Lance Allred has a new, promising book out

Posted on | Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | No Comments

Since his last year at Weber State in 2004-05, 6-11 big man Lance Allred has played for 10 professional teams, including a stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and two D-League teams. And yet you probably know him best as the NBA's first legally deaf player, as Allred has 75 to 80 percent hearing loss in both�ears. You might also remember him as the person on national TV that was forced into the uncomfortable task of defending a polygamist sect that his family grew up among years ago, but has long since disowned.

Now we all need to catch up and begin to regard him as a writer of some renown. Because Allred's second book, Basketball Gods: The Transformation of the Enlightened Jock, is being released by his website Tuesday, and just a quick scan through the pages reveals a writer at home with his own voice who also (and this is where you get closer to the screen) has some pretty fantastic behind-the-scenes bits for NBAniks to peruse through.

This may not even be the best snippet to post (from his time spent on Orlando's Summer League squad, back in 2009), but I'm sure we'll find more as we make our way through what is Allred's followup to the highly regarded Longshot, published in 2009:

I showed up to camp, expecting a 10-man camp as originally stated, only to find that there were 16 players. Not good. I didn't like being duped yet again by another NBA team. The fact that they said they were only bringing in 10 men, was one of the big kickers for me in getting me to commit, as it implied I would be getting more reps. But now with 16 men at camp, there would be no such guarantees.

Patrick Ewing was the coach for those two weeks and for some reason he decided that he was going to play and start a guy at center who played no more than 10 minutes a game in the D-League the season before, with stats not much better than five points a game. That same guy would not even stay on a D-League roster the next season. Go figure.

I ended up playing less than 10 minutes a game for that summer league. Chalk it up to yet another summer league experience.

Why didn't I play? Who knows?

[...]

During that camp I spent the week going through the motions, being the good soldier, marching when ordered. Mostly, I just sat there on the end of the bench, while big names came and went through the gymnasium.

I still find it humorous as to just how little people realize how hearing impaired I am, and subsequently how well I read lips. The practice gym in Orlando, in which the games were played, is very small and thus had a limited and closed quarters of seating. I could look in any direction and see anyone's lips. I felt like I was in high school all over again. Everyone walking around in their cliques, with rivalries and stale grudges dividing areas of the gym; not just according to teams. Think high school kids with millions of dollars to blow.

That's just what my finger landed on this morning, after figuratively spinning the globe on Allred's globe-spinning memoir.

The book can be had for very, very reasonable terms (I'll let Allred break them down for you) on Lance's website. You can also read an engaging interview with him that was published on USA Today for Tuesday, or follow him on Twitter for more updates.

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