Wooden: A Coach's Life

A great book, addicting read, page after page! Impeccably detailed and intricately sourced, it is an honest portrayal of the amazing, interesting life of one of America's greatest college coaches & of the 10-championship dynasty UCLA had from 1963-1975 -- thanks to John Wooden's fundamental basketball skill teachings, the superb coaching strategy & recruiting talents of assistant Jerry Norman, the powerful influence of alumni like Willie Naulls, Rafer Johnson, Arthur Ashe and the soothing support & family atmosphere of booster Sam Gilbert & wife that kept some of the Bruins' top black players (Hazzard, Warren, Alcindor, Wicks, Rowe) from leaving early due to various team or campus social issues. A perfect storm of innovative fast-paced, motion-flowing play favored by Wooden, mixed with the craftiness of Norman's zone press & half-court defensive strategies, and the good fortune to get Alcindor & Walton, the two most versatile-talented college centers of all time, to come to play at UCLA, made the dynasty possible -- with the influence of Naulls & Gilbert playing pivotal roles as well. Wooden was a great coach & teacher, without doubt, but author Seth Davis' research, the UCLA players' views & opposing coaches' thoughts show demonstrably that Wooden had several obvious flaws or faults -- he was no saint. Yet, partly because Wooden lived so long (age 99, for 34 years after retiring), he was able to build strong off-court relationships with most of his former players -- something he had no time for while they played for him. Perhaps that is Wooden's greatest legacy: you never stop learning how to improve yourself or the relationships in your life -- be you a player or a coach.

I was too young when John Wooden coached his final game to appreciate him as an active coach. All my exposure to him has been as the kindly old man who would, occasionally, be interviewed on my television screen as he talked about the 10 championships in 12 years or some other aspect of his career. Most of what I read about him painted him as somebody far, far, far above the saints--an immortal who had descended Olympus for a time to slum it among mankind.Seth Davis is one of my favorite sportswriters/commentators. When I heard that he was attempting a new, more complete biography of Coach Wooden, I knew I wanted to check it out. This is a very enjoyable, well-written account that paints some of the warts on that portrait of the coach that people of my generation may never have seen.The book is not a take-down. Davis does not set out to make a demon of the hero. He simply acknowledges where the man is deserving of some criticism. I didn't always agree with Mr. Davis' criticisms, but found them to be enlightening.There was an obvious affection the author felt for the man as he interviewed him and grew to know him. He did not allow that affection, however, to dominate the narrative. We see a man who was a ferocious competitor, driven, disciplined, full of a desire to teach who was also protective of his image and, perhaps, a little vain or thin-skinned at times.This is not a book for casual or non-basketball fans who want to learn about the Pyramid of Success or some other things the man was known for. This is a biography for the basketball junkie. The descriptions of some of the games in coach Wooden's career are very detailed. A knowledge of, and love of, the game is imperative to really get the most out of this book.This is one of the two best sports biographies I've ever read--the other being David Mariness' account of Vince Lombardi's life, "When Pride Still Mattered".Those two biographies, it seems to me, are the best ones to discover and explore the two giants of coaching from the 20th Century.

I was a 10th grade junior varsity basketball player at University High School near UCLA when Bill and John Ecker were seniors and the stars of the varsity team. We practiced in the same gym with the same coach, who had played for Wooden. They were both very respectful. Bill, in particular, introduced himself to me in a respectful manner. They didn't have to be respectful, because under the star system that our coach copied from Wooden, they could have treated me any way they wanted. Once we practiced a drill where Bill had to cut across the key, and he tripped over my size 15 feet. He got exasperated and said, "Can't you think of a way to stop me without tripping me?" I thought that was a lot more respectful than it could have been. I never noticed him throwing elbows around recklessly. Of course, I don't agree with him criticizing Wooden publicly. I believe that one should praise publicly and criticize privately. But it happened in an era of student rebellion. Wooden's feeling that he was always fair off the mark. Teachers should be kind, fair, firm, and consistent. I am a veteran teacher. I started out kind and fair, and had to slowly learn to be firm and consistent. Wooden was the opposite, starting out firm and consistent and learning over time to be kind and fair. It is too bad that he claimed to be strong in all areas. I enjoyed the book and came away from reading it with a higher opinion of Wooden. He had always struck me as a hypocrite, being a hard-nosed competitor and trying to project himself as a Christian gentleman. I now believe that both sides of him were authentic. One disappointment with the book was that he didn't really deal with the aspect of the star system that most concerns me. I am afraid that the star system can lead to stars disrespecting second string players. We know that bullying is bad for both the bully and the bullied. Davis only hinted at the racial problems that left bad memories for Terry Schofield, a childhood friend of mine. A fuller account would have been instructive for coaches and teachers. But one lesson I learned from my basketball days is not to allow my students to disrespect each other.

I enjoyed the book although it did seem to be written more as an academic exercise rather than an effort as to what made wooden an exceptional coach and person

Bought it as a gift for my boss who was leaving, he loved it. A perfect gift for a basketball enthusiast.

A thorough look at the life of a coaching legend, which means it covers the positives and negatives and goes below the surface to show John Wooden had his faults and critics. One of the best basketball bios I've read.