About the Book

LAPCHICK

LAPCHICK took Gus Alfieri eight years to write. In one way the book is a history of fifty of the most dramatic developmental years in basketball [1915 -1965] when the game traveled from church basements and barnstorming America, to its beginnings as an international sport. Joe Lapchick’s life clearly becomes that lens from which that transition can be viewed. But the book is much more.

As an Original Celtic, he was the first big man in basketball who earned more than $10,000, and taught himself how to coach, becoming the first New York Knickerbocker coach between two stints coaching at St. John’s University where he won four prestigious National Invitation Tournaments. But whether a professional player, or coach, he was always at the cutting edge, setting trends that influenced the game as well as his peers.

He not only helped the new NBA survive, he helped it weather its early integration by directing Sweetwater Clifton of the Knicks, who along with Chuck Cooper of the Boston Celtics and Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols, integrated the fledgling league in 1950.

Joe Lapchick’s career is remembered for the mentoring he provided for such coaches as Bob Knight, Lou Carnesecca, and Johnny Bach. Twice inducted into the basketball Hall-of-Fame, Joe Lapchick will always be identified with not only winning games, but a charming personality that made him one of sports’ legendary figures to fans and the media alike.

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