Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball - Hardcover

Joe Lapchick. The name is legendary in the history of basketball. As a Hall of Fame player and member of the original Celtics barnstorming team, a coach of four national championship teams at St. John s, and the first coach of the New York Knicks, Lapchick made a lifetime of contributions to the game he loved. In this, the first and only biography of Lapchick, Gus Alfieri not only tells Lapchick s life story but also provides a priceless look at the history of the game?from its early rule changes and barnstorming and club teams, to dramatic National Invitational Tournament games (when the NIT was the tournament in the country) and college basketball point-shaving scandals, to the formation of the National Basketball Association. Perhaps most significantly, Lapchick s signing of the Knicks Sweetwater Clifton, the first African-American player to sign with an NBA team, led the way in the movement to integrate the league. Both an inspiring story of a pioneer sports figure and a nostalgic look at the era in which he played, Lapchick is a must-read for any basketball fan with a passion for the game.