Title/Author:
“Longshot”
by Lance Allred
Tags:
Basketball,
professional, NBA, Cavaliers, autobiography
Published:
May 21,
2009
Length:
276 pages
Rating:
4 of 5
stars (very good)
Review:
Lance
Allred was a professional basketball player who made it to the NBA. He did not have a distinguished career as he
appeared in three games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2007-08 season. That is not what makes this book and his
story interesting. It is how he got
there that is captured in “Longshot.”
He was
raised in a small Montana compound where polygamy was practiced. His family was
targeted for harm by fundamentalists. He
later converted to the Mormon faith. Just his youth experiences would make for
a tale that would be worth the time to read, but that is far from the whole
story. He writes about his high school
basketball coach with reverence, his college experience at the University of
Utah and legendary coach Rick Majerus with a little less enthusiasm. The reason for this is that he believed that
the coach was discriminating since Allred was deaf.
This
handicap is important to the story.
While Allred did not try to make the reader feel sorry for him because
of this condition, it was mentioned often enough that it seems that way. At times while reading, I thought to myself,
“Yes, I know you are deaf. Now carry
on.”
Thankfully he doesn’t do this with other afflictions he had, such as foot and knee injuries. In fact, some of the funnier parts of the book are his anecdotes about how he dealt with these. His tryout for a team when his foot was injured was one of the funnier parts of the book that I enjoyed. Although that particular passage would not be for the squeamish!
Basketball fans will especially enjoy the sections about his time in the NBA Developmental League, or D-League as it is commonly called. It will certainly remind people that not every professional athlete, no matter the sport, lives a life of luxury.
Overall, I
thoroughly enjoyed Allred’s memoir about his struggles and path to finally
achieve his dream of playing in the NBA.
Sometimes when looking for a book on an athlete, skipping the stories of
the superstars and reading about a fringe player like Allred can be a rewarding
experience. That was the case with this
book.
Did I skim?
No
Did I learn something new?
Yes. In addition to learning about the culture of
polygamy and Mormonism, I learned about the D-League and that it really isn’t
the “minor league” of the NBA. The life
of a D-League player is nothing like that of a minor league baseball
player.
Pace of the book:
Very
good. Lance’s story was never boring.
Positives:
I enjoyed
the basketball portions of the book, especially his experience in Europe
(another excellent source of humor in the book) and in the D-League.
Negatives:
The
biggest negative I found was the constant reference to his deafness. This has been noted in the review, and while
important, I felt Allred reminded the reader about this a little too
often.
Do I recommend?
Yes, especially
for those readers who like inspiring stories.
Readers who are not basketball fans will like this book as well because of
the information on other topics. There
is very little about basketball in the first third of the book, and the story
will grab any reader enough that he or she will want to keep going. eBook (Nook)
Buying Links:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/longshot-lance-allred/1111739440?ean=9780061879999
