Tall Men, Short Shorts: The 1969 NBA Finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a Very Young Sports Reporter
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-10 06:19:06
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Leigh Montville
- ISBN：B08P48J2HZ
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Summary
A lively and colorful account of the 1969 NBA Finals--one of the greatest upsets in basketball history--through the eyes of future sports writing legend Leigh Montville， who was covering the coast-to-coast event as a brand-new twenty-four-year-old reporter for
The
Boston Globe
。
In 1969， the L。A。 Lakers and Boston Celtics were two of America's powerhouse NBA franchises。 The Lakers were stacked with stars like Wilt Chamberlain， Elgin Baylor， and Jerry West， and the Celtics were built around the legendary Bill Russell。 The Lakers were destined to win it all that year， while the Celtics struggled to get to the Finals at the end of Russell's career。 Covering that epic series was a very young， green sports reporter named Leigh Montville。 Years before becoming an award-winning sports writing legend himself at The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated， Montville was twenty-four and was told by his editor at the Globe to get on a plane to L。A。 （first time！） to write about his heroes。 What results in this book is a dynamic telling of that incredible basketball series， and personal moments that are both riveting and charming。
In 1969， the L。A。 Lakers and Boston Celtics were two of America's powerhouse NBA franchises。 The Lakers were stacked with stars like Wilt Chamberlain， Elgin Baylor， and Jerry West， and the Celtics were built around the legendary Bill Russell。 The Lakers were destined to win it all that year， while the Celtics struggled to get to the Finals at the end of Russell's career。 Covering that epic series was a very young， green sports reporter named Leigh Montville。 Years before becoming an award-winning sports writing legend himself at The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated， Montville was twenty-four and was told by his editor at the Globe to get on a plane to L。A。 （first time！） to write about his heroes。 What results in this book is a dynamic telling of that incredible basketball series， and personal moments that are both riveting and charming。
Reviews
Lance
，
Leigh Montville， a well-known Boston sportswriter， covered the 1969 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for the Boston Globe and it was one of the biggest assignments in his burgeoning career。 His reflection on both his writing about that event and the two teams involved is the subject of his latest book。 The book reads like the current septuagenarian Montville wants to talk to his 25-year old self。 However， that isn't because he has advice that he has learned over the y Leigh Montville， a well-known Boston sportswriter， covered the 1969 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for the Boston Globe and it was one of the biggest assignments in his burgeoning career。 His reflection on both his writing about that event and the two teams involved is the subject of his latest book。 The book reads like the current septuagenarian Montville wants to talk to his 25-year old self。 However， that isn't because he has advice that he has learned over the years and wants his younger self to treat the plum assignment any differently。 Instead， it reads almost like a time travel memoir in which the older man is back in 1969 and viewing what his younger self was doing while covering the last hurrah for one of the longest dynasties in professional sports。In 1969， the Celtics were getting older as their star throughout their dominance in the 1960's， Bill Russell， became their player-coach and knew that his time left to play was getting short。 They were not their usual dominant selves in the regular season but had enough left to make it back to the finals， where they had won 10 of the last 12 NBA championships。 On the other side were the Lakers， who were frequent victims to the Celtics in those years。 They too had their superstars， had just recently acquired Wilt Chamberlain to match up against Russell and also had an aging star， Elgin Baylor， who wanted his one last shot at a title。The writing in the book on the teams and the players （including other stars on the teams like Jerry West and Sam Jones） was very good- and much of it was due to his columns written during that series。 However， it is the manner in which he reflects on his more daring self during that time that makes the book a great read。 Montville refers to his younger self never by name but by "the bright young man" or TBYM。 This is the case even when that TYBM makes some youthful mistakes， but these are never documented in a scolding or regretful way。 Indeed， the whole book reads like one great wonderful memory from his youth and that is why it is such a fun basketball book for any fan， of any era。 While the Celtics did go on to win that series in seven games and capture that 11th title in 13 years， it is not one that only Celtics fans should read， nor is it the typical sports memoir。 As noted above， anyone who enjoys basketball should read it。 I wish to thank Doubleday for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 https://sportsbookguy。blogspot。com/20。。。 。。。more
Olive Fellows （abookolive）
，
Review forthcoming in the Christian Science Monitor！
Matt
，
3。5 stars
Stephanie
，