By Bill Russell & Taylor Branch
Ranking:
This book is one of the basketball classics. It is a very personal look through Russell's eyes, from his youth in the segregated south through his basketball career and beyond. He covers a broad range of topics, from his views on winning to his dislike of the public idolizing sports stars, to his confrontations with racism. His section on how he came to have confidence in himself in high school, despite an environment that tried to bring him down, is inspiring.
Introspection: 5
Insight: 4
History: 1936-1978
Readability: 4
Second Wind: The Memoirs of an
Opinionated Man. Bill Russell and Taylor Branch. Ballantine
Books. 1979.