
Wish It Lasted Forever
Life with the Larry Bird Celtics
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Narrated by:
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Dan Shaughnessy
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By:
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Dan Shaughnessy
About this listen
From award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird.
Today the NBA is a vast global franchise—a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s—when basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars.
Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams—flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro.
Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, and M.L. Carr.
For any fan who longs to return—for just a few hours—to those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner’s circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to “the Celtics from 1982-1986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down” (New York Post).
©2021 Dan Shaughnessy. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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The Big Three
- Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the Rebirth of the Boston Celtics
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Jean-Francois Donaldson
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The first of "The Big Three" was Paul Pierce. As Boston Celtics fans watched the team retire Pierce's jersey in a ceremony on February 11, 2018, they remembered again the incredible performances Pierce put on in the city for fifteen years, helping the Celtics escape the bottom of their conference to become champions and perennial championship contenders. But Pierce's time in the city wasn't always so smooth. In 2000, he was stabbed in a downtown nightclub eleven times in a seemingly random attack.
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Okay basketball book
- By Mark on 07-26-23
By: Michael Holley
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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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The Legends Club
- Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The riveting inside story of college basketball's fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends - University of North Carolina's Dean Smith, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State's Jim Valvano - by the king of college basketball writers, number-one New York Times best seller John Feinstein.
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Must read for any college basketball fan,
- By Rick on 07-02-24
By: John Feinstein
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Showtime
- Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 18 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman draws from almost 300 interviews to take the first full measure of the Lakers’ epic Showtime era. A dazzling account of one of America’s greatest sports sagas, Showtime is packed with indelible characters, vicious rivalries, and jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes stories of the players’ decadent Hollywood lifestyles. From the Showtime era’s remarkable rise to its tragic end - marked by Magic Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he had contracted HIV - Showtime is a gripping narrative of sports, celebrity, and 1980s-style excess.
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Offended at the style used to voice black characters.
- By NP on 01-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
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Tall Men, Short Shorts
- The 1969 NBA Finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a Very Young Sports Reporter
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Leigh Montville
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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They don’t set up any better than this. The greatest basketball player of all time–Bill Russell–and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of ten (ten!) of the previous twelve NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. Bill Russell and John Havlicek versus Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
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Very good book with a caveat
- By Hebern on 12-06-21
By: Leigh Montville
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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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Truly one of the all time great sports books
- By Ed on 03-11-16
By: David Halberstam
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The Franchise
- Building a Winner with the World Champion Detroit Pistons, Basketball's Bad Boys
- By: Cameron Stauth
- Narrated by: Matt Martucci, Jeff Martin
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In January of 1989, Cameron Stauth became a fly on the office wall of Pistons General Manager Jack McCloskey. He watched day by day, crisis by crisis, as McCloskey, Coach Chuck Daly, and a handful of immensely talented and ambitious basketball players—the Bad Boys of Detroit—won the NBA championship.
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Bad Boys Risen
- By Jarvis Kolen on 09-04-22
By: Cameron Stauth
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Showboat
- The Life of Kobe Bryant
- By: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive portrait of Kobe Bryant, from the author of Michael Jordan. Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball's absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography.
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KOBE BEAN BRYANT
- By Allaeldien Abdelrahman on 12-14-18
By: Roland Lazenby
What listeners say about Wish It Lasted Forever
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- Steven Lipofsky
- 02-12-22
Brings the Bird era back in high relief
I was the Celtics photographer for this period and Dan's book brings back rich memories.
He adds much that I was not aware of and fills in lots of details not commonly known.
It's an entertaining and informative narrative of a VERY special time with colorful characters and, arguably, the greatest team in NBA history.
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- Richard D. Harrison
- 09-08-22
THE Best
The Celtics during the Larry Bird eta was the Best and so is Dan’s book, thank you.
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- Rob Garry
- 02-09-22
Great story
Great insight on 1986 Celtics. Best team ever! Shaughnessy has a better relationship with the players today than he did then.
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- Arthur Smith
- 02-13-23
Wonderful story
This basketball ball goes into depth about what of the greatest teams ever. I loved it and I hate the Celtics.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-04-22
Great read but wished he stayed the entire season
Anyone can look at the stats sheets to see what happened, but the author gave us the background on the almost 4 seasons. The end was kind of chopped due to the change of assignment. I wished he could have stayed to finish the season. 1985-86 Celtics best team ever.
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- Jose Miramontes
- 02-03-23
The Good Ole Days!
I loved this. Nothing like going down memory lane and hearing detailed stories of my favorite all-time team.
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- Danielle B.
- 03-09-24
Great book about a great time in basketball history
Great book about a great time in basketball history. I loved those years. I wish there were biographies of many players on that team. I was happy to find this book and this perspective. Brought it all back and learned a lot.
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- Mark
- 06-25-24
A joyful ride!
An incredibly beautiful story telling from a unique perspective of an amazing time in sports history!
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- jonathan meharg
- 06-24-22
Great book for any Celtics fans
If you're a fan of how the NBA used to be played or remember the NBA in the 80s and 90s you'll probably enjoy this book. If you're a Boston Celtics fan you'll LOVE this book. Some of the stories you've heard a thousand times but they're still enjoyable. hearing Dan Shaughnessy do an impression of Bill Walton it's a good enough reason to use a credit for this book.
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- greg
- 04-05-24
The memory’s
Anything bird I love Only idle I ever had won’t be another like him I never missed a televised game
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