What is Goldstein and Gasol?

Goldstein and Gasol is an exploration of Lakers fandom, L.A. history, and the 2019-2020 Lakers. Inspired by Julie & Julia, Goldstein and Gasol is a collection of 82 recipes from the 1985 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers Are Cookin’ Family Cookbook along with 82 essays about the wide range of Showtime-era Angelenos who contributed to this book.

Stars like Magic and Kareem. Celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Gilda Radner. Coaches, trainers, and owners. Governors and mayors. Businessmen, receptionists, sportswriters, and, of course, Chick Hearn. These were the disparate people brought together by the Lakers Ladies, the leaders of the team’s charitable arm, to help write a book that now serves as a snapshot of a team at the peak of its success and a city on the brink of social upheaval.

Unclear where to start? Click here to read the introductory post and then check out this highlight reel:

Game 1 - Magic Johnson and the joy of quitting a job you hate.

Game 4 - Henry Winkler’s unusual connection to East Hollywood gentrification.

Game 12 - An interview with Claire Rothman, the trailblazing president of The Forum from 1975 - 1995.

Game 18 - How Angela Worthy, ex-wife of James Worthy, invented the concept of “Powerful Mate Syndrome” following her husband’s public infidelity.

Game 35 - The story of Ann Meyers, the only woman to ever participate in an NBA training camp, and whether the Indiana Pacers owner who invited her was a huckster or a genuine ally.

Game 40 - The sad, desperate relationship between disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling and Lakers great Elgin Baylor⁣.

Game 44 - Wilt Chamberlain’s lone season with the Harlem Globetrotters, a campaign he undertook to subvert the crooked tandem of the NCAA and a pre-free agency NBA.

Kobe Bryant (1978 - 2020)

Game 48 - An examination of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s lifelong obsession with jazz and the role it played in softening his unfairly earned public perception when the Laker center’s 3,000 record jazz collection burned down in a house fire.

Game 61 - The decades-long rivalry between Mayor Tom Bradley and LAPD Chief Daryl Gates and how it came to a boiling point in 1992.

The Goldstein and Gasol Coronavirus Hiatus Update!

Game 73 - An interview with Geo Valle, bass player in the Laker Band for 30+ years.

Game 75 - I explored the NBA’s resumption within the Orlando Bubble in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases and the George Floyd protest movement.

Game 79 - I wrote about the inverse careers of Jack Nicholson, a character actor who forced Hollywood to accept him as a leading man, and Lamar Odom, a high school phenom touted as the next Magic Johnson who instead found his greatest on-court success as the key bench player for two championship Lakers teams.

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Follow along on Instagram @GoldsteinAndGasol and on Twitter @GoldsteinGasol for updates throughout the 2019-2020 season.

For non-Goldstein and Gasol writing of mine, click here.