Every shot counts A memoir of resilience

Retired NBA power forward Carlos Boozer opens his memoir with the senseless tragedy that shaped his life. At six years old, he watched his best friend die in his arms after the boy, age seven, was shot by an older boy on the basketball court where they'd all been playing. Boozer's parents decided shortly thereafter to relocate the family from increasingly violent Washington, DC, to Juneau, Alaska. As young Boozer, a gifted and enthusiastic athlete, gravitated to basketball, his father became his mentor, tutoring his son in the intricacies of the game. The author was still in junior high when college offers started coming in. He would eventually lead his team at Duke to the national championship, and from there, embark on a noteworthy NBA career spanning 13 years. Every Shot Counts is an absorbing read that resonates with Boozer's triumphs and poignant moments. His candid view of his life, both on and off the court, will keep readers riveted, along with his pure love of the game.

A former NBA player recounts his rise to stardom. Boozer was drafted in the second round by an unexpected team that hadn't even invited him to work out, namely Cleveland. "I'd cycled through pretty much all my emotions in just a few hours--from confidence and excitement to anger and embarrassment," he writes, adding, "I'd build up an incredible resume at Duke, and that hadn't been enough." Both remarks are true: At Duke, which he chose over UCLA, he was a consistent high scorer, which won him the draft spot in the first place, and he performed well enough as a professional--though nowhere near superstar status. Boozer emphasizes that he did his best, every time out. "I've loved everything about basketball from day one," he writes. "I rose to the challenge. I grinded. I agonized. I celebrated. I agonized some more. But I embraced every moment of it. I made every shot count." The on-the-court reminiscences harbor no surprises, though one feels for Boozer every time he incurs an injury, which is often. The surrounding frame of his life makes for sometimes interesting reading. He opens the book with an account of the murder of a childhood friend and his parents' subsequent decision to move their family from Washington, D.C., to Juneau, Alaska, where Boozer stood out both as an athlete and as a member of "one of five Black families among a 30,000-person population." A particularly entertaining anecdote involves the author leasing his Los Angeles mansion to Prince, who turned the place into a purple fantasia. Though Boozer's narrative is mostly by the numbers, there are some dramatic moments, too, among them the near loss of a young son--now a Major League Baseball prospect--to a blood disorder. Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski provides the foreword. A serviceable memoir that will appeal to basketball fans and aspiring players. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.