Title/Author:
“The Victory Machine:
The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty” by Ethan Sherwood Strauss
Tags:
Basketball,
professional, history, Warriors, championship
Publish date:
April 24, 2020
Length:
224 pages
Rating: to
4 ½ of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
When the Golden State
Warriors failed to win a third consecutive championship and fourth in five
years by losing to the Toronto Raptors in 2019, it signaled the end of the
latest NBA dynasty. How the Warriors got to that stage and some of mechanisms
behind their success is told in this great book by Ethan Sherwood Strauss.
Rather than recapping
the games and playoff series wins, Strauss takes a different approach to telling
the reader about Golden State's success.
He concentrates on the business side of the game for insight into the
team, starting with when Peter Guber and Joe Lacob were able to take control of the
team from Chris Cohan, under whose ownership the franchise became a laughing
stock. What Guber and Lacob did was
nothing short of brilliant by not only finding players to complement Stephan
Curry and bring out his best, but also how they were in tune with what was
going on in professional basketball and how to either lure players (see Kevin
Durant) or keep players even it would mean a reduced or different role (see
Andre Igudala.)
The only player in
which Strauss writes about in depth is Kevin Durant and his appearance of being
annoyed. It is a complex situation and
not something that is simple as he didn't like being second fiddle to Curry nor
just that he wanted out of Oklahoma City and became a target of the rantings of
angry fans. In the book, this goes well beyond fans at games – social media and
its influence in today's NBA players is examined in depth and is one of the
best subjects addressed.
Strauss also pulls no
punches when he talks about the current state of the game when he writes that
the Warriors "somehow rose up in this atomized, clownish world…" or
about the current reduction in accessibility to the players for the media. He states that NBA stars are "merging
the aloof with the confrontational" and that "walls were coming
up." This type of writing is the
main reason why this book is one that all NBA fans, whether they are saddened
or overjoyed at the end of the Golden State dynasty, should add to their
libraries.
I wish to than Perseus
Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest
review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
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