Showing results by author "Jack McCallum" in All Categories

Sports Illustrated's chief NBA writer, Jack McCallum, only planned to spend the preseason with the Phoenix Suns as an "assistant coach" - and then write a story about his experiences. Instead, he stayed on with the Suns throughout their exciting and controversial 2005-2006 season. Gaining access to everything from locker-room chats with superstar point guard Steve Nash, to coaches' meetings with maverick coach Mike D'Antoni, McCallum learned what makes this wildly popular, innovative, and international assemblage of talented players and brilliant coaches tick.

In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.

Hiroaki "Rocky" Aoki was a man who succeeded in everything he pursued. From wrestling, ballooning, underwater exploration, and car and boat racing to founding Benihana, Rocky's passion for life infected all around him and accelerated the exchange of Japanese culture and cuisine with America. Rocky's rags to riches story, from dishwasher and busboy to owner of a multi-million-dollar restaurant empire, is an American dream realized unlike any other.