In the 1960s and 1970s, I lived in Southern California and was a huge fan of professional basketball in general and the LA Lakers in particular. I followed the team closely, every season, through the playoffs, with the too-frequent finale being a loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Championship Finals. Back in the late 60s, there was a 24-year old, inexperienced sports reporter named Leigh Montville covering the Celtics and, although he didn’t keep a journal during 1969, he has a great memory that he put to good use writing Tall Men, Short Shorts. Subtitled The 1969 NBA Finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a Very Young Sports Reporter, it is a fascinating look at how the sport and the league used to be, and wow, has it changed.

In 1969, it seemed a given that the L.A. Lakers were destined to win the title, and as Bill Russell’s career was coming to an end, the Boston Celtics were struggling to even get to the Finals at the end of the season. Sports were different then in both Boston and LA: “Baseball was the undisputed king in both cities. Hockey is second in Boston, football or horse racing second in Los Angeles.” To emphasize the way things have changed for basketball, “...best indicator of the NBA’s place in the 1969 world is that none of the first four games of the series …will be shown on television in Boston.”That young sportswriter got on a plane for the first time in 1969 and flew from Boston to LA to cover the Finals. Back then, a reporter’s job was wildly different: he “had to look in the phone book, the Yellow Pages, to find a Western Union office,” where someone else would retype his words and send them to his paper. Things were different in LA: “Hair was long, skirts were short…Marijuana was everywhere.”  He went on to a prize-winning career writing for the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, and this book captures his love for the game and the team, as well as the details of all seven games. Spoiler Alert: he went home happy at the end of the series. A great read for any fan of basketball in general, and Celtics fans in particular will LOVE it. Four stars, and thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for this honest review.