One of most storied sports dynasties took place in the 1960’s and 1970’s when the UCLA Bruins won 10 of 12 NCAA men’s basketball titles. While there were many players and other people who helped make this dynasty, there were three people who were the biggest names. First it was Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who will be referred to by that name in this review although he was “Alcindor” at UCLA) and the legendary coach John Wooden. Then shortly after Abdul-Jabbar graduated, another “greatest college player ever” came to UCLA – Bill Walton. How these three men made UCLA basketball as great as it was during a time of social upheaval is captured in this book.

While there is some text about the games on the court, especially famous ones like the 1968 “Game of the Century” in the Houston Astrodome and the January 1974 game in which Notre Dame broke UCLA’s 88-game winning streak, most of the work is about the lives, personalities, and beliefs of the three men. This is especially true for Abdul-Jabbar as he was at times conflicted about what he truly wanted from his education and time in Los Angeles. His conversion to Islam and his actions toward civil rights for Black citizens are particularly noteworthy, such as his decision to not participate on the 1968 USA Olympic basketball team.

Here, there is a connection to Walton as he too declined becoming part of USA Olympic basketball in 1972 – this time as a protest over the Vietnam War. Like the civil rights issue in 1968, the war was a hot spot of protest in 1972 and how both players approached their beliefs and actions upon those beliefs made for very good reading. Of course, there is also material on their basketball accomplishments at UCLA. Reading those, while good, is no match for the great material on their off-the-court lives.

As for the coach, how he dealt with these types of personalities was to just be himself. He never let on that he was playing favorites with Abdul-Jabbar, Walton or any other player – he coached the way he always coached, instilled discipline as always and never seemed to move away from what he believed was correct. Whether that meant never cursing no matter how tense the situation, teaching players at the first practice the proper means of tying shoes and pulling up socks or never calling a time out during games to let opponents think the team was in trouble, Coach Wooden was mostly a pillar during this time. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t moments of weakness, and this book shows that side of Wooden as well.

For basketball junkies or historians, this book is a great addition to their libraries. It isn’t the most perfect book on UCLA basketball, but it gives excellent insight to topics one may never have heard previously about one of the most dominant teams in college basketball.

I wish to thank the author and publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Well researched and presented summary of the Bruins dynasty years and its three central figures. Also does justice (albeit briefly) to the years in between Kareem and Walton. In a time when coaches routinely hang on for years past typical retirement age, it is fascinating to get Howard-Cooper’s take on Wooden’s almost desperate desire to vacate the head coaching seat. Maybe not enough time is spent on Abdul-Jabbar’s post college relationship with Wooden (particularly since he moved back to LA to play for the Lakers only six years later), but that’s a minor criticism in the grand scheme. While he touches on Wooden’s opinions on the recruiting violations that likely occurred and sustained the dynasty, it would have been nice to hear if Wooden perhaps had an opinion more similar to the NCAA’s contemporary position (that athletes can profit from NIL), which might better explain his blind eye. Overall, if you like basketball history or UCLA, you’ll likely enjoy reading this.

I am a huge sports history fan and Kingdom on Fire is one of the better recently released sports books I have read. Basketball history has always been interesting to me and the way Howard-Cooper is able to weave the history of UCLA basketball with the social factors occurring throughout the seasons of 1965-1975 is not only informative but compelling.

Kingdom on Fire is as good a book based on the UCLA basketball dynasty as there could possibly be. It's well researched and written in an entertaining way, never getting too bogged down in any one subject, or character or season. It covers a lot of ground but never seems rushed. You get a good feel for the three main characters without any unnecessary biographical diversions. It's a fun read that I'd recommend to any basketball fan, especially if you also have an interest in the turbulent 60s.

Kingdom of Fire sets itself apart from other sports books by looking at not only UCLA and players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but also the social factors that were surrounding the season and games such as Civil Rights and the Vietnam War

Kingdom on Fire follows the college coaching career of John Wooden at UCLA through the 60s and 70s as he put together legendary championship runs in seven consecutive years with superstars Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton.

I came into this book having a fair to average amount of knowledge regarding John Wooden and the historical run of wins and championships that he managed to put together for the UCLA Bruins. The amount of knowledge that I feel like I acquired after reading this book is vast, and that is meant in the best way possible.

Scott Howard-Cooper did an excellent job of framing the story at the beginning of Abdul Jabbar’s college career through the end of Bill Walton’s. One thing I really enjoyed was how he went into details about what was really going on in that time period including the civil unrest and how it affected all three of the main characters differently. Wooden being on the conservative side, Abdul Jabbar being more on the reserved side until he found his voice, and Walton being extremely outspoken about issues.

This book did a very nice job of providing intricate details that built around and strengthened the storytelling. This book was provided to me as an advance copy in exchange for my honest and fair opinion but I would highly recommend to sports fan in general, regardless of age

I’ve been a “basketball junkie” most of my life in one capacity or another—shooting hoops in the backyard, playing high school basketball and later college and law school intramurals as well as in other adult leagues; coaching various levels of public school basketball; spectating; and reading about the past and present basketball milieu. So, when I was fortunate to read “KINGDOM ON FIRE: Kareem, Wooden and Walton and the Turbulent Days of the UCLA Basketball Dynasty” by Scott Howard-Cooper, I dove right into the text and kept diving deeper as the hours went on. Howard-Cooper, a long-time sports journalist and author of other basketball books, takes us on a deep dive into an incredible period of time---roughly from the time Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar arrived on the UCLA campus as a freshman in the Fall of 1965 up to March 1975 when Coach Wooden coached his last UCLA basketball game. The author attempts to frame this period with Abdul Jabbar on one end and Bill Walton on the other. In between, Howard-Cooper does a remarkable job, not only of describing the basketball history of that era, but he also captures the cultural unrest of the time precipitated by civil rights issues and the war in Vietnam and the impact of those issues on the college basketball scene at UCLA and around the country.
At times almost lost in the recounting of the Jabbar and Walton eras is the fact that John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons between 1964 and 1975. Seven of those titles were in a row (’67 to ’73) and he had led to the Bruins to 4 undefeated seasons—an almost unheard of fete in today’s college culture of “NIL”, the portal transfer and “one-and-done”. Top that off with an 88-game regular season win streak that spanned 197 to 1974.
Howard-Cooper weaves enough “inside baseball” (pardon the metaphor) throughout the story to demonstrate that he has done his homework---Jabbar’s unhappiness at UCLA and consideration of potential transfer schools; Wooden’s inability to enjoy the winning when it was expected by everyone; and Walton’s willingness to subjugate his personal social and cultural habits to the “team requirements” so that he could continue to play for the Bruins.
All in all, a fascinating, enjoyable, and entertaining as well as educational read about an epic era in college basketball.
I only have a couple of minor criticisms of the book. First, Howard-Cooper at times tends to go down rabbit-holes for 8 to 10 pages before coming back to the narrative line he is attempting to establish which is sometimes distracting. Second, the last chapter is a “where are they now/what happened to” section which, while informative and interesting, feels like added baggage for a trip that should have ended without it. It is anti-climatic and perhaps could have been relegated to a “Notes” section in the book. Neither of these shortcomings would prevent me from buying more copies of this book for other friends of mine who are even bigger basketball junkies than me. Well done, Mr. Howard-Cooper!