Watching the excellent espn documentary the last dance inspired me to put together a short post of my favorite books on or about michael jordan.
jordan made his professional basketball debut in 1984, shortly before I was born. at the time he was taking my first steps, he was on his way to becoming a legend. In the 90’s the NBA was very popular in Ireland largely due to Jordan and of course the NBA Jam on the Super Nintendo.
You are reading: Books about michael jordan
As one of the most famous and successful athletes of the 20th century, Jordan has been the subject of a host of books. for me, the best ones (that I have read) are:
- ‘playing forever: michael jordan and the world he created’ by david halberstam
- ‘the jordan rules’ by sam smith
- ‘michael jordan: the roland lazenby’s life
- jack mccallum’s ‘dream team’
playing forever: michael jordan and the world he made. David Halberstram is a writer I met through this book and immediately fell in love with his work. I’ve seen Halberstam described as being to sports books what Robert Caro is to political biographies and Paul McGrath is to central defenders (ie basically God), which I totally agree with. he’s just a wonderful writer.
playing forever was written before jordan retired for the second (but not final) time. the book is about jordan the man and jordan the phenomenon. it also has a lot to do with the nba of the 80s and 90s and the people of that world. It’s as much about Jordan’s impact as it is about Jordan’s actions. In many ways, it picks up the story that follows Halberstram’s other NBA book, The Breaks of the Game, which covered Bill Walton and the Portland pioneers of the 1970s.
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Halberstram provides plenty of backstory on the various supporting cast (Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Larry Bird, the wonderfully entertaining Pistons, just to name a few) to create a comprehensive and compelling portrait of the Bulls and the NBA. of the time. The Jordan that emerges is complex, headstrong, incredibly hard-working and, above all, driven, perhaps like no one before or since in any sport. is a detailed and fascinating read that I would recommend to anyone.
my only criticism is that it sometimes reads too much like a love letter to jordan, though it’s hard to think of an athlete who came to define his sport more than jordan. Like all of Halberstam’s books, it is wonderfully well written and tells as much about the society of the time (particularly our changing attitude towards race) as it does about the protagonist.
A very different book that looks at the Jordan phenomenon is Sam Smith’s gossipy and entertaining The Rules of Jordan. The book details the inner workings of the Chicago Bulls during the 1990/91 season when They won their first NBA championship. jordan doesn’t look particularly good. the most surprising thing to me, at least, was his attitude towards basketball: it seems that he really just wanted to retire and play golf. There are definitely question marks as to how accurate it is – the fire and fury of its time when the most famous man in America was thankfully just a sports star! it’s enjoyable and entertaining, a fun read, and a fascinating snapshot from almost 30 years ago.
Michael Jordan: The Life of Roland Lazenby is a relatively more recent biography of Jordan. he sat on my shelf unread for over 3 years. however, once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. While most other books tend to focus on a specific season or a specific aspect of his life, Lazenby does a great job of telling a more complete picture of his life and career as a player.
The first part of the book detailing his background, the history of his parents and ancestors is particularly strong and highlights Lazenby’s skill as a biographer. The strength of the book is the intense focus on Jordan’s relationships, with his coaches, family, friends, other players, and the many people who have crossed his path. The story is told largely through the stories of those who accompanied Jordan through the various phases of his life.
his parents are presented as complex characters and touches on the darker, but still unproven, side of jordan’s family history. In particular, I was left with even greater admiration for the leadership and management skills of bull trainer Phil Jackson. Getting Jordan to work for the good of the team required a special trainer, and Jackson was clearly the right man for the job.
It’s a great book, but I would have liked a little more about jordan’s life/career after playing. being a run-of-the-mill owner isn’t nearly as interesting as winning 6 championship rings, but I felt the book ran out of steam a bit.
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is a study of both jordan the man and jordan the icon, but lazenby wisely avoids over-analyzing jordan or second-guessing his motives. but by the end of the book, I was left with a rather negative view of the man, but at the same time the recognition that unimaginable wealth, fame and public pressure would be difficult for anyone to come out of unscathed. highly recommended for a more complete look at jordan’s life.
jordan figures prominently in another great dream team basketball book from one of the greatest basketball writers of all time, jack mccallum. As the name suggests, Dream Team tells the story of the United States men’s basketball team that captured the world’s attention at the ’92 Olympics. It truly was an amazing collection of cultural icons with magic, Michael Johnson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, among others. McCallum had incredible access to players both at the time and years later, including Jordan, who seems to rarely speak to reporters for these kinds of books. Reading it brought back great memories of watching the Barcelona Olympics when I was 8 years old and loved both the dream team and the amazing multi-colored jerseys, inspired by the Grateful Dead, worn by the newly independent Lithuania.
A good look at the players, their relationships with each other, and the ultimate impact the team had on basketball. McCallum recounts many entertaining behind-the-scenes stories of dream teams when they weren’t beating their opponents by embarrassingly large margins. the behind-the-scenes stuff is book value — reading about a 40-point win isn’t exactly exciting.
one of the highlights is coverage of the “greatest game no one ever saw,” the team’s legendary practice game that coach chuck daly staged at the team’s practice facility in monte carlo. the largest collection of basketball players who have ever faced each other. McCallum walks through this exhibition step by step, bringing to life one of the rare great sporting moments that happened behind closed doors.
for anyone who made it this far, i also have to mention a brilliant article written by wright thompson in 2013 called “michael jordan hasn’t left the building” which profiled jordan on his 50th birthday. is available online at: http ://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/michael-jordan/michael-jordan-not-left-building and is also included in the excellent anthology book by thompson ‘the cost of these dreams: sports stories and other serious matters’
wright thompson also recently published a great article on jordan’s will to win, which is available at: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29180890/michael-jordan-history- flight?platform =amp&__twitter_impression=true
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