Westward

After narrowly averting catastrophe in Carroll, Iowa in January of 1960, Bob Short and his Minneapolis Lakers relocate to Los Angeles. Though they would struggle with the extended travel and limited exposure of being out West, the franchise flourished on the back of the late, great Elgin Baylor. This episode chronicles Mr. Baylor's journey from small-time college basketball phenom to the league's first African-American superstar, highlighting a courageous stand in Charleston, West Virginia, where he refused to play because of segregation. 

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In Los Angeles, at the center of one of the most compelling and complicated rivalries in basketball, is Jerry West. Having spent the first forty years of his career with the Lakers, and his last three with the Clippers, West has become an icon for fans of both and a personification of the phantom thread that runs through the city and the sport it loves. Episode One chronicles the birth of basketball in Los Angeles, and how the city may not have invented the game, but created fertile soil in which the modern NBA would take root. Narrator: Keith David. Guests include: Jerry West, George Lopez, Chris Lloyd, D.J. Waldie, Brian Short, Harold Gifford.

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Westward chronicles the history of basketball in the NBA and how the city of Los Angeles not only saved the fledgling league by bringing the Lakers from Minneapolis, but gave birth to the modern NBA with “Showtime.” Told through the lens of Jerry West, who helped build the dynasty of the Lakers, “Westward” now follows the former Hall Of Famer as he attempts to build a dynasty with L.A.’s other NBA franchise, the Clippers. Narrator – Keith David, Tim Livingston, Bobby Glanton-Smith

A production of The Dan Patrick Podcast Network, Joy Road Entertainment, and iHeartRadio in association with Workhouse Media and Sugar23. Producers are P.G. Cuschieri, Jim Young, Matthew Hatchette, Bobby Glanton-Smith, and Tim Livingston for Joy Road Entertainment. Executive Producers are Paul Anderson and Nick Panella for Workhouse Media and Michael Sugar and Mike Mayer for Sugar23.

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