Celebrating Paul Westphal’s Book, ‘A Tale of Two Seasons’

CRC Staff | December 10, 2024 |
From Arizona Christian University Press

Glendale, AZ (December 10, 2024) —

Friends, family, and members of the Phoenix Suns’ and Arizona Christian University basketball communities gathered recently with Cindy Westphal to celebrate the posthumous publication of Paul Westphal’s A Tale of Two Seasons: One Man’s Basketball Journey and His Love for the Game.

Cindy and her daughter, Tori Higa, started the evening sharing how the book came into being after Paul’s death, including hours of painstaking edits of the manuscript Paul had written over the 20 years prior to his death of brain cancer in January 2021.

Written by the Naismith Hall of Famer, five-time NBA All-Star, and former star player and then head coach of the Phoenix Suns, A Tale of Two Seasons contrasts two very different seasons from Westphal’s five decades in basketball. One season covers his highest-paying NBA coaching job with the Seattle SuperSonics, the other focuses on his first (unpaid) coaching job at Southwestern College (now Arizona Christian University). Throughout the story of these two seasons, Westphal demonstrates his heart for the game of basketball and his talent as a master storyteller.

That first coaching job was the start of a long relationship with the University. Paul served on the ACU Board of Trustees for six years. The ACU Westphal Athletic Fund – ACU’s booster club – was named in his honor, and every year the school year concludes with the Westphal Athletic Awards featuring tributes to ACU’s top athletes for the year, including the highest award, the Paul Westphal Award, given to the “Best Teammate” among the University’s athletes.

The book celebration event, emceed by ACU President Len Munsil, featured several members of the Southwestern College Eagles who played for Coach Westphal, plus former Southwestern/ACU head coach and Paul’s assistant coach Keith Province. NBA attendees included Westphal’s former Phoenix Suns’ teammates Garfield Heard and Curtis Perry and trainer Joe Proski, and several players Paul coached in the NBA, including Eddie Johnson, Mark West and current Suns Assistant Coach Brent Barry.

A Tale of Two Seasons was named an Amazon #1 New Release in Sports History upon its release in mid-October. More information about A Tale of Two Seasons, published by Arizona Christian University Press in partnership with End Game Press, is available at www.ATaleofTwoSeasons.com. The book can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and others.