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Articles and publications tagged Nba across the Atmosphere.

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Cory Dransfeldt
Cory Dransfeldt
Aug 22, 2026
A Hollywood Ending
NBA journalist Yaron Weitzman lays out the high stakes drama happening inside the Lakers' organization as they try to juggle the warring priorities between LeBron James and the Buss family. When LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, it looked like a match made in heaven. Here was the preeminent athlete of his generation, fresh off ending Cleveland’s 50-year title drought and in need of a new challenge to help further burnish his legacy, joining forces with one of the most iconic teams in all of sports. And here were the Lakers, in the midst of their worst stretch in franchise history and reeling from the death of the legendary owner Dr. Jerry Buss, in need of a savior. The script wrote itself. A little over two years later, LeBron and Dr. Buss' daughter, Jeanie, were standing shoulder to shoulder, hoisting the NBA finals trophy into the air. Having won their record-tying 17th NBA title, the Lakers had reclaimed their accustomed perch on top of the basketball world. It looked to be the birth of a new dynasty. But this was a new Lakers’ franchise, one beset by infighting and years removed from Kobe's prime. And this was LeBron James, the catalyst of the “player empowerment” era, an athlete chasing things greater than Michael Jordan’s ghost. The two parties were too big to peacefully coexist under one roof. The 2020 title would represent the pinnacle of their pairing, and the beginning of a precipitous decline. Drawing from over 250 interviews, Yaron Weitzman takes readers on a riveting, behind the scenes journey of this fraught partnership. From the Succession-like power struggle between the Buss children, to the rise of LeBron’s landscape-altering talent agency and its attempts to assert its own power within the Lakers’ walls, to the evolution of LeBron’s priorities and political voice, “A Hollywood Ending” is the definitive story of an American icon’s final years on stage, one portraying him, a fabled NBA franchise, and the world of modern professional sports in a light never seen before.
nbanonfiction
Cory Dransfeldt
Cory Dransfeldt
Mar 25, 2025
Above the Noise
From one of the most outspoken and respected NBA athletes comes a groundbreaking and remarkable memoir chronicling a very public struggle with depression, in the hopes that other young men will not suffer alone. "As men, and especially Black men, we don’t talk about our mental health enough. We struggle to admit when things aren’t okay, even when it’s obvious to everybody around us. I’ve seen how toxic that can become. I’ve experienced it myself, keeping everything under wraps until your head and heart are full of fire and rage.” DeMar DeRozan, six-time NBA All-Star, has been called a “basketball savant” (ESPN) and “the best closer in the NBA” (GQ) — but when he went public with his depression, it sparked a conversation that reached far beyond the court. By breaking the stigma of speaking out, he added a new, seldom-heard voice to the mental health space: a successful Black male athlete, openly naming his pain and advocating for others to do the same. Now it’s time to tell the full story. Born and raised in Compton, DeRozan was no stranger to hardship — living in poverty, losing friends to gang violence. In worn-out school gyms and community centers, fueled by hunger and a desire to prove himself, he started to rise, but doubts followed. In Above the Noise , DeRozan opens up about his proudest triumphs and the times he felt so weighed down he couldn't get out of bed. He reflects on what it took to make a name for himself in a new country after getting drafted by the Toronto Raptors, the pressure of playing with veteran athletes as a twenty-year-old rookie, and the pain of losing role models. From a scared, angry kid to a confident father of five, DeRozan traces his journey to basketball stardom and the forces that honed him into the player — and the slowly healing person — he is today. It will encourage anyone who has ever felt alone in their struggles and inspire a new generation of young people to rise above the noise and speak their truth.
autobiographynba