The Los Angeles Times Encyclopedia of the Lakers was compiled in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the team -- which since its 1960 move from Minneapolis has been known as the Los Angeles Lakers. It has detailed year-by-year and player-by-player statistics, augmented by anecdotes and photos of Lakers players (from Kareem Abdul-Jabar to Wayne Yates), coaches, sportscasters and fans.

Against the backdrop of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, California, the Los Angeles Lakers have become not only one of professional basketball’s most treasured gems, but an internationally-renowned sports icon. With the wizardry of players who require only one name—Elgin, West, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Shaq, Kobe—the Lakers grew from a promising Midwestern team starting afresh in the City of Angels and becoming one of the most successful corporate giants in the history of athletic competition. This definitive encyclopedia of the Lakers provides all vital data pertaining to each season of the team’s first 50 years in Los Angeles, including biographies of Hall of Famers, other great performers, and coaches; complete rosters; season-by-season schedules and statistics; draft picks; and records and individual accomplishments.

"Includes 2010 championship season."--Jacket.

This is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of the Los Angeles Lakers. Most fans have taken in a game or two at the Staples Center, have seen highlights of a young Magic Johnson, and remember the epic battles with the Celtics in the 1980s. But only real fans know how the Lakers acquired Hot Rod Hundley, which hobby fascinated both Chick Hearn and Elgin Baylor, or the best place to grab a bite in Los Angeles before the game. Every essential piece of Lakers knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, is ranked from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for those on their way to Laker fan superstardom.

Follows four young dreamers and outcasts through time and space, from 1453 Constantinople to the future, as they discover resourcefulness and hope amidst peril.

Presents a portrait of the late star of Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch," revealing his high-risk private life of tempestuous affairs, drug-fueled parties, and motorcycle riding, as well as his virtues as a devoted friend, loving father, and steadfast captain.

When in 1969 the NBA sought an emblem for the league, one man was chosen above all as the icon of his sport: Jerry West. Silhouetted in white against a red-and-blue backdrop, West’s signature gait and left-handed dribble are still the NBA logo, seen on merchandise around the world. In this marvelous book—the first biography of the basketball legend—award-winning reporter and author Roland Lazenby traces Jerry West’s brilliant career from the coalfields near Cabin Creek, West Virginia, to the bare-knuckled pre-expansion era of the NBA, from the Lakers’ Riley-Magic-Kareem Showtime era to Jackson–Kobe–Shaq teams of the early twenty-first century, and beyond. But fame was not all glory. Called “Mr. Clutch,” West was an incomparable talent—flawless on defense, possessing unmatched court vision, and the perfect jumper, unstoppable when the game was on the line. Beloved and respected by fans and fellow players alike, West was the centerpiece of Lakers teams that starred such players as Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, and he went on to nine NBA Finals. Yet in losing eight of those series, including six in a row to the detested Boston Celtics, West became as famous for his failures as for his triumphs. And that notoriety cast long shadows over West’s life on and off the court. Yet as the author discovered through scores of exclusive interviews with West’s teammates, colleagues, and family members, West channeled the frustration of his darkest moments into a driving force that propelled his years as an executive. And in this capacity, the success that often eluded West on the court has enabled him to reach out to successive generations of players to enrich and shape the sport in immeasurable ways. Though sometimes overshadowed by flashier peers on the court, Jerry West nevertheless stands out as the heart and soul of a league that, in fifty years, has metamorphosed from a regional sideshow into a global phenomenon. And in Jerry West, Roland Lazenby provides the ultimate story of a man who has done more to shape basketball than anyone on the planet.