[Jeff Pearlman]Showtime Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s(epub,mobi){Zzzzz}

The New York Times bestselling author of Sweetness delivers the first all-encompassing account of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of professional sports’ most-revered—and dominant—dynasties.

The Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s personified the flamboyance and excess of the decade over which they reigned. Beginning with the arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the number-one overall pick of the 1979 draft, the Lakers played basketball with gusto and pizzazz, unleashing their famed “Showtime” run-and-gun style on a league unprepared for their speed and ferocity—and became the most captivating show in sports and, arguably, in all-around American entertainment. The Lakers’ roster overflowed with exciting all-star-caliber players, including center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and they were led by the incomparable Pat Riley, known for his slicked-back hair, his Armani suits, and his arrogant strut. Hollywood’s biggest celebrities lined the court and gorgeous women flocked to the arena. Best of all, the team was a winner. Between 1980 and 1991, the Lakers played in an unmatched nine NBA championship series, capturing five of them.

Bestselling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman draws from almost three hundred interviews to take the first full measure of the Lakers’ epic Showtime era. A dazzling account of one of America’s greatest sports sagas, Showtime is packed with indelible characters, vicious rivalries, and jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes stories of the players’ decadent Hollywood lifestyles. From the Showtime era’s remarkable rise to its tragic end—marked by Magic Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he had contracted HIV—Showtime is a gripping narrative of sports, celebrity, and 1980s-style excess.

Publisher: Gotham; Reprint edition (October 7, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592408877
ISBN-13: 978-1592408870

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Some books about sports (think George Plimpton or David Halberstam) are the equivalent of literary fiction; some (say, John Feinstein) compare favorably with serious nonfiction about other subjects. Showtime, by the author of Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton (2011), is more on the order of a celebrity bio. It is gossipy, at times sensationally so (particularly in regard to drug use and sex), and sometimes sophomoric (and cruelly demeaning of lesser players), but it imparts hard-won inside knowledge, and it is certainly entertaining. Many of its individual subjects are true celebrities—the ebullient and charismatic, though problematic, Earvin Magic Johnson; the moody (and far stronger words are used) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; coach Pat Riley; and even owner Jerry Buss—and with outsize egos to match. But, though not gelling immediately, the L.A. Lakers of the 1980s became, by mid-decade, an extraordinary basketball team, perhaps the best ever, and if their flamboyant style on and off the court belied their discipline and frequent sheer brilliance, it merits the enthusiastic and wide-ranging treatment that Pearlman gives it. --Mark Levine --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
Praise for Showtime

“The Showtime Lakers are the dynasty that forever changed the NBA, transforming a game into an entertainment spectacle. Through his relentless reporting and buoyant writing, Jeff Pearlman has delivered the story in full, from rare insight into Kareem and Magic to what (ital) really (ital) went on after-hours in the Forum Club. Once you start "Showtime," you won't be able to put it down.”
—Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports NBA columnist and author of the The Miracle of St. Anthony

“An era that redefined the game has found a storyteller more than up to the task. By any measure, Showtime is magic.”
—Mark Frost, author of The Greatest Game Every Played

“Showtime proves to be prime-time literary entertainment. A rocking, roller-coast of a ride it reads like the Lakers of Magic and Riley played – an artistic fast-break of revealing, sometimes shocking tales tinged with sex, drugs and, most of all humanity. You want to know the real story behind a beautifully dysfunctional basketball dynasty? Read this book.”
—Armen Keteyian, 60 Minutes Sports

“The names (Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Riley, Buss) and the games (four championships) have long been studied by basketball's anthropologists. But so much of the story of the Showtime Lakers, THE Team of the 80s, took place behind closed doors. Jeff Pearlman, as is his wont, pries them open and finds … a whole lot of L.A. living.”
—Jack McCallum, author of New York Times best-seller Dream Team

"Pearlman is an indefatigable reporter, and here he provides an all-access pass to one of the game's greatest dynasties, with tales of Kareem, Magic, Riley and Jerry Buss in their heyday. It's a book any NBA fan - any sports fan - will devour, likely in one or two sittings."
—Chris Ballard, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

Jeff Pearlman, typically, delivers the goods, celebrating them for their achievements, pulling no punches on the subject of their shortcomings. This is a vivid portrait of a great team, in full.”
—Jeremy Schaap, ESPN commentator, New York Times best-selling author of Cinderella Man and Triumph

"Once again, Jeff Pearlman has produced an exhaustively researched, elegantly written book that recreates one of the most colorful and memorable teams of the modern era. Showtime is a great show indeed, full of colorful (and complicated) characters as well as a trove of details that even the most passionate fans will be amazed to learn. No basketball fan's bookshelf will be complete without it."
—Seth Davis, author of Wooden: A Coach's Life

Praise for Sweetness

"Mr. Halberstam would have been the first to insist that we not confuse fiction with nonfiction, and that we not mistake biography -- the telling of a life -- for hagiography -- the burnishing of a legend. Which was football's big trouble last week, it turns out, as lots of folks who should know better took exception to a new biography of Walter Payton."
—ESPN.com, "The Sporting Life"

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE MAGIC… YOU RUN EVERY CHANCE & UNDER EVERY POSSIBLE SITUATION”
By Rick Shaq Goldstein on March 6, 2014

If you have had the opportunity to visit the NBA Hall of Fame… one of the things you’ll see are displays dedicated to teams during specific times that were considered *DYNASTIES*… One of those dynasties was the 1980’s Showtime Lakers. Before I ordered this book… let alone before I read it… I looked at my personal library and counted over twenty books regarding the Lakers. I at first said… how much more can there be on a team from over thirty years ago… and then I reminisced about how I had enjoyed three other books I read by the author Jeff Pearlman on… the Dallas Cowboys… Walter Payton… and the steroid cheat… Roger Clemens. I ordered the book… and as this review will confirm… I am thrilled that I did.

What makes this book so worthwhile… even with the knowledge of what I read in all the prior books I owned… and in addition to attending many of the Showtime Lakers games in person at the Fabulous Forum… and the fact that I had even played in numerous pickup games against a number of the Laker players… were three main facts… first… Jeff Pearlman invested his time and energy in an exhausting amount of piercing… in depth interviews… secondly… his writing style is smooth yet exhilarating… the reader never gets the feeling as with many other authors… that they’re just trying to fill additional pages… and the third reason… is the fact that “time” itself… over thirty plus years… over a quarter of a century has passed… and that means literary morals have changed… and what is considered acceptable in everyday journalism has changed. So thirty years ago when a written word was published… there were moral limits as to what could be written