Lance Allred

Longshot

The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA

Talking Points

Lance Allred won Utah’s high school player-of-the-year award. After playing for the University of Utah Utes for two years, a dispute with his coach led Allred to transfer to Weber State and he graduated with a double-major in English and history. Lance is a 6’11’’ center who played professionally in Europe and then the Development League. In April 2008, Lance signed on as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Description

Lance Allred was probably the last person you’d expect to make it in professional sports. Not only did he grow up on a polygamist commune in Montana, he struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. If those hurdles to the NBA don’t seem large enough, Lance is also deaf.

Self-deprecating, witty, and wholly original, Longshot is the story of an unlikely athlete, who despite these factors and a lot of setbacks along the way, finally realized his dream of playing in the NBA, becoming the first legally deaf player in the league.