Jim Pollard: The Kangaroo Kid

by Dolph Grundman

Basketball players who were active during the early years of the NBA invariably put Jim Pollard on the short list of those who would have excelled on the court even today. In an era where dunking was forbidden, he played above the rim. Here, for the first time, historian Dolph Grundman acquaints us with the details of Pollard's dazzling rise to stardom and his years as a mainstay of the Minneapolis Laker line-up, along with George Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen and others. Grundman also gives us a fascinating glimpse at pro basketball's early years while fleshing out Jim Pollard the coach, teacher and family man. Read about the six-time world champion, four-time NBA all-star and basketball hall-of-famer.

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2009

Reviews

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite numerous misspellings and typos and just plain mistakes, I enjoyed this book by an overlooked pro basketball star of the 1950s. My only first-hand experience with Pollard was attending one Minnesota Muskies game in 1968 when he was head coach. Of course I had known much about him from reading biographies of Vern Mikkelsen and George Mikan, but this got more into pre-Lakers days and family anecdotes as well as Pollard's coaching and teaching career after his playing days. Overall a pleasant read.