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The Victory Machine

Written by: Ethan Sherwood Strauss
Narrated by: Ethan Sherwood Strauss
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Publisher's Summary

How money, guts, and greed built the Warriors dynasty - and then took it apart

The Golden State Warriors dominated the NBA for the better part of a decade. Since the arrival of owner Joe Lacob, they won more championships and sold more merchandise than any other franchise in the sport. And in 2019, they opened the doors on a lavish new stadium.

Yet all this success contained some of the seeds of decline. Ethan Sherwood Strauss' clear-eyed exposé reveals the team's culture, its financial ambitions and struggles, and the price that its players and managers have paid for all their winning. From Lacob's unlikely acquisition of the team to Kevin Durant's controversial departure, Strauss shows how the smallest moments can define success or failure for years.

And, looking ahead, Strauss ponders whether this organization can rebuild after its abrupt fall from the top, and how a relentless business wears down its players and executives. The Victory Machine is a defining book on the modern NBA: it not only rewrites the story of the Warriors, but shows how the Darwinian business of pro basketball really works.

©2020 Ethan Sherwood Strauss (P)2020 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"The Victory Machine isn't a romantic look at the Golden State Warriors dynasty, but it gets to the human core of success and asks the reader to question everything he or she knew about sports." (Bomani Jones, cohost of High Noon)

"Strauss skillfully captures a team peaking as change is taking place all around them, and pulls the curtain aside on the often unsavory realities of what it means to succeed in the NBA." (Library Journal)

"The Victory Machine is The Breaks of the Game of its era. Strauss pulls the curtain back to reveal the ambitions, insecurities, and riches that propel one of the most interesting sports leagues in the world. Most sports books are either idea - driven or character-driven - but Strauss has accomplished both. This is a book I'll come back to again and again for its insight and wit." (Kevin Arnovitz, NBA writer, ESPN the Magazine)

What listeners love about The Victory Machine

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a different view on sucess

this book looks at the Warriors dynasty through a much different lense than i expected, and was more interesting as a result

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Amazing Insight to one of the best teams ever

Ethan does an amazing job in this book. As a Warriors fan, I had no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Great work!

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Great listen.

Big fan of Ethan's writing and podcast, so no surprise I love this. Great reporting and storytelling.

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  • tim
  • 2020-04-27

Mediocre book

Few interesting insights, but mostly generic story telling.
Probably half of the pages would have been enough to tell the same story, therefore I wouldn’t recommend this read.

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  • chris taggart
  • 2020-04-22

So much detail but underlying tone was weird

I loved the stories and details of the warriors run but all seemed very negative and juiciness focused. Maybe I’ve read Ethan too much but his jadedness reads through a little too clearly in this book. Amazing read with lots of great anecdotes aboht all the organozations folks

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  • Thomas Denton
  • 2023-07-21

Bitter author

Book sucks. More focused on the bitter author’s personal story and his drama with KD than it is about one of the greatest teams of all time.

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  • Jordan Brown
  • 2022-08-22

Pretty good, but too soon for a book.

Some very interesting anecdotes that really helped me understand mindsets and motivations of everyone involved. The only negative to me is that the book was simply written too soon. We are still living through the aftermath of the Warriors-KD saga even years after it ended. I appreciate Ethan’s diligent reporting and insight, but I do think an even better story could’ve be told by just holding out for a little longer. Obviously, if you’re reading this now you know that the Warriors were able to restructure their team fairly quickly and win another championship and potentially go on another run, which is extremely relevant. There’s a lot more to the story that has developed shortly after.
Overall, I enjoyed it and look forward to other works by Ethan.

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  • Michael D. Morris
  • 2022-08-18

Captivating listen

I’ve been listening to Ethan since the days of True Hoop podcasts and he was always a thoughtful, informative personality. His book is much of the same quality, the writing is fair, informative and very entertaining. If you want to get an intimate picture of the Golden State Warriors during the Kevin Durant cup of tea, this is as good an experience as you’ll get.

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  • David Studebaker
  • 2021-10-15

Fantastic Inside Look

I’ve been a Warriors junkie for 30 years and consume huge amounts of Warriors coverage, but I still learned a ton from this book and Ethan did an incredible job giving insight into the minds of these people. Also the sneaker element to basketball decisions was an awesome angle.

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  • Owo
  • 2021-07-01

For GSW fans and curious Durant observers

Good, quick read, but this honestly felt like a long essay that was then turned into 60% of a book. I'd have liked to see more on Durant, more on the GSW organization, maybe a few years of retrospective before writing. Like, having the 20-21 season in this book would have been a quality juxtaposition to the highs of 16-19 & the lows of 20. I'd recommend to basketball fans overall.

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  • Gustavo
  • 2021-05-19

Really enjoyed!

The book shows us deep inside how the organization works, since before Joe Lacob acquired the franchise to the dynasty days.

The funniest part is the conversation he had with Iguodala while Kevon Looney was giggling on the side!

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  • Donita
  • 2021-04-24

Fascinating!

I like sports books, especially basketball books, & this book opened my eyes to some of the “behind the scenes” events that impact the business of the game. (Why DON’T GMs make as much as coaches???) I have new respect for the individuals who pulled together the original OKC Thunder & made it work. The author narrates & there were times he tried to mimic other people’s voices—failed attempts, mostly—but I found it amusing & endearing & not at all annoying. I loved this book for the subject, the content & the scrutiny which I found to be nonjudgmental. Good job!

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  • Theophilus
  • 2021-02-07

Glad I challenged myself to branch out

I’m not a sports person. I jokingly call whatever sport my husband is watching “sportsballs” as though they’re all the same to me. But I wanted to branch out and listen to a book I’d never think to read. I’M SO GLAD I DID! This was a captivating account from a very talented writer of a remarkable period in the life of a business. One that just happens to be in the business of sportsball. I highly recommend this to anyone who appreciates great writing whether you think of yourself as a sports person or not. (The same way I recommend Tina Fey’s Bossypants to all men.)