Mark Heisler

UCLA won its first two NCAA basketball championships in 1964 and 1965 and went on to win 10 titles in 12 years under John Wooden, creating a standard of excellence that many schools have tried to match with intense recruiting and backdoor deals. Heisler traces the rise of college basketball and focuses on UCLA history, including the 1995 championship season, and features an in-depth interview with Wooden himself. 20 b&w photos.

UCLA and the NCAA Since John Wooden

They Shoot Coaches, Don't They?

In this revised and expanded edition, Los Angeles Times writer Mark Heisler investigates the 45-year history of the Los Angeles Lakers and unveils a pattern of pampered and/or misguided players, megalomaniacal executives, and owners whose obsessive drives for championships and attention combined to create an atmosphere of conflict for decades Throughout the entire 2003–04 season, fans and the media called the L.A. Lakers the biggest reality show in the country. But the laundry list of conflicts—the ongoing Kobe-Shaq bickering, Kobe's sexual assault trial, Phil Jackson's final season, Gary Payton's refusal to admit his physical decline, and the loss to Detroit in the championship—was just another year in the history of the Lakers. Madmen's Ball goes back to the Lakers' unceremonious arrival in Los Angeles in 1960 to show that the franchise has been embroiled in controversy, in-house battles and personality clashes for generations.

The Continuing Saga of Kobe, Phil, and the Los Angeles Lakers

Madmen's Ball

Steve Delsohn

A portrait of the controversial basketball coach traces his tenure with Indiana University and offers insight into the darker side of his personality as well as the methods that led to his numerous awards.

Mark Heisler

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