Playing for Keeps : Michael Jordan and the World He Made

Great book with much inside information. Highly recommend this book.

Author David Halberstam (1934-2007) mixes biography, sports diary, and NBA business history in these superbly readable pages. Halberstam focus heavily on Jordan's last year with the Chicago Bulls (1997-98) as he also covers Michael from childhood thru superstardom. Readers learn about Jordan's middle-class upbringing in a family of strong values, his college days at North Carolina where coach Dean Smith insisted on sportsmanship, and his appealing persona (and interracial friendships) that predated his athletic stardom. Then we follow Jordan's career with the Chicago Bulls (including six championships), his baseball hiatus, and his stunning marketability for Nike and other sponsors. The author includes some revealing tidbits about teammates like Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, plus competing stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. There is also a business history, one showing how the rise of cable television and 24-hour sports media affected Jordan, other top stars, plus the NBA as a whole. Possessed with fanatical determination and competitiveness, Jordan demanded much from his teammates (and himself), and could at times be difficult and rough. Also, his wide appeal came partly from his modest height, which let fans identify with him in a way they couldn't with taller stars. Halberstam does make a couple minor factual errors, but overall this is an excellent and business-savvy biography.