A Hollywood Ending
The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers
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- ¥2,000
発行者による作品情報
NBA journalist Yaron Weitzman lays out the high stakes drama happening inside the Lakers' organization as they try to juggle the warring priorities between LeBron James and the Buss family.
When LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, it looked like a match made in heaven. Here was the preeminent athlete of his generation, fresh off ending Cleveland’s 50-year title drought and in need of a new challenge to help further burnish his legacy, joining forces with one of the most iconic teams in all of sports. And here were the Lakers, in the midst of their worst stretch in franchise history and reeling from the death of the legendary owner Dr. Jerry Buss, in need of a savior. The script wrote itself.
A little over two years later, LeBron and Dr. Buss' daughter, Jeanie, were standing shoulder to shoulder, hoisting the NBA finals trophy into the air. Having won their record-tying 17th NBA title, the Lakers had reclaimed their accustomed perch on top of the basketball world. It looked to be the birth of a new dynasty.
But this was a new Lakers’ franchise, one beset by infighting and years removed from Kobe's prime. And this was LeBron James, the catalyst of the “player empowerment” era, an athlete chasing things greater than Michael Jordan’s ghost. The two parties were too big to peacefully coexist under one roof. The 2020 title would represent the pinnacle of their pairing, and the beginning of a precipitous decline.
Drawing from over 250 interviews, Yaron Weitzman takes readers on a riveting, behind the scenes journey of this fraught partnership. From the Succession-like power struggle between the Buss children, to the rise of LeBron’s landscape-altering talent agency and its attempts to assert its own power within the Lakers’ walls, to the evolution of LeBron’s priorities and political voice, “A Hollywood Ending” is the definitive story of an American icon’s final years on stage, one portraying him, a fabled NBA franchise, and the world of modern professional sports in a light never seen before.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
NBA reporter Weitzman (Tanking to the Top) takes readers behind the scenes of the Los Angeles Lakers in this in-depth account of a crucial moment in the team's history: its signing of LeBron James. In 2018, the team was reeling from the death of owner Jerry Buss and a string of disappointing seasons. Controlling owner Jeanie Buss, Jerry's daughter, was determined to return the squad to its former glory and hoped that adding James, the four-time NBA MVP, would make that possible. She was right: the decision yielded a championship in the Covid-impacted 2019–2020 season. But obstacles—including injuries and questionable player decisions—would prevent them from sustaining that success. While the "LeBron Lakers" may not have reached their full potential, Weitzman argues that, in the end, both Buss and James were successful; she brought the franchise "back from the abyss" after years of mediocrity, while James won his fourth title and became the league's all-time scoring leader. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, Weitzman cinematically portrays the high-stakes drama behind the pairing of a living legend and an iconic sports team. This is a must-read for pro hoops fans.
