Lazenby, Roland

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Virginia Military Institute, B.A., 1975; Hollins University, M.A., 1985.

ADDRESSES: Home—Roanoke, VA. Office—Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Communication, 106 Shanks Hall, Mail Code 0311, Blacksburg, VA 24061. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer, journalist, educator, and coach. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, faculty member.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION SPORTS BOOKS

(With Billy Packer) Hoops! Confessions of a College Basketball Analyst, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 1985.

(With Ed Green and David Meador) Championship Basketball: Top College Coaches Present Their Winning Strategies, Tips, and Techniques for Players and Coaches, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 1987.

(With Billy Packer) Fifty Years of the Final Four: Golden Moments of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Taylor (Dallas, TX), 1987, revised edition published as Golden Moments of the Final Four: A Retrospective of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Jefferson Street Press (Dallas, TX), 1989.

100 Greatest Quarterbacks, Crescent Books (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Billy Packer) College Basketball's 25 Greatest Teams, Sporting News (St. Louis, MO), 1989.

The NBA Finals: The Official Illustrated History, foreword by Joe Dumars, introduction by Bob Ryan, Taylor (Dallas, TX), 1990.

(With Jeffrey Denberg and Tom Stinson) From Sweet Lou to 'Nique, edited by Arthur Triche, Longstreet Press (Atlanta, GA), 1992.

The Lakers: A Basketball Journey, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1993, 50th anniversary edition, Masters Press (Indianapolis, IN), 1995.

(With Doug Doughty) 'Hoos 'n' Hokies: The Rivalry: 100 Years of Virginia/Virginia Tech Football, Taylor (Dallas, TX), 1995.

And Now, Your Chicago Bulls! A Thirty-Year Celebration!, Taylor (Dallas, TX), 1995.

Airballs! Notes from the NBA's Far Side, Masters Press (Indianapolis, IN), 1996.

Bull Run! The Story of the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls: The Greatest Team in Basketball History, foreword by Phil Jackson, photography by Bill Smith, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1996.

The NBA Finals: A Fifty-Year Celebration, introduction by Bob Ryan, Masters Press (Indianapolis, IN), 1996.

Chicago Bulls: The Authorized Pictorial, photography by Bill Smith, Summit (Arlington, TX), 1997.

Smashmouth: Attitude between the Lines, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1997.

Yo, Baby, It's Attitude! The New Bad Boyz of the NBA Take the Jordan Test, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1997.

Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1998.

The Unofficial Chicago Bulls Pocket Primer, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1998.

Stockton to Malone: The Rise of the Utah Jazz, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1998.

Bird: Portrait of a Competitor, photography by Steve Lipofsky, Addax (Lenexa, KS), 1998.

(With Billy Packer) Why We Win: Great American Coaches Offer Their Strategies for Success in Sports and Life, Masters Press (Lincolnwood, IL), 1999.

Love at First Light: Michael Jordan and the Romance of Golf, Sports (Champaign, IL), 1999.

Mad Game: The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant, Masters Press (Lincolnwood, IL), 2000, revised edition, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

(Editor) Chicago Sports Century, Sports (Champaign, IL), 2000.

Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long, Strange Journey, Contemporary Books (Lincolnwood, IL), 2001.

The Pictorial History of Football, Thunder Bay Press (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Johnny Unitas: The Best There Ever Was, Triumph Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

Ichiro: The Making of an American Hero, Triumph Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

(With Bob Schron) Tom Brady: Sudden Glory, Triumph Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

(With Mike Ashley) Emmitt Smith: Record-Breaking Rush to Glory, Triumph Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

The Show: The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the Words of Those Who Lived It, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of annual publications Official Boston Celtics Greenbook and Official Detroit Pistons Yearbook. Contributor to books, including Michael Jordan Scrapbook, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 1998.

Contributor to periodicals, including Sporting News, Chicago Sun-Times, and Dunkshoot.

SIDELIGHTS: Since the mid-1980s, prolific sports writer Roland Lazenby has authored over two dozen books on various sports topics. Some of his titles include, Airballs! Notes from the NBA's Far Side, Smashmouth: Attitude between the Lines, Mad Game: The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant, and Mindgames: Phil Jackson's Long, Strange Journey.

In 1993 Lazenby published The Lakers: A Basketball Journey. The book gives a history of the famous Los Angeles professional basketball team dating back to their formation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1946. Lazenby also addresses such high-profile events as when team-member Magic Johnson was diagnosed with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The author also provides behind-the-scenes insights into legendary Lakers, including George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and coach Pat Riley. Overall, critics praised the work. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that "the author is clearly well informed." Additionally, William Ladson, writing in Sport, acknowledged that "if you want to reminisce about the glory days, this is the book to read."

The Los Angeles Lakers are also the topic of Lazen-by's 2005 book, The Show: The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the Words of Those Who Lived It. In this comprehensive oral history of the basketball franchise, Lazenby "pulls the reader into the tale with humorous quotes and innumerable first-person accounts," according to Library Journal contributor Todd Spires. The book is a compilation of interviews with prominent players such as Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, and head coach Phil Jackson. Lazenby examines the off-court activities of the Lakers that made them one of the best-known teams in history. The book, ultimately, received mixed reviews. A Kirkus Reviews contributor called it "informative, but stylistically uneven," while Wes Lukowsky, writing in Booklist, felt that The Show "is must reading for NBA fans both young and old."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2005, Wes Lukowsky, review of The Show: The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers in the Words of Those Who Lived It, p. 13.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2005, review of The Show, p. 1174.

Library Journal, November 15, 2005, Todd Spires, review of The Show, p. 73.

Publishers Weekly, October 18, 1993, review of The Lakers: A Basketball Journey, p. 59; October 31, 2005, review of The Show, p. 44.

Sport, July, 1994, William Ladson, review of The Lakers, p. 16.

ONLINE

Los Angeles Lakers Web log, http://lakersblog.latimes.com/ (March 23, 2006), interview with author.

True Hoop, http://www.truehoop.com/ (January 19, 2006), Henry Abbott, interview with author.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Communication Web site, http://www.comm.vt.edu/ (March 23, 2006), author profile.