Paul Westhead became the poster boy for the fast break system. As Westhead states in “The Speed Game,” he was never afraid to experiment, and push the envelope. The coach was told he had to be crazy to fully embrace the fast break, an exciting system Westhead learned in Puerto Rico. A division II coach would fully train Westhead to integrate the fast break, a system designed to shot the ball in five seconds.
Interestingly, Westhead tried out for his high school’s basketball team year after year, but never made the roster. However, Westhead became a high school basketball coach, and he sited a Bobby Knight coach clinic that helped mold him as a better coach. After a stint as an assistant coach with St. Joseph’s, he became the head coach at LaSalle, a catholic university in his hometown of Philadelphia.
In a strange twist, Westhead led the Los Angeles Lakers, which included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and a rookie Magic Johnson, to the NBA championship in 1980, however, would be fired just eighteen months later. In the book, Westhead reveals what he was told the reason for his firing, and the coach lists the reasons he thinks he was ultimately let go. Westhead would go on to also coach the Chicago Bulls and the Denver Nuggets.
Westhead achieved fame while using his fast break system at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, where transfers Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble lead a potent offense that averaged 122 points per game. Westhead led the 89-90 team to the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament, as the team dedicated their run to Gathers, who was lost in March due to a heart condition. He won a WNBA championship in 2007 with the Phoenix Mercury.
Westhead was always a fun character to watch on the sideline, and his teams were often times scoring machines. I enjoyed reliving his basketball teams in this entertaining biography. Chaz Allen also provides outstanding narration.
By: Paul Westhead
Narrated by: Chaz Allen
Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
Release date: 08-02-21
