
The Speed Game
My Fast Times in Basketball
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Chaz Allen
-
By:
-
Paul Westhead
About this listen
Paul Westhead was teaching high school in his native Philadelphia when he was named La Salle University’s men’s basketball coach in 1970. By 1980 he was a Los Angeles Lakers assistant, soon to be hired as head coach, winning an NBA title with Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and rookie guard Magic Johnson. After compiling a 112-50 record, he was fired in November 1981. After a short stay as coach of the Chicago Bulls, Westhead reemerged in the mid-eighties as a coach at Loyola Marymount in California, where he designed his highly unusual signature run-and-gun offense that came to be known as “the system”.
The Speed Game offers a vibrant account of how Westhead helped develop a style of basketball that not only won at the highest levels but went on to influence basketball as it’s played today. Known for implementing an up-tempo, quick-possession, high-octane offense, Westhead is the only coach to have won championships in both the NBA and WNBA.
Westhead speaks candidly here about the feathers he ruffled and about his own shortcomings as he takes readers from Philadelphia’s West Catholic High, where he couldn’t make varsity, to the birth of the Showtime Lakers and to the powerhouse he built nearly ten years later at Loyola, where his team set records likely never to be approached.
The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
“His accounts of his time with the NBA will be rewarding for hoop fans and all of us book worms.” (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)
"It may be a surprise to readers to learn how graceful and interesting a writer he is...." (Wall Street Journal)
"His memoir is both proud and self-effacing, candid and evasive, an artful nod to Shakespearean comedy and tragedy." (New York Journal of Books)
©2020 Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska (P)2021 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Bad Boys Risen
- By Jarvis Kolen on 09-04-22
By: Cameron Stauth
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Offended at the style used to voice black characters.
- By NP on 01-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
A Season on the Brink
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Season on the Brink chronicles the basketball season that John Feinstein spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach, Bob Knight. Knight granted Feinstein an unprecedented inside look at college basketball - with complete access to every moment of the season. Feinstein saw and heard it all - practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and mid-game huddles - during Knight's struggle to avoid a losing season.
-
-
Great Sports Journalism
- By Robert on 04-18-13
By: John Feinstein
-
Blood in the Garden
- The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
- By: Chris Herring
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.
-
-
Great book, horrible performance.
- By Sean Conway on 07-21-22
By: Chris Herring
-
Toughness
- Developing True Strength On and Off the Court
- By: Jay Bilas
- Narrated by: Jay Bilas
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If anyone knows tough, it’s Jay Bilas. A four-year starter at Duke, he learned an incomparable work ethic under coach Mike Krzyzewski, battling against the greatest college players in the game. After playing professionally overseas for several years, he returned to Duke, where he served as Krzyzewski’s assistant coach for three seasons, during which the Blue Devils won back-to-back titles. Featuring never-before-heard stories and personal philosophies on toughness from top players and coaches, Bilas redefines what it takes to succeed.
-
-
Very good lessons in toughness
- By Rhoderick Dione Frierson on 03-09-17
By: Jay Bilas
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Bad Boys Risen
- By Jarvis Kolen on 09-04-22
By: Cameron Stauth
-
Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Offended at the style used to voice black characters.
- By NP on 01-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
A Season on the Brink
- By: John Feinstein
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Season on the Brink chronicles the basketball season that John Feinstein spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach, Bob Knight. Knight granted Feinstein an unprecedented inside look at college basketball - with complete access to every moment of the season. Feinstein saw and heard it all - practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and mid-game huddles - during Knight's struggle to avoid a losing season.
-
-
Great Sports Journalism
- By Robert on 04-18-13
By: John Feinstein
-
Blood in the Garden
- The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
- By: Chris Herring
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.
-
-
Great book, horrible performance.
- By Sean Conway on 07-21-22
By: Chris Herring
-
Toughness
- Developing True Strength On and Off the Court
- By: Jay Bilas
- Narrated by: Jay Bilas
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If anyone knows tough, it’s Jay Bilas. A four-year starter at Duke, he learned an incomparable work ethic under coach Mike Krzyzewski, battling against the greatest college players in the game. After playing professionally overseas for several years, he returned to Duke, where he served as Krzyzewski’s assistant coach for three seasons, during which the Blue Devils won back-to-back titles. Featuring never-before-heard stories and personal philosophies on toughness from top players and coaches, Bilas redefines what it takes to succeed.
-
-
Very good lessons in toughness
- By Rhoderick Dione Frierson on 03-09-17
By: Jay Bilas
-
Gambler
- Secrets from a Life at Risk
- By: Billy Walters
- Narrated by: Billy Walters
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees.
-
-
Good but
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-23
By: Billy Walters
-
Wooden
- A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
- By: John Wooden
- Narrated by: Beau Bridges, BIll Walton
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evoking days gone by when coaches were respected as much for their off-court performances as for their success on the court, Wooden presents the timeless wisdom of legendary basketball coach John Wooden. In honest and telling passages about virtually every aspect of life, Coach shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence. Raised on a small farm in South-Central Indiana, he offers lessons and wisdom learned throughout his career at UCLA and life as a dedicated husband, father, and teacher.
-
-
Great listen...
- By AML on 12-06-22
By: John Wooden
-
Players First
- Coaching from the Inside Out
- By: John Calipari, Michael Sokolove
- Narrated by: Chuck Montgomery
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Players First, John Calipari relates for the first time anywhere his experiences over his first four years coaching the Kentucky Wildcats, college basketball's most fabled program, from the doldrums to a national championship, drawing lessons about leadership, character, and the path to personal and collective victory. At its core, Calipari's coaching philosophy centers on keeping his focus on the players - what they need to get the best out of themselves and one another.
-
-
IU alum and fan...now loves Calipari
- By Stephen S. on 04-16-14
By: John Calipari, and others
-
The Captain Class
- The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams
- By: Sam Walker
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Several years ago, Sam Walker set out to answer one of the most hotly debated questions in sports: What are the greatest teams of all time? He devised a formula, then applied it to thousands of teams from leagues all over the world, from the NBA to the English Premier League to Olympic field hockey. When he was done, he had a list of the 16 most dominant teams in history. At that point he became obsessed with another, more complicated question: What did these freak teams have in common?
-
-
Dates and names
- By Hunter on 11-28-21
By: Sam Walker
-
Coach K
- The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski
- By: Ian O'Connor
- Narrated by: Kiff Vandenheuvel
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike Krzyzewski, known worldwide as “Coach K,” is a five-time national champion at Duke, the NCAA's all-time leader in victories with nearly 1,200, and the first man to lead Team USA to three Olympic basketball gold medals. Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski’s best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great, but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career.
-
-
Jon “Shayer”?
- By Lawdevil on 03-02-22
By: Ian O'Connor
-
The Bad Guys Won
- A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform - and Maybe the Best
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Jeff Pearlman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.
-
-
Maybe 3.5
- By Lifeisshort on 02-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
- A Memoir
- By: Sly Stone, Ben Greenman - contributor, Questlove - foreword
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the few indisputable geniuses of pop music, Sly Stone is a trailblazer and a legend. He created a new kind of music, mixing Black and white, male and female, funk and rock. As a songwriter, he penned some of the most iconic anthems of the 1960s and ’70s, from “Everyday People” to “Family Affair.” As a performer, he electrified audiences with a persona and stage presence that set a lasting standard for pop-culture performance.
-
-
Thank You!
- By Gina M. McKenzie on 10-20-23
By: Sly Stone, and others
-
The Midrange Theory
- Basketball’s Evolution in the Age of Analytics
- By: Seth Partnow
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The concept of basketball "analytics" has been lauded, derided, and misunderstood. The incorporation of more data into NBA decision-making has been credited—or blamed—for everything from the death of the traditional center to the proliferation of three-point shooting to the alleged abandonment of the area of the court known as the midrange. In The Midrange Theory, Seth Partnow explains how numbers have affected the modern NBA game, and how those numbers urge us toward thinking about it in new ways.
-
-
Good ideas, tough to listen to audiobook
- By Michael on 05-12-22
By: Seth Partnow
-
Conscious Coaching: The Art and Science of Building Buy-In
- By: Brett Bartholomew
- Narrated by: K Foster
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the world of strength and conditioning, learning how to move others not just physically, but also psychologically and emotionally is paramount to getting the most out of them. People are the ultimate performance variable, and understanding how to effectively blend knowledge of proper training with the nuances of human behavior is integral to helping athletes achieve their ultimate goals. Unfortunately, while much attention has been given to the science of physical training, little attention has been given to the science of communication.
-
-
Narration was distracting.
- By 4-Pack on 01-24-18
-
When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies.
-
-
Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
What Winners Won't Tell You
- Lessons from a Legendary Defender
- By: Malcolm Jenkins
- Narrated by: Malcolm Jenkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the course of his thirteen-year NFL career, the now retired defensive back’s triumphs extend beyond that on the football field. As a successful entrepreneur, he has seen the blossoming of his business ventures with an eponymous company, Malcolm Inc., and a media conglomerate called Listen Up Media. As a philanthropist, he strives to make a positive difference in the lives of young people in underserved communities through The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation.
-
-
Love for his daughters opinion
- By John B. on 03-08-25
By: Malcolm Jenkins
-
Muggsy
- My Life from a Kid in the Projects to the Godfather of Small Ball
- By: Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, Jake Uitti - contributor
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the East Baltimore playground courts where he earned his nickname by muggin' opponents for possession of the ball to Dunbar High School where he excelled alongside future NBA players, Muggsy Bogues set the tone in his early years for the great heights he'd reach professionally. In this new autobiography, Bogues delves deep into his life and career, reflecting on legendary battles with Michael Jordan, John Stockton, and other generational stars of ’80s and ’90s hoops.
-
-
Wonderful Nostalgia
- By Austin Pierce on 02-23-23
By: Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, and others
What listeners say about The Speed Game
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. Meyers
- 04-15-22
Life in the Fast Lane
I’ve followed Coach Westhead for many years and dreamed of running his system. This book is a fantastic read that is very interesting, insightful and enjoyable not just for fans of him and his system, but any basketball fan.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steven Gerweck
- 10-10-23
Fast, faster, and fastest
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J Parker Adair
- 12-10-22
Worth the read
Paul Westhead is a crazy genius, and I Love any glimpse I can get into his world. Some of the stories sound like sour grapes, but it’s about the journey. The narration is not bad but needed better directing and recording location; it sounds tinny. Still, a good book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!