My rating:

add to my books

The Jordan Rules

by Sam Smith, Doug Grud (Editor)

3.93 · rating details · 619 ratings · 54 reviews

A SUPER TEAM...A SUPERSTAR...A SUPER EGO

The most gifted athlete ever to play the game, Michael Jordan rose to heights no basketball player had ever reached before. What drove Michael Jordan? The pursuit of team success...or of his own personal glory? The pursuit of excellence...or of his next multimillion-dollar endorsement? The flight of the man they call Air Jorda

...more

Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Published January 1st 1993 by Pocket (first published January 1992)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam

FreeDarko presents The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac by Bethlehem Shoals

Tales from the Hardwood

10th out of 60 books — 18 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,001)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 19, 2011

07EthanW Wibben rated it

· review of another edition

What struck me the most in the book was the attitude that Jordan had toward basketball. In the book Jordan talks about how he could not wait for his contract to end so that he could retire and play golf. I would think that the arguably best basketball player would never want to quit and would want to play for as long as possible and win as much as possible. I would defiantly read more books by Sam Smith. He did a great job getting a lot of information and quotes from the players and made a g...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 08, 2010

Omar Masood rated it

Shelves: sports

This is a very good look at the inner workings of a basketball team over the course of a season. This does not cover any basketball team, though. This covers a championship team led by perhaps the greatest basketball player in history along with another legend in Scottie Pippen and the greatest coach ever in Phil Jackson. This is the first such book I have read and the amount of turbulence experienced by the 1991 Bulls was a surprise. How could a team win 61 games and romp through the playoffs w...more

· see review

Nov 28, 2009

William Johnson rated it

Shelves: since-joining-goodreads, 2009

Reprinted from my website Secure Immaturity:

A good sports book is one that, even if the ending is known, still builds suspense and doubt in the reader. In that regard, The Jordan Rules, by then-first time author Sam Smith is a failure. The book follows the exploits of the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls. . .probably the least impressive of the six champion Bulls teams. The title comes from a phrase the Detroit Pistons used during their reign as an Eastern Conference power: the Jordan Rules w...more

· see review

Jul 27, 2011

Sean Polite added it

Solid, revealing insider's tale on the MJ led Chicago Bulls. If you're interested in team psychology or the life of an pro sports team (or just a Bulls fan), this is the book for you. On a deeper scale, what could be called a scathing analysis of Jordan can be viewed as a validation to the presence of the narcissistic, manically competitive shadows that complement the light of the gifted, excellent performers who are blessed to have achieved notable fame for it. I didn't come out hating him a...more

· see review

Sep 13, 2010

Neal rated it

This review will be a little longer than most of my trademark short ones.

First off, I am a little bias, as I am a huge Jordan fan. But I know Jordan can be kind of an asshole. If you don't know that, you don't know Jordan. You have to be kind of an asshole to be the greatest ever at anything.

That being said, Sam Smith, wants you to think Jordan is a selfish asshole throughout this book.

Things I liked about this book:

- You get some valuable insight ...more

· see review

Feb 06, 2012

Evan rated it

Shelves: sports

A detailed, journal like retelling of the Chicago Bulls 1991 championship season, their first of six in the 90s.

This was controversial because it gave a rare glimpse of Michael Jordan outside of a Nike commercial or NBA promotional video. And indeed, while there's plenty of drama to go around, Jordan comes off the worst, seeming selfish and mean spirited to his teammates. In the end (spoilers are hardly worth warning about in this book), he and the team come together and beat both t...moreA detailed, journal like retelling of the Chicago Bulls 1991 championship season, their first of six in the 90s.

This was controversial because it gave a rare glimpse of Michael Jordan outside of a Nike commercial or NBA promotional video. And indeed, while there's plenty of drama to go around, Jordan comes off the worst, seeming selfish and mean spirited to his teammates. In the end (spoilers are hardly worth warning about in this book), he and the team come together and beat both the hated Pistons and the Lakers, but for kids growing up idolizing Jordan, these stories serve to shatter a well crafted image.

At the time, there were some denials by Jordan and some of the other players (Stacey King, who perhaps comes off worse than Jordan in places, compared it to "Mother Goose") but for me, these stories seem to ring true. The stories in here aren't that unbelievable, or uncommon in sports. Books like this serve to undo the narrative that we as fans (often with a willing press) build in our own heads, with our team, bearing our hometown's name and a distinctive logo as the good guys. The truth is that teams are made of individuals, human ones, some who if we met we'd like, and some we wouldn't. They have their own lives and concerns, and more often than not simply don't go through the vicarious identification we as fans do. It's easy to see why journalists, in private talk, tend to root for players they like instead of teams.

Sam Smith clearly has his favorites, the hard working Paxton, the beleaguered Cartwright. The weakness is that the book often reads more like a collection of anecdotes than a full narrative, with often awkward writing (as another mentioned, comparing Chuck Daly's sideline antics to Fred Astaire, then Bobby Knight). But for many fans of Jordan or the Bulls or of sports in general, those actually make the story enjoyable. Still, I'd recommend it to hardcore basketball and sports fans primarily. For a parental note, because I know to this day many extremely young fans who eat up anything with Jordan on it, I'll add that the language and subject matter delves often into mature subjects.(less)

· see review

Nov 03, 2011

Leslie rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Leslie by: sports guy

It was fascinating to read about this '90-'91 Bulls team. Although the author mentions that these team interactions are by no means unique in the league, I found the team to be highly dysfunctional. Now I think I understand why I never had a warm fuzzy feeling about MJ when I was a kid. It's actually depressing that a team like this can become champions, although the case is made that they evolved over the season. Highly recommended to anyone who likes reading about basketball, team dynamics, pr...more

· see review

Feb 08, 2011

Patrick rated it

Here is a book full of fun anecdotes and several engaging theses (Phil Jackson is a genius! Jerry Krause is a douchebag! Stacey King is the fat guy who sucks!) and mires all of this in shitty writing. I don't understand how a chronological, journalistic history about 15 people you basically know personally can somehow have a muddy chronology and manage to confuse, but Sam Smith managed to do it. Three stars basically by virtue of the fact that this is the minimum score I could give a book about ...more

like 1 like

· see review

Oct 18, 2011

Patrick rated it

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

We live in an age where it's very, very easy to get caught up in the moment. There are so many news and pop-culture outlets, talking heads, and media programs that exist almost solely to provoke instant nostalgia and put current events into historical perspective. Every big game by an athlete was the GREATEST PERFORMANCE IN HISTORY and every crappy movie that comes out is the worst. movie. ever. It's easy to lose perspective.

And so that's how LeBron James became the reason I read a nea...moreWe live in an age where it's very, very easy to get caught up in the moment. There are so many news and pop-culture outlets, talking heads, and media programs that exist almost solely to provoke instant nostalgia and put current events into historical perspective. Every big game by an athlete was the GREATEST PERFORMANCE IN HISTORY and every crappy movie that comes out is the worst. movie. ever. It's easy to lose perspective.

And so that's how LeBron James became the reason I read a nearly 20 year old book about Michael Jordan. After James's latest playoff disaster this past NBA season, as ESPN and sports talk radio bludgeoned James (not completely undeservedly, I might add) for his lackluster performances when it mattered most, I became curious how Michael Jordan was perceived in his time. Now that the narrative is written, it seems like it was always predestined--Michael Jordan was the greatest winner in NBA history (this side of Bill Russell). Of course he was going to win all those championships--the man refused to lose, simple as that. All my childhood memories of Jordan are that he was the best ever, and of course he would win the championship. The Knicks, Suns, Sonics, and Jazz, never stood a chance. Sure, they gave it a good effort, but once Jordan got going, I never thought he could be beaten. Ever. The Houston Rockets will always have an asterisk next to their titles as far as I'm concerned, because Jordan was off playing baseball the better part of those years. I remember thinking that when he came back to the NBA after his 2nd retirement to play with the hapless Washington Wizards that he was going to lead them to a championship. When pundits said they would be lucky to make the playoffs even with Jordan, I was incredulous! This is Michael Jordan! He's a one man-wrecking crew! Of course they'll make the playoffs, and they'll beat everyone else along the way too!

Imagine my surprise when that didn't happen. Because that's the thing--the narrative takes over. The myth becomes greater than the man. Which is why it's good to gain some perspective on not only Jordan, but all the others who have followed in his wake. The narrative for LeBron James right now is that the can't win the big one; there's something in him that won't allow him to win a championship, much less multiple rings. But what if he wins...and then he wins again...and again...then what?

That's what I discovered by reading The Jordan Rules. It was perfect timing for Sam Smith following the Bulls during the season that would end all doubts about Michael Jordan being a winner, and what's funny about it is the way that the old narrative is overtaken by the new narrative. It seemed to me that Smith went into the book with an impression of Michael Jordan as a gifted, but selfish player who would never win in the rugged NBA because he was a one man team who couldn't trust his teammates. However, as the season progressed, it became clear that Jordan and the team were evolving, in no small part thanks to new coach Phil Jackson. This new narrative clashes with the old narrative, though, as Smith often seems to be following the old narrative in his words, while the new narrative takes shape in the results. Smith seems to constantly be alluding to players viewing Jordan in a negative light, painting dissension amongst the ranks, and making Jordan look like an all-around bad guy, while the Bulls continue to dominate the NBA en route to winning the championship while losing all of 3 games in the playoffs. It makes for a strange dichotomy.

The biggest takeaway I got from this book was a newfound respect for Phil Jackson. I'd always been of the belief that anyone could win a boatload of titles with the guys that Jackson coached in his career, but that was never true for the coaches who had those players before Jackson, and it wasn't true of the coaches after Jackson either. He came off very, very well in this book. He really seemed like a person who understood how people think, and seemed to be a master manipulator, which is maybe more important than Xs and Os when you're dealing with multi-millionaire egos. I take back ~~everything~~ most of the bad things I've said about Jackson. The guy is a legitimately great basketball coach.

It was refreshing to see how a legend like Jordan was received in his own time. I hope someone writes a similar book about LeBron James someday. Despite Twitter, Facebook, and all the other opportunities we have to interact with famous athletes and celebrities, in many ways it feels like they keep us at a distance more than ever. We glean what we can from magazine articles and post-game interviews, but their true selves are rarely seen in more than a glimpse (LeBron walking off the court without shaking hands with his opponents after losing to Orlando in the Conference Finals, comes to mind), and I can't help but think that a big reason for that was this book. The blowback Jordan received due to his characterization in this book contributed in many ways to the sophistication and refined media presence of the modern athlete, from Jordan to Tiger Woods, to LeBron. We only get from them what they want to give, which makes us all the more blood-thirsty when we do get something unexpected. As much as I root against LeBron (for all the same reasons as everyone else), or maybe because I root against LeBron, I'm fascinated by him. I almost hope he does get his title, just to see how the narrative will shift. I just hope his book is as timeless.(less)

· see review

Jan 18, 2012

Fawaz Ali rated it

Shelves: platinum-list

The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith is a must read book for anyone interested in understanding the bright and dark side of both Jordan the player and more importantly Jordan the person. The book chronicles the story of the 1991 Chicago Bulls and follows the relationships between Michael Jordan and his teammates as they struggle to win their first NBA championship. What makes the book different is that Smith corrects the notion that athletes are supposed to behave differently compared to other human be...more

· see review

Dec 09, 2008

Shivesh rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ballin

Growing up as a hardcore Lakers fan in California, the nineties were a painful decade for the most part. Until the trade that brought the Big Diesel to the City of Angels, there wasn’t much hope for us fans to see a proper team. To add insult to all this, the Chicago Bulls were running rampant through the league and Jordan was God. I loved watching Michael and Scottie do their thing but I can’t say I liked them as individuals. ‘The Jordan Rules’ is a classic sports history of the Bulls’ firs...moreGrowing up as a hardcore Lakers fan in California, the nineties were a painful decade for the most part. Until the trade that brought the Big Diesel to the City of Angels, there wasn’t much hope for us fans to see a proper team. To add insult to all this, the Chicago Bulls were running rampant through the league and Jordan was God. I loved watching Michael and Scottie do their thing but I can’t say I liked them as individuals. ‘The Jordan Rules’ is a classic sports history of the Bulls’ first championship year, told by the Tribune beat writer, San Smith. Very well written, with a smooth narrative and engaging voice, Smith pulls us into the huddle of each game, the mind of each player and the weird world of Phil Jackson (who coaches the Lakeshow now).

The most engaging and interesting quality of this book is the inside view on the personalities that make up the club. Popular lore already told us about GM Jerry Krause’s terrible interpersonal skills and Phil Jackson’s Zen approach to all aspects of the game and life. But the true meat is in the stories of Jordan’s frequent selfish jaunts towards the basket at the expense of other players (and the team) and his constant criticism of his teammates, the coaches, the fans, and management. This was a genius at work, no doubt, but he was an uncompromising and cruel taskmaster. Smith gives us the impress that Jordan was so good, that simply could not understand how no one else could keep up with him and play at his level.

The book travels with the team throughout their championship year, and unfortunately fails to capture the exact transformation of a disjointed but talented team into a NBA powerhouse that would go on to dominate the game for the better part of the decade. A lot of this hinges on Jordan’s acceptance of Jackson’s game philosophy, but Smith was just a journalist without true access to Jordan apart from what a beat writer could obtain. This aspect of Jordan remains hidden from us all, which is probably why he is more exalted: mystery in our heroes preserves the mythology we weave around them. Smith is no mind to disagree or topple that ideal. Somehow, while the book fleshes out the humanity and pedestrian nature of the Chicago Bulls (they are really just like any other normal people), Jordan and Jackson remain enigmas, and thus larger than life.

A highly recommended read, especially if you are a basketball fan, and definitely a required read if you grew up as a fan of the Bulls in the 90’s. This book moves through the season deliberately but quickly and is well worth the time.

(less)

· see review

Jul 25, 2011

Bill rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: basketball

A classic basketball book. Reading this 20 years after the events, it is amazing how much Jordan defined the way we think about superstars. The camparison between Jordan and LeBron is inevitable, and fascinating. I have to say that LeBron is getting a pretty rough deal, because if Jordan carried on in 2011 the way he did in 1991, his puplic image would be horrible. But the legend of Jordan is for real -- he had to learn from scratch how to win as a dominant superstar, and he was able to do it. C...more

· see review

Aug 23, 2010

Dave Bolton rated it

If you've ever tried to build a team (work, sports etc) from a bunch of talented but disparate parts, you'll learn something from this book. You'll also enjoy this is you like basketball, or ever followed Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

It tells the story of the Bulls first championship season, and the adversity and personalities behind it. Ego, confidence, talent.

· see review

Jun 02, 2009

Brent rated it

· review of another edition

A great book to read for any basketball fan; not so much for the "truth" it paints in regards to Michael Jordan; but more for the reality of the NBA season that is painted.

Yes, there is some definite MJ stuff that is interesting to read. A lot of the things that guys like Kobe Bryant get chided for with the proverbial, "Michael Jordan would've never done that", are detailed in this book, and yes, "Michael Jordan, absolutely did do that."

...more

· see review

Dec 11, 2009

Kenny rated it

It is amazing how interesting this book was despite remembering this title run as a little kid. It made me miss the glory days of basketball, and it humanized Jordan in a way that I found really endearing. For any basketball fan this is a great read.

· see review

Aug 06, 2011

Ron rated it

Sam Smith is a fairly decent sports writer, but the Jordan Rules also extended to the media: that is, he and his handlers had a tight control on most of the output concerning Jordan, and the man's indiscretions are dismissed with a tone that borders on worship.

· see review

Aug 04, 2011

Christian rated it

A refreshingly honest account of the Bulls' rise to world domination, in stark contrast with the often sugar-coated NBA home video releases. A great read for anyone who grew up idolising Jordan and the Bulls.

· see review

Oct 15, 2010

Brandon Maynie rated it

I think it was real good. This book is good i kept reading this and finshing it and read it all over again all the book i could have pick i pick this. this is one of the books i would like to read alot.

· see review

Oct 02, 2008

Rashad miller rated it

· review of another edition

Book Review : THE JORDAN RULES

My book that I read was about the year Micheal Jordan led the Bulls to win the national Basketball Association Championship. The Jordan Rules talk a lot about the tough road that the Chicago Bulls had on their way to a championship. Jordan might not be all the superstar that everyone says he really is according to Sam Smith the author of the book. Jordan rules describes the season and goes into depth in the relationships that Micheal Jordan had with the re...more

· see review

Aug 26, 2011

Justin Tate is currently reading it

Currently the book im reading is The Jordasn Rules.It talks about the Nba playoffs how jordan didnt really get along with the players on the Chicago Bulls ............

· see review

Feb 27, 2011

joe touzel rated it

not the most entertaining book, but you do see another side the nba, and micheal jordan

· see review

Mar 13, 2010

David Kateeb rated it

My favorite book of all time and one of my favorite writers of all time

· see review

Apr 14, 2011

Andy rated it

Shelves: sports, paperback, owned

Enjoyable. Would have liked it a lot more if I read it when it first came out, instead of nearly 20 years later.

· see review

Jan 26, 2010

Connor Winn rated it

Good, but not as good as Halberstam's "Playing for Keeps."

· see review

Dec 29, 2010

Oliver L. rated it

As treatments of a single season in the life of a sports team go, few books could compete with one-hit wonder Sam Smith's wonderful The Jordan Rules. Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the NBA landscape in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

· see review

Aug 03, 2010

Hans de Zwart rated it

Apparently this is a sports classic: a journalistic description of the first season that Jordan and the other bulls managed to win. Although it is getting to be an older book, it still gives you a great insight into the journey the team went through, in the lifestyles of these young millionaires and in how the NBA is run as a business. The true hero of this book is not Jordan (you mainly get to understand him better), but Phil Jackson, a more than brilliant coach.

· see review

Apr 03, 2008

Jpaflas rated it

Recommends it for: All Sports Fans... Ally read this

Recommended to Jpaflas by: Jackson

This book only gets a four cause the writing is just normal sports writing... but the stories are fantastic. Plus going to school in Chi... I was a huge Bullss fan... Damn I dug this team. Money was the man... all smiles in the presser or in front of the camera but a raving banshee in practice and on the court or at the tables... a teammate beats Money at cards and he won't speak to them for days. That is why he was unstopable.
Pax seals it!

· see review

Jul 05, 2009

Amanda rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sports

This period was the beginning of my falling in love with basketball and becoming interested in it. I remember watching the Bulls of the early 90s and becoming more and more impressed with Jordan. Interesting parallels between what he had to adjust in his game to win and what took Kobe so long (and still doesn't understand) to figure out in his. I'm a sucker for a season-in-the-life sports stories, and this was no exception.

· see review

Nov 29, 2010

Poonam rated it

Shelves: sports

Fantastic read - very insightful look into the Bulls first championship season. We all know how the story ends, but the book in written in such a way that you're completely hooked on the suspense. There were times I wondered how/if they'd get it together. It is very basketball heavy, so if you're not familiar with the specifics about basketball it might be hard to read.

· see review

Apr 25, 2011

Stash rated it

This book is a bit dated and didn't really open my eyes to anything new. I already new Jordan was a overly competitive dick. What was new were the questions that surrounded some of the role players all season. As a kid I just remember the Juggernaut that were the 91-93 Bulls and not that Stacey King sucked ass or that they even had someone named Hobson on the team.

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 33 34 next »

Non Fiction

11 users

Biography

7 users

Sports > Basketball

6 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

Books by Sam Smith

Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey Of Michael Jordan From Courtside To Home Plate And Back Again

Why Bother?: Getting a Life in a Locked-Down Land

Sam Smith's Great American Political Repair Manual

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About The Jordan Rules

10 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: The Jordan Rules
avg rating	preview: The Jordan Rules Goodreads rating: 3.93 (619 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246468.The_Jordan_Rules?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327932750m/246468.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246468.The_Jordan_Rules?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith[/url]

The Jordan Rules

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Readers Also Enjoyed

Books by Sam Smith

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Jordan Rules

The Jordan Rules

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combine Other Editions (2)

Genres

Readers Also Enjoyed

Books by Sam Smith

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Jordan Rules

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)