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nickscoby's review against another edition
3.0
I love the Celtics, but I did not love this book. It just felt lite and not substantial.
open_ears_now's review against another edition
5.0
I'm biased, I'm a Celtics fan.
Absolutely loved that the book not only covered The Big Three, but everything before, during, and after - including up to the 21-22 season.
It's easy to make games exciting. Holley made everything that goes on in a front office exciting as well. If you are a fan of basketball, I highly recommend this book (even if you hate the Celtics).
Absolutely loved that the book not only covered The Big Three, but everything before, during, and after - including up to the 21-22 season.
It's easy to make games exciting. Holley made everything that goes on in a front office exciting as well. If you are a fan of basketball, I highly recommend this book (even if you hate the Celtics).
libbycrews's review against another edition
5.0
Am I biased in writing this review? Yes. I became a Celtics fan a year before KG and Ray Allen came to Boston. I lived this book in real time. I knew I would enjoy the insider information the book would hold, and I did. But I didn’t expect to emotionally re-live the excitement of the Big Three, the rise of Rondo, the championship, the frustration of the years after the championship, the Heat hatred, and the devastation of the relationship disintegration and watching the team I loved more than any other basketball team in history go separate ways. My heart raced at times. I audibly cheered at times. I read through tears several times. It was an emotional rollercoaster that only sports can take you in and only the passion of Boston teams could kick into high gear. When the Celtics team I loved broke in many directions, my heart was also broken. I mourned the loss of that team and struggled to get on board with a new Celtics team. The book gives a different spin. Knowing what happened behind the scenes of the trades made it easier to accept. The book ended with an optimism that I was too short sighted to see at the time. And that’s really the heart of this book...a man willing to look at the long game when forming a team and not getting caught up in the here and now. I cannot recommend this book more for any Celtics fan, but it is also a great read for any basketball or sports fan in general. The money ball of basketball told through a more personal and less clinical lens. I loved it immensely!
bookishkate517's review against another edition
4.0
I have received this title via NetGalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review
This book covered the history of how the Celtics rebuild began, what sparked it, and what followed after the championship. It covered the relationships between the players, coaches and management. It covered how other teams viewed the Celtics. I love how in depth this book dove. It covered topics that most sports biographies miss. Learning about the connections between everyone on the team was fascinating. When I think of sports, I don't really think of the connections between players and management but this book covered it.
This book covered the history of how the Celtics rebuild began, what sparked it, and what followed after the championship. It covered the relationships between the players, coaches and management. It covered how other teams viewed the Celtics. I love how in depth this book dove. It covered topics that most sports biographies miss. Learning about the connections between everyone on the team was fascinating. When I think of sports, I don't really think of the connections between players and management but this book covered it.
reenum's review against another edition
4.0
A good sports book has a few beats it needs to cover to succeed. First, the team is assembled. Second, you talk about the growing pains when the team is first brought together. Finally, you read about how the team achieves it's goals. This book is interesting because it adds another phase: what happens after the championship banners are raised?
Holley's book shows how the post 2008 title Celtics glided from a great team to a rebuilding one. By page 100, the discussion of the title season has concluded. Their core is rent apart by animosity between Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, as well as the aging of the entire team. Doc Rivers stands by, looking on patiently while trying to keep the group playing at a high enough level to get that next championship. Danny Ainge is back in the lab, cooking up trades to try and patch holes in a roster that develops them at a breakneck pace. But it isn't meant to be.
Holley did a great job of being fair and even handed in his treatment of Allen and Rondo. We see a different side of Allen that really hasn't been portrayed in the media, that of a lonely craftsman who just wants to find his place in the league. Rondo is given the keys to the team and proves that the contract extension he received was a mistake. He's eventually shipped off to Dallas, and becomes a journeyman who finally won another title with the 2020 Lakers. But we also see the passionate side of Rondo. He's a proud man who's unable to properly express his emotion. He's not immature; he just can't bear not to win.
I recommend this book to all sports fans. It's not often you get to read about how a team dies after achieving the greatest success.
Holley's book shows how the post 2008 title Celtics glided from a great team to a rebuilding one. By page 100, the discussion of the title season has concluded. Their core is rent apart by animosity between Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, as well as the aging of the entire team. Doc Rivers stands by, looking on patiently while trying to keep the group playing at a high enough level to get that next championship. Danny Ainge is back in the lab, cooking up trades to try and patch holes in a roster that develops them at a breakneck pace. But it isn't meant to be.
Holley did a great job of being fair and even handed in his treatment of Allen and Rondo. We see a different side of Allen that really hasn't been portrayed in the media, that of a lonely craftsman who just wants to find his place in the league. Rondo is given the keys to the team and proves that the contract extension he received was a mistake. He's eventually shipped off to Dallas, and becomes a journeyman who finally won another title with the 2020 Lakers. But we also see the passionate side of Rondo. He's a proud man who's unable to properly express his emotion. He's not immature; he just can't bear not to win.
I recommend this book to all sports fans. It's not often you get to read about how a team dies after achieving the greatest success.
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