West by West
My Charmed, Tormented Life
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West by West
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Narrated by:
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Ryan West
About this listen
He is one of basketball's towering figures: "Mr. Clutch," who mesmerized his opponents and fans. The coach who began the Lakers' resurgence in the 1970s. The general manager who helped bring "Showtime" to Los Angeles, creating a championship-winning force that continues to this day.
Now, for the first time, the legendary Jerry West tells his story-from his tough childhood in West Virginia, to his unbelievable college success at West Virginia University, his 40-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and his relationships with NBA legends like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant. Unsparing in its self-assessment and honesty, West by West is far more than a sports memoir: it is a profound confession and a magnificent inspiration.
©2011 Jerry West, Jonathan Coleman (P)2011 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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From the Outside
- My Journey Through Life and the Game I Love
- By: Ray Allen, Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: J.D. Jackson
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 273
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 244
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 245
The record-holding two-time National Basketball Association champion reflects on his work ethic, his on-the-court friendships and rivalries, the great teams he's played for, and what it takes to have a long and successful career in this thoughtful, in-depth memoir. Playing in the NBA for 18 years, Ray Allen won championships with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat and entered the record books as the original king of the three-point shot. Known as one of the hardest-working and highest-achieving players in NBA history, he was legendary for his sharp shooting.
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3 out of 5 stars
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It wasn't bad, but I thought it would be better
- By Amazon Customer on 07-30-18
By: Ray Allen, and others
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Junior Seau
- The Life and Death of a Football Icon
- By: Jim Trotter
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau is widely considered one of the best linebackers ever to play the game. A 10-time All-Pro and 12-time Pro Bowl selection, Seau was picked for the NFL's All-Decade Team in the 1990s. His incredible career spanned two decades, during which time he played for the Chargers, Dolphins, and Patriots. In 2012, at the age of 43, Seau committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the chest. News of his death sent shockwaves through the NFL.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding Book!!!
- By Sherry Jones on 01-08-16
By: Jim Trotter
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The Breaks of the Game
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 316
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 278
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 277
A New York Times best seller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This book is a must read for all NBA junkies.
- By Kyle on 06-13-18
By: David Halberstam
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Wins, Losses, and Lessons
- An Autobiography
- By: Lou Holtz
- Narrated by: Lou Holtz
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 705
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 587
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Story5 out of 5 stars 584
Few people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz. Winner of the three national Coach of the Year honors, the only coach ever to lead six different schools to season-ending bowl games, and the ninth-winningest coach in college football history, Holtz is still teaching and coaching, although he is no longer on the gridiron.
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4 out of 5 stars
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great story about an incredibly successful coach
- By James on 04-30-12
By: Lou Holtz
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Golden Days
- West's Lakers, Steph's Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Jack McCallum
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting and fun to read
- By Joe on 06-12-18
By: Jack McCallum
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Finally Free
- An Autobiography
- By: Michael Vick
- Narrated by: Rodney Gardiner
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
One of the most talented and polarizing athletes of our generation, Michael Vick’s stunning story has captured news headlines across the nation. From his poverty-stricken youth, to his success on the field in high school and college, to his rise to NFL stardom and his fall from grace, Finally Free shows how a gifted athlete’s life spiraled out of control under the glare of money and fame, aided by his own poor choices. In his own words, Vick details his regrets, his search for forgiveness....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Sugar Coated and Simplistic
- By Malcolm Jamal on 04-03-13
By: Michael Vick
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The Baseball Whisperer
- A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams
- By: Michael Tackett
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything. There, between the cornfields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, a baseball whisperer who specialized in second chances and lost causes. The statue was a gift from one of Merl's original long-shot projects, a skinny kid from the ghetto in Los Angeles who would one day become a beloved Hall of Fame shortstop: Ozzie Smith.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book!
- By zane Butler on 08-13-21
By: Michael Tackett
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Red and Me
- By: Bill Russell, Alan Steinberg
- Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez, Bill Russell
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
i>Red and Me is an extraordinary book: an homage to a peerless coach, showing how he produced results unlike any other; an inspiring story of mutual success, in which each man gave his all, and gained back even more; above all, it may be the best depiction of male friendship ever put on the page. Who would have guessed that such different men could have become such a tightly bonded pair? Few did guess it. Now Russell tells it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An awesome story of Very respectable people
- By Ben Miller on 05-20-22
By: Bill Russell, and others
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Pistol
- The Life of Pete Maravich
- By: Mark Kriegel
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Pistol is more than the biography of a ballplayer. It's the stuff of classic novels: the story of a boy transformed by his father's dream and the cost of that dream. Even as Pete Maravich became Pistol Pete, a basketball icon for baby boomers, all the Maraviches paid a price. Now acclaimed author Mark Kriegel has brilliantly captured the saga of an American family: its rise, its apparent ruin, and, finally, its redemption.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extremely Good!
- By steve on 12-12-12
By: Mark Kriegel
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Dream Team
- How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Changed the Game of Basketball Forever
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 479
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 423
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 423
In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great insight into the great basketball team ever.
- By James O'Brien on 09-04-12
By: Jack McCallum
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One on One
- Behind the Scenes with the Greats in the Game
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
After numerous beloved and best-selling sports books, John Feinstein returns to the subjects of his first 10 books, crafting a narrative of the most revealing encounters he's had. These are the coaches and athletes who know their games the best, and the legends and legendary moments that gave inherent shape to our favorite pastimes.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Big Time Sports Stories and Bigger Egos
- By fred on 03-12-12
By: John Feinstein
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Snake
- The Legendary Life of Ken Stabler
- By: Mike Freeman
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
Ken "The Snake" Stabler was the embodiment of the original Men in Black - the freewheeling, hard-hitting Oakland Raiders. The league's first swashbuckling pass thrower, the mythical southpaw Southerner famous for come-from-behind drives late in the game, Stabler led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship in 1977.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story about a childhood legend!!!
- By David Warnock on 07-18-19
By: Mike Freeman
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Quiet Strength
- The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life
- By: Tony Dungy
- Narrated by: Tony Dungy
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 579
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 492
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Story5 out of 5 stars 491
Tony Dungy's words and example have intrigued millions of people, particularly following his victory in Super Bowl XLI, the first for an African-American coach. How is it possible for a coach—especially a football coach—to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible for anyone to be successful without compromising faith and family?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mama Dill
- By Kelly D on 05-13-17
By: Tony Dungy
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Saban
- The Making of a Coach
- By: Monte Burke
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 452
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 398
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator is awful.
- By kenneth on 08-12-15
By: Monte Burke
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
What listeners say about West by West
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DTheSeaHorse
- 07-02-16
Could not stop listening!
A must read for anyone who has lived though child abuse or know someone who has, if you are a sports fan in general or a basketball/Laker fan to be more direct.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dave
- 06-14-24
Even the Great Ones Can Be Troubled
Jerry West was my childhood idol as I was a young basketball player in SoCal in the 1960’s. I listened to Chick Hearn describe every Laker game on my transistor radio and even got a flattop haircut just like Jerry. I was lucky enough to receive a college basketball scholarship and even luckier to meet Mr. West in the LA Sports Arena a few years later as he was scouting Pat Ewing for the Lakers. He was polite and soft spoken and thanked me for being a fan of his and the Lakers. Class act in every way. Until I read this incredible life story, I had no idea of the demons he wrestled with his entire life. Sadly, Jerry West passed away a few days ago. He is “The Icon” of the NBA and will always be my favorite basketball player. Rest in peace, Mr. Clutch!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- H. Gulliver
- 09-30-18
Excellent stories, needs a pro narrator
The producers should have hired a pro reader; Ryan and Jerry do their best, but they sound like grade schoolers reading aloud in class.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Desertglider
- 05-20-19
I GET JERRY
I get the Pain..I have Overcome the Pain....Scars are there but...it is never Forgotten....and it's always a struggle and a Challenge...I get you Jerry
Thank you Jerry
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maria Mariani
- 01-31-24
Kindred Spirit
Me West. You are quite my kindred spirit, sir. Your story is very eye-opening. Thank you very much. Maria Mariani.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-15-24
A man tortured by success
Such an interesting story behind the man behind the logo. A slowish read, great if you like sports.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dylan Boyack
- 10-02-20
Incredible book
Listen at 1.5x, seemed slow to me. Dive into the greatest developer and scout of talent in the history of the game. Legend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miky Kamal
- 07-22-17
Raw and Powerful
The book is biographical, but also something more. A genuine insight into a great man. Really delves into the emotions, tribulations, and the thought process of someone who we admire.
Great Read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Piliki
- 06-19-24
Informative but sad that Jerry West had such a traumatic childhood. I wish that he realized how loved he was.
I was irritated by the pronunciation of words like couldn’t, didn’t, Wooden, and don’t. Perhaps it was a dialectal variation, but the /d/ wasn’t pronounced when read. I wish Jerry had read it instead.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Calvin T. Watlington
- 09-03-24
How successful West was despite his challenges and demons.
I enjoyed the narrator. I couldn't tell if it was West or not. Good job.
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