Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by mattleesharp
The Jordan Rules: The Inside Story of One Turbulent Season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls by Sam Smith
3.0
I am sure reading this book in 2014 has a great effect on my rating. What's most interesting about this book is reading about the reactions to it. This book came out at the perfect time, coinciding with the first real frenzied peak of Jordan hysteria and at a time when new technologies and the rise of cable television were making a 24 hours sports media empire possible. It's wild the degree to which players so few years ago were able to keep things about themselves private in the same way it's wild to think about presidents having time to themselves without a media circus around them. Jordan became such an icon because of shrewd image management and you get some of that in the book. The only real leverage people can get over Jordan is to threaten his public image. As for the bulk of the book (the part about the actual team and the management and the conflicts and ups/downs of the season) I thought it was interesting just how much players hated being on the team during the season. So much resentment and so little chemistry on such a talented team.
Smith is obviously a sports section writer. There is some drama. There are some interesting passages. But the book is basically organized around the Bulls' schedule and large sections of the writing are just game recaps. Jordan hit a 16-footer, Paxson clanged an open three, but Grant grabbed his eight offensive board of the night and put the Bulls up 86-83 with 2:47 remaining in the third. It was kind of fun to relive the play-by-play of some of the games, but I'm not sure it was worth reading it 80 times in such a short book.
This book would get a much higher recommendation if I were reading it in 92, but as it stands, it's only worth it for major fans of Jordan, the Bulls, or professional basketball.
Smith is obviously a sports section writer. There is some drama. There are some interesting passages. But the book is basically organized around the Bulls' schedule and large sections of the writing are just game recaps. Jordan hit a 16-footer, Paxson clanged an open three, but Grant grabbed his eight offensive board of the night and put the Bulls up 86-83 with 2:47 remaining in the third. It was kind of fun to relive the play-by-play of some of the games, but I'm not sure it was worth reading it 80 times in such a short book.
This book would get a much higher recommendation if I were reading it in 92, but as it stands, it's only worth it for major fans of Jordan, the Bulls, or professional basketball.