick Nurse and his Toronto Raptors. But what those naysayers didn't realize was that Nurse had spent the past thirty years proving himself at every level of the game, from youth programs and college ball to the NBA D League and Britain's struggling pro circuit. While few coaches have taken such a circuitous path to pro basketball's promised land, the journey-which began at Kuemper Catholic high school in Carroll, Iowa-forged a coach who proved to be as unshakable as he is personable. On the road, he is known to bring his guitar and keyboard for late-night jazz and blues sessions. In the locker room, he's steadfast and even-keeled regardless of the score. On the court, he pulls out old-school tactics with astounding success. A rookie in name but a veteran in attitude, Nurse is seemingly above the chaos of the game and, with only two seasons on his résumé, has already established himself as one of the NBA's most admired head coaches. Now, in this revealing new book-equal parts personal memoir, leadership mani­festo, and philosophical meditation-Nurse tells his own story. Given unprecedented access inside the Raptors' locker room, readers get an intimate study of not only the team culture he has built, but also of a rookie coach's unique dynamic with the star players-such as Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Low­ry, and Pascal Siakam-who helped trail­blaze the 2019 championship run. As much for readers of Ray Dalio as for fans of John Wooden and Pat Summitt, Rapture promis­es to be a necessary read for anyone looking to forge their own path to success.

Kyle Lowry: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's All-Star Guards

Kyle Lowry: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's All-Star Guards
Author: Clayton Geoffreys
Publisher:
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2016-07-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9781535482004

Learn the Inspiring Story of the Toronto Raptors' Star Point Guard Kyle Lowry! Read on your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet or Kindle device! In Kyle Lowry: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's All-Star Guards, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's All-Star guards, Kyle Lowry. The Toronto Raptors rise in the NBA in recent years has been largely attributed to Kyle Lowry's leadership as he helped guide the Raptors to their first Atlantic Division title in several years. Aside from fellow star guards Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook, few point guards in the NBA can score as easily as Kyle Lowry. It's no surprise Lowry was often compared to Tim Hardaway when he entered the league, as Lowry has the unique ability to not only score at will, but also make smart decisions on the floor. Here is a preview of what is inside this book: Childhood and Early Life High School Career College Career ' Kyle Lowry's NBA Career Getting Drafted and Rookie Campaign Bounce Back from Injury Final Season in Memphis First Full Season with the Houston Rockets Becoming a Starter Trade to Toronto Rising with the Raptors, Return to the Playoffs First All-Star Season Slimming Down, Improved Conditioning, Breaking Through to the Eastern Conference Finals Kyle Lowry's Personal Life Lowry's Legacy and Future An excerpt from the book: No journey to NBA stardom is ever quite the same. Some players have had the star pedigree ever since the day they were born, only to be given the status as a superstar even before getting into the NBA. LeBron James is an example of that kind of a star journey. He was figuratively given the brass ring even before he set foot on an NBA hard floor. This was rightfully so because he already had star quality even before he became a professional player. There are also those whose potentials were already apparent, but needed maturing and sharpening. Kobe Bryant, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard are examples. Everyone knew they had the talent, drive, and work ethic to become stars. But they needed time and honing before they achieved their potentials. After the passage of time, those players evolved to become some of the best of their era. And some players had to work their way up from obscurity to be named as one of the elites in the league. Dirk Nowitzki came into the NBA as an unknown, but quickly rose to become one of the all-time greats. You also have Draymond Green and Manu Ginobili, who were both second-round picks, but reached the heights of championships and All-Star appearances nevertheless. All it took was for them to get over the brand of being relatively unknown and work through that to exceed expectations. Different stars had different roads to take for them to be part of the NBA's elite. Some had it easy, while some had it rough. Some took a lot of time, while some took none at all. It all depends on the individual players' pacing. It is not always about the destination, but more about the journey, as they say. But for all the different routes that different NBA players had to take to become stars, it is Kyle Lowry's own road to becoming elite that is most exciting and inspirational. Tags: Kyle Lowry Bio, Kyle Lowry basketball, Toronto Raptors basketball, DeMar DeRozan, Bismack Biyombo, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson

Letters to a Young Athlete

Letters to a Young Athlete
Author: Chris Bosh
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1984881795

A legendary NBA player shares his remarkable story, infused with hard-earned wisdom about the journey to self-mastery from a life at the highest level of professional sports Chris Bosh, NBA Hall of Famer, eleven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and the league’s Global Ambassador, had his playing days cut short at their prime by a freak medical condition. His extraordinary career ended “in a doctor’s office in the middle of the afternoon.” Forced to reckon with moving forward, he found himself looking back over the course he'd taken, to the pinnacle of the NBA and beyond. Reflecting on all he had learned from a long list of basketball legends, from LeBron and Kobe to Pat Riley and Coach K, he saw that his important lessons weren’t about basketball so much as the inner game of success—right attitude, right commitment, right flow within a team. Now he shares that journey, giving us a view from the inside of what greatness feels like and what it takes. Letters to a Young Athlete offers a proven path for taming your inner voice and making it your ally, through the challenges of failure and success alike.

My First Book of Basketball (Board Book)

My First Book of Basketball (Board Book)
Author: Sports Illustrated Kids
Publisher: Triumph Books
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2024-10-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1637277776

Now available as a board book for budding basketball fans!My First Book of Basketball introduces young kids to the game of basketball with a visual retelling of a professional basketball game— from the jump ball to the game-winning basket! Dribbling, passing, traveling, shooting, dunks, and more are all explained using a fun mix of Sports Illustrated action photography, simple text, and awesome graphics. Illustrated "Rookie" characters provide fun facts and simple explanations to help kids better understand the game. Perfect for the youngest hoopers, My First Book of Basketball is meant to be a shared reading experience between parents and their little rookies before, during, and after the game.

Tall Men, Short Shorts

Tall Men, Short Shorts
Author: Leigh Montville
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2022-05-24
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0525567313

This "part memoir, part sports story" (Wall Street Journal) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Big Bam chronicles the clash of NBA titans over seven riveting games—Celtics versus Lakers, Russell versus Chamberlain—covered by one young reporter. Welcome to the 1969 NBA Finals! They don’t set up any better than this. The greatest basketball player of all time - Bill Russell - and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of ten (ten!) of the previous twelve NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. Bill Russell and John Havlicek versus Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. The 1969 Celtics are at the end of their dominance. The 1969 Lakers are unstoppable. Add to the mix one newly minted reporter. Covering the epic series is a wide-eyed young sports writer named Leigh Montville. Years before becoming an award-winning legend himself at The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, twenty-four-year-old Montville is ordered by his editor at the Globe to get on a plane to L.A. (first time!) to write about his luminous heroes, the biggest of big men. What follows is a raucous, colorful, joyous account of one of the greatest seven-game series in NBA history. Set against a backdrop of the late sixties, Montville’s reporting and recollections transport readers to a singular time – with rampant racial tension on the streets and on the court, with the emergence of a still relatively small league on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry, and to an era when newspaper journalism and the written word served as the crucial lifeline between sports and sports fans. And there was basketball – seven breathtaking, see-saw games, highlight-reel moments from an unprecedented cast of future Hall of Famers (including player-coach Russell as the first-ever black head coach in the NBA), coast-to-coast travels and the clack-clack-clack of typewriter keys racing against tight deadlines. Tall Men, Short Shorts is a masterpiece of sports journalism with a charming touch of personal memoir. Leigh Montville has crafted his most entertaining book yet, richly enshrining luminous players and moments in a unique American time.

Basketball Junkie

Basketball Junkie
Author: Chris Herren
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2011-05-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1429924144

As seen in ESPN Films’ Unguarded, a “powerful . . . bracing . . . exceptional” true account of the former NBA and overseas pro’s rise and harrowing fall (NPR Books). I was dead for thirty seconds. That’s what the cop in Fall River told me. When the EMTs found me, there was a needle in my arm and a packet of heroin in the front seat. At basketball-crazy Durfee High School in Fall River, Massachusetts, junior guard Chris Herren carried his family’s and the declining city’s dreams on his skinny frame. He was heavily recruited by major universities, chosen as a McDonald’s All-American, featured in a Sports Illustrated cover story, and at just seventeen years old became the central figure in Fall River Dreams, an acclaimed book about the 1994 Durfee team’s quest for the state championship. Leaving Fall River for college, Herren starred on Jerry Tarkanian’s Fresno State Bulldogs team of talented misfits, which included future NBA players as well as future convicted felons. His gritty, tattooed, hip-hop persona drew the ire of rival fans and more national attention: Rolling Stone profiled him, 60 Minutes interviewed him, and the Denver Nuggets drafted him. When the Boston Celtics acquired his contract, he lived the dream of every Massachusetts kid—but off the court Herren was secretly crumbling, as his alcohol and drug use escalated and his life spiraled out of control. Twenty years later, Chris Herren was a husband, a father, and a heroin junkie, who would flirt with death—and ultimately live to tell about it.

Giannis Antetokounmpo: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Superstars

Giannis Antetokounmpo: the Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Superstars
Author: Clayton Geoffreys
Publisher:
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2017-06-20
Genre: Basketball players
ISBN: 9781548260699

Learn the Inspiring Story of the Milwaukee Bucks' Rising Star Giannis Antetokounmpo! Read on your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet or Kindle device. This holiday season, if you buy the print edition as a gift, you can keep the Kindle edition for yourself! In Giannis Antetokounmpo: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball's Rising Superstars, you will learn the inspirational story of one of basketball's most promising young stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Often nicknamed "The Greek Freak", Giannis Antetokounmpo has quickly emerged as one of the most unique players in the league today. His incredible wingspan and athleticism have made him a dominant presence on both the offensive and defensive ends of the basketball court. He is easily one of the most difficult defensive assignments for opposing teams due to his ability to not only start as a forward, but also as a guard. In just four years, Giannis Antetokounmpo has gone from averaging 6.8 points per game to 22.9 points per game. He has also quickly become the face of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise. There is still much to be unveiled in the career of Giannis Antetokounmpo. At the time of this writing, Giannis is just twenty-two years old. In this book, we'll learn more about The Greek Freak's journey into the NBA, his impact on the game, and his growing legacy as one of the best up and coming stars to make his presence known in basketball. Here is a preview of what is inside this book: Childhood and Early Life NBA Career: Getting Drafted, Rookie Season, Working Under Jason Kidd, The Largest Point Guard in the League, and Becoming an All-Star International Career Personal Life Giannis Antetokounmpo's Player Profile and Impact on Basketball Antetokounmpo's Future An excerpt from the book: The NBA loves those rags to riches stories about how a person that lived and grew up through poverty worked his way up to get to the league, not only as an ordinary player, but a superstar ranking among the best in the world. These are the kinds of stories that makes the people adore the player and what he has been through to get to the top. More importantly, these are the stories that inspire young children to work just as hard, if not harder, than their idol to reach the success they aspire to achieve. Several of the greatest players in league history have had to endure poverty before they found success in the NBA. Allen Iverson barely had a home growing up before he starred at Georgetown. In his MVP speech back in 2014, Kevin Durant said that his mother raised him and his brother alone while the family moved from roof to roof. The same was true for LeBron James, who was raised alone by his mother when she was still 16 years old. These players not only earned millions as NBA superstars, but have also become fan favorites because of how they worked themselves up to get to the league. Likewise, the NBA has also found a liking for players that were seemingly genetically engineered to dominate in the game of basketball. These are the types of players that, at a glance, were naturally destined to be a great because of the physical tools they possess. If the NBA was a horse race, these kinds of players are your thoroughbreds judging by how much more physically gifted and talented they are than the rest of the competition. Tags: Giannis Antetokounmpo Bio, Giannis Antetokounmpo basketball, Milwaukee Bucks basketball, Jason Kidd, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Lowry, Jabari Parker, Matthew Dellavedova, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Thon Maker

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant
Author: Clayton Geoffreys
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2014-10-30
Genre: Basketball players
ISBN: 9781503044623

Read about the inspirational story of basketball's star, Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant has been the face of the Lakers dynasty for the past two decades and for good reason. Few players have commanded a basketball court as much as Kobe in historical performances such as his notable 81-point performance in just under 42 minutes of playing time in 2006 against the Toronto Raptors. Whenever Kobe Bryant decides to retire, he is not going to do so on his own terms as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Few players can parallel with Kobe Bryant in terms of competitive fire and will to win. His polarizing figure defines him and makes even those who do not like him at the very least respect him. Read on to learn about the days of when Kobe played alongside Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry, Metta World Peace, Derek Fisher, and Pau Gasol in some of the greatest times of Los Angeles Lakers' basketball history.