The Victory Machine
The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty
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Narrated by:
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Ethan Sherwood Strauss
About this listen
How money, guts, and greed built the Warriors dynasty - and then took it apart
The Golden State Warriors dominated the NBA for the better part of a decade. Since the arrival of owner Joe Lacob, they won more championships and sold more merchandise than any other franchise in the sport. And in 2019, they opened the doors on a lavish new stadium.
Yet all this success contained some of the seeds of decline. Ethan Sherwood Strauss' clear-eyed exposé reveals the team's culture, its financial ambitions and struggles, and the price that its players and managers have paid for all their winning. From Lacob's unlikely acquisition of the team to Kevin Durant's controversial departure, Strauss shows how the smallest moments can define success or failure for years.
And, looking ahead, Strauss ponders whether this organization can rebuild after its abrupt fall from the top, and how a relentless business wears down its players and executives. The Victory Machine is a defining book on the modern NBA: it not only rewrites the story of the Warriors, but shows how the Darwinian business of pro basketball really works.
©2020 Ethan Sherwood Strauss (P)2020 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"The Victory Machine isn't a romantic look at the Golden State Warriors dynasty, but it gets to the human core of success and asks the reader to question everything he or she knew about sports." (Bomani Jones, cohost of High Noon)
"Strauss skillfully captures a team peaking as change is taking place all around them, and pulls the curtain aside on the often unsavory realities of what it means to succeed in the NBA." (Library Journal)
"The Victory Machine is The Breaks of the Game of its era. Strauss pulls the curtain back to reveal the ambitions, insecurities, and riches that propel one of the most interesting sports leagues in the world. Most sports books are either idea - driven or character-driven - but Strauss has accomplished both. This is a book I'll come back to again and again for its insight and wit." (Kevin Arnovitz, NBA writer, ESPN the Magazine)
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- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Jack McCallum
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Very interesting and fun to read
- By Joe on 06-12-18
By: Jack McCallum
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It's Better to Be Feared
- The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness
- By: Seth Wickersham
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Over two unbelievable decades, the New England Patriots were not only the NFL's most dominant team, but also - and by far - the most secretive. How did they achieve and sustain greatness - and what were the costs? In It's Better to Be Feared, Seth Wickersham, one of the country's finest long form and investigative sportswriters, tells the full, behind-the-scenes story of the Patriots, capturing the brilliance, ambition, and vanity that powered and ultimately unraveled them.
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Don’t bother if you’ve read other patriots books
- By Brandon O. on 10-14-21
By: Seth Wickersham
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Dream Team
- How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Changed the Game of Basketball Forever
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona.
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Great insight into the great basketball team ever.
- By James O'Brien on 09-04-12
By: Jack McCallum
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Talk of Champions
- Stories of the People Who Made Me: A Memoir
- By: Kenny Smith
- Narrated by: Kenny Smith
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Kenny Smith was a star at the University of North Carolina before his storied NBA run, in which he won two championships with the Houston Rockets. His popularity skyrocketed when he joined TNT’s new show, Inside the NBA, which has thrived for twenty-four years and won multiple Emmys, receiving enormous acclaim for the insight, humor, social commentary, and unrivaled basketball coverage from Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson, Jr. Kenny is known to fans for his laser-sharp analysis and eloquent observations of the basketball scene and culture.
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Great book. Is heavy on racial topics, but appropriate
- By Mathias Noriega on 07-09-23
By: Kenny Smith
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The Breaks of the Game
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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A New York Times best seller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions. The tactile authenticity of Halberstam's knowledge of the basketball world is unrivaled. Yet he is writing here about far more than just basketball. This is a story about a place in our society where power, money, and talent collide and sometimes corrupt, a place where both national obsessions and naked greed are exposed.
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This book is a must read for all NBA junkies.
- By Kyle on 06-13-18
By: David Halberstam
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Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
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Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
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The Cup They Couldn't Lose
- America, the Ryder Cup, and the Long Road to Whistling Straits
- By: Shane Ryan
- Narrated by: Shane Ryan
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The task facing Steve Stricker at the 2021 Ryder Cup was enormous. It was his job, as the American captain, to stare down almost 40 years of Ryder Cup history, break a pattern of home losses that had persisted almost as long, and reverse the tide of European dominance in one of golf's most tense and emotional events. This was the epitome of a must-win, but it was also something more—in the entire 93-year history of the event, no American side had ever faced this kind of pressure.
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Great listen
- By Amazon Customer on 05-27-24
By: Shane Ryan
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The Russian Five
- A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage
- By: Keith Gave
- Narrated by: Bob Brill
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Detroit Red Wings were rebooting their franchise after more than two decades of relative futility, they knew the best place to find world-class players who could turn things around more quickly were conscripted servants behind the Iron Curtain. All they had to do to get them was make history by drafting them and then figure out how to get them out of the Soviet Union.
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Very interesting
- By Kandace on 04-23-21
By: Keith Gave
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Funky
- My Defiant Path Through the Wild World of Combat Sports
- By: Ben Askren
- Narrated by: Ben Askren
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most dominant college wrestlers in history, Ben Askren became a folk hero during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, before going on to become a multiple time MMA champion and one of the sport's biggest stars. Here, in Funky, this record-breaking wrestler and polarizing UFC fighter shares how he came to dominate opponents while blazing a trail through competitors in unprecedented ways. Not blessed with natural athleticism, he revolutionized folkstyle wrestling by innovating his own technique, which earned him the famous nickname, "Funky."
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Ben sounds sedated
- By Michael J on 12-16-22
By: Ben Askren
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America's Quarterback
- Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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No one can touch Bart Starr's record setting 5 NFL Championships including 3 straight. America's Quarterback tells the story of the man who helped create the legend of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. This biography traces Starr’s life from childhood in Alabama to stardom in Green Bay and beyond. Not a simple sports story, Dunnavant traces the story of one man reaching for the American dream while professional football emerged from the shadows to capture the nation’s imagination.
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awesome
- By Anthony nyman on 03-30-15
By: Keith Dunnavant
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Furious George
- My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
- By: George Karl, Curt Sampson
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A man of deep passion and intensity, George Karl earned his bad boy reputation while playing at the University of North Carolina, a rap that continued through the five years he spent with the San Antonio Spurs - and long after he stopped playing. Karl's beery nights, fistfights, and barking followed him into a 35-year coaching career. In a game defined by big stakes and bigger egos, rabid fans and an unforgiving media, Karl was hired and fired a dozen times.
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Pathetic little black book.
- By Brad Howard on 04-20-20
By: George Karl, and others
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Basketball
- A Love Story
- By: Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, Dan Klores
- Narrated by: James Fouhey, Jim Frangione, Sullivan Jones, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping and revelatory history of basketball, drawing upon hundreds of hours of interviews with the greatest players, coaches, executives, and journalists in the history of the game. In an effort to tell the complete story of basketball in all its fascinating dimensions, acclaimed authors Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, and Dan Klores have compiled nearly a thousand hours' worth of interviews with a staggering number of basketball greats. The audiobook that grew out of those interviews is an extraordinary project and quite possibly the most ambitious basketball work ever made.
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Underwhelming
- By Adam Kosberg on 12-02-18
By: Jackie MacMullan, and others
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Scribe
- My Life in Sports
- By: Bob Ryan
- Narrated by: Bob Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since he joined the sports department of the Boston Globe in 1968, sports enthusiasts have been blessed with the writing and reporting of Bob Ryan. Tony Kornheiser calls him the "quintessential American sportswriter". For the past 25 years, he has also been a regular on various ESPN shows, especially The Sports Reporters, spreading his knowledge and enthusiasm for sports of all kinds.
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No my idea of a memoir
- By Michael Friedman on 12-19-14
By: Bob Ryan
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Glory Days
- The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever
- By: L. Jon Wertheim
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The summer of 1984 was a watershed moment in the birth of modern sports when the nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. That summer also saw ESPN’s rise to media dominance as the country’s premier sports network and the first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rivalry raged, Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe reigned in tennis, and Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon made pro wrestling a business, while Donald Trump pierced the national consciousness as a pro football team owner.
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A great sports summer
- By Hebern on 07-06-21
By: L. Jon Wertheim
What listeners say about The Victory Machine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Gustavo
- 05-19-21
Really enjoyed!
The book shows us deep inside how the organization works, since before Joe Lacob acquired the franchise to the dynasty days.
The funniest part is the conversation he had with Iguodala while Kevon Looney was giggling on the side!
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- Don+Kimber
- 04-29-20
awesome
lovrd it. great insight into my favorite team hope to see more from this author.
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- Donita
- 04-24-21
Fascinating!
I like sports books, especially basketball books, & this book opened my eyes to some of the “behind the scenes” events that impact the business of the game. (Why DON’T GMs make as much as coaches???) I have new respect for the individuals who pulled together the original OKC Thunder & made it work. The author narrates & there were times he tried to mimic other people’s voices—failed attempts, mostly—but I found it amusing & endearing & not at all annoying. I loved this book for the subject, the content & the scrutiny which I found to be nonjudgmental. Good job!
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- B
- 05-03-20
Great Book
Really enjoyed the book, and Ethan did a great job narrating it for the audio book. It really digs deep in to the organization and gives some tidbits even the most hardcore NBA fans wont be familiar with. I would say this book caters more to the hardcore NBA fan though, or at least someone really in to the league or the Warriors dynasty in particular.
Beside that audience, I could see people who enjoy business and the rise and fall of dynasties in any sport. The Sneaker Wars chapter is great and gives a deeper look in to how big brands like Nike control such a huge part of what goes on in the NBA (NCAA too) and I love hearing stories about people that may not be widely known but have SO much influence and power.
Just an overall great book. I recommend Ethan’s podcast, and he also went on several other podcasts to promote the book and talks about what it’s about and what he was trying to achieve by writing it. If you’re on the fence, I’d say give one of those pods (or a couple) that he goes on to talk about the book because he really gives an accurate representation of what the book is in the interviews.
That’s a big reason of why I ended up buying it. I knew I’d like the subject matter. I wasn’t interested in reading a book about how awesome of a team they were, how awesome the players/GM/owners/coach is/were, etc. If you’re a basketball fan you know most of that stuff already. And there are other books on the Warriors dynasty I’m sure that you can go get.
Obviously the story of the Warriors is still being written (well it will be once we get the next off season and then next seasons) and they’re in a very interesting position moving forward. But there’s more than enough fascinating material here.
It really flew by. I listened to it all in one sitting without even planning to. It was like the perfect length. I do wish it was slightly longer but I don’t think it needed to be. He hit on everything I wanted and more. The story of the sale of the team to current ownership and getting to know more about those guys was fascinating in particular along with the sneaker stuff.
I look forward to Ethan writing another book on whatever topic he takes on next however many years from now. And no I was not paid or given a free copy of the book for this review.
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- Readtolearn
- 06-02-20
Very Insightful
I enjoyed learning the history and inner workings of the greatest team of my generation and in my opinion of all time. It’s different yet still similar to what happened to the 90s bulls which fits the theory of history respecting itself.
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- ryden meyer
- 04-23-20
Great read for anyone who is even semi interested in the sports world
Ethan does a great job with this book providing insider information, unique perspectives, and a comprehensive look at the nba ecosystems.
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- Theophilus
- 02-07-21
Glad I challenged myself to branch out
I’m not a sports person. I jokingly call whatever sport my husband is watching “sportsballs” as though they’re all the same to me. But I wanted to branch out and listen to a book I’d never think to read. I’M SO GLAD I DID! This was a captivating account from a very talented writer of a remarkable period in the life of a business. One that just happens to be in the business of sportsball. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates great writing whether you think of yourself as a sports person or not. (The same way I recommend Tina Fey’s Bossypants to all men.)
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- Andrew Altman
- 05-07-20
Weekend Listen
Popped in my headphones on a Saturday morning and finished the book. Between grocery shopping, laundry, making meals and doing some work at the computer I just kept listening. I really didn’t want to turn it off.
I am a big Warriors fan and there was plenty of new things to learn and old things with a new perspective. Some stuff gave the happy feeling of nostalgia and some made me lash out with an audible ‘Fuck you Ethan.’
This was just like listening to a good basketball podcast. This book pairs well with The Last Dance - seeing the similarities and differences was pretty cool.
My biggest problem with the audio version was I was unable to toggle to the Radio Ethan version of the reading. Please fix or provide better instructions.
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- Ethan S.
- 05-15-20
Best Book You’ll Find on the Warriors
Sherwood-Strauss is a captivating media figure, illustrative and erudite author and he’s also my spirit animal
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-30-20
Great insight
This book have an insight into the warriors run that I did not know and I follow alot of sports and sports talk. I learned alot about Kevin Durant mostly. Great Book.
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