Coach Wooden and Me
Abdul-Jabbar, K. (2017), 'Coach Wooden and Me,' Grand Central Publishing, New York, USA.
Paperback = 290 pages.
Condition = Good secondhand.
When future NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an eighteen year old high school basketball prospect from New York City named Lew Alcindor, he accepted a scholarship from UCLA largely on the strength of Coach John Wooden's reputation as a winner.
It turned out to be the right choice, as Alcindor and his teammates won an unprecedented three NCAA championship titles. It also marked the beginning of one of the most extraordinary and enduring friendships in the history of sports.
'Coach Wooden and Me' is a stirring tribute to the subtle but profound influence that Wooden had on Kareem as a player and then as a person. Abdul-Jabbar fondly recalls how Coach Wooden's fatherly guidance paved the way for not only his unmatched professional success but also a lifetime of personal fulfilment.
'Coach Wooden and Me' is at once a celebration of the unique philosophical outlook of college basketball's most storied coach and a moving testament to the all-conquering power of friendship.