Michael Jordan: The Life Paperback – May 19, 2015

The Life is an interesting and easy to read account of Michael Jordan's life to now. What it has that other Jordan books don't is the benefit of time to fully appreciate his influence on sports, marketing, and business.The book analyzes the importance of the system over the individual (even if the person is the best ever), how drive is more important than talent, the challenges that sudden success has on family and the individual, how a small running shoe company became a worldwide sports juggernaut, and how the leaders that hired Jordan all came to believe and long for a chance to show that their systems could be successful without him.Jordan is a fascinating book about a man who is the best athlete of my generation that was smart, driven and lucky enough to make himself the symbol of sport. How he got there is worth the read.

This was the best sports book I've read since Bill Simmons "Book of Basketball!" It's by far the best book on MJ since it starts out so early in. His life and chronicles all his high school,Camps, and college games.It fills in a lot of gaps that before were just touched on by "The Jordan Rules" through his time on the wizards with the book "When nothing else matters." It focuses much more on accomplishments and MJ's state of mind through interviews instead of how he treated people.The book even covers gems like the Cleveland shot, dunk contests, all star snub, dream team, baseball, gambling, being a wizard, bobcats and the hall of fame speech. There are some amazing interviews laced throughout the book. Great read.

Well researched. Very erudite in regards to some of the details concerning Michael Jordan's life. That alone merits 3 stars. The information about Michael's ancestors were brilliantly researched. The author also shed light on Jordan's Wizards years and presented information I didn't know about in regards to the rancor and in some cases odium that existed between Jordan and management as well as the growing dichotomy regarding philosophy and how the franchise should go foward. The players also grew to detest Jordan's approach. I respect the fact that Roland did not approach this book as another Jordan worshipping author who is going to write this hagiography painting Jordan as an infalible saint. Unfortunately for me having played the game during the late 80's and 90's in highschool and some college and watching a lot of MJ along with Magic and Bird, there wasn't much new information presented, at least for me. It was a decent read which for the neophyte who doesn't know that much about Jordan would be an astonishing narrative but for me I give it 4 stars not 5 simply because most of the information I already knew.The problem with writing about these very famous personalities is that what don't we not know about the subject. It would be like writing a book about Michael Jackson and we can make the case that in the 90's Michael Jordan approached Michael Jackson status in terms of being that famous, especially the Michael Jackson of the 80's. Both figures transcended race and were famous international figures. What new information could you really present on the life of a person that famous. What hasn't been written about them somewhere. I would probably love to see a researcher go deeper into maybe the period of Jordan's life from 1993 to his comeback in 1995. Delving into the death of his father which to me is still clouded and strange. I think books like that would be an interesting and fresh take on this very famous subject. The 30 for 30 film "Jordan Ride's The Bus" touched on that period along with Bob Greene who is a famous Jordan historian and author but once again Greene is one of those hagiographers and Jordan worshipers. Roland in contrast stated that Jordan wanted to be involved but Roland wanted to keep the integrity of the book. Jordan wanted to ommit some things that were controversial to him. Jordan most likely would have opted to ommit the narrative about the sexual abuse that occured at the hands of his father as he victimized his older sister. He would have probably put the pressure on Roland to leave out the legal misgivings and lack of business accumen exhibited by his father as well. I do wonder why Roland failed to bring out the extortion trial in which Jordan was a plantiff in the 2002 case where one of his former mistresses Karla Knafel tried to blackmail him for money by threatening to exspose him as someone who was cheating on his wife in 1991 and who was potentially the father on her child. Overall pretty decent well researched narrative.

MJ. His Airness. Jordan Air. Michael Jordan is arguably, the best basketball player that has ever laced up his shoes. Fans all have favorite memories; his game-winning basket for the national title at UNC, the flu game, the jams, the high scores. He is one of the most easily identifiable individuals in the world as his fame spread past the courts to advertising and the movies. But who is this man?Roland Lazenby has written a memoir biography of Michael Jordan. He takes the reader through his childhood and the family structure and issues. Jordan's time at the University of North Carolina and his relationship with coach Dean Smith is covered in depth as the reader learns how Jordan improved his game. His time with the Chicago Bulls led to a long run as world champions and the reader sees how the offense set up there was perfect for Jordan both to shine as an individual and as a teammate. His relationship with his teammates and his coaches is covered in detail, both during the good years and as the team came apart through player-management issues.But this is not just a tribute book. Jordan's negative influences are also covered. The family issues and conflicts were a spur to Jordan. His competitive drive also led to gambling. Of course, few can forget the murder of his father and how that affected Jordan, leading to him leaving basketball for two years and trying to become a professional baseball player. The fact that Jordan's intense competitive drive made him less than supportive of teammates that weren't as talented or who didn't work as hard. Jordan was a master trash-talker and rode others mercilessly when they didn't measure up to his standards.At the end of the book, the reader is left with a complete picture of this complicated man. Leaders are honored and adored, but few really understand the drive it takes to be the best. To spur others to achieve greatness, often leaders are less than kind and often even cruel, and that is also a part of leadership. Jordan has great athletic talent, an incredible energy and drive for success, loyalty to those he trusts, and has given the world moments that will always be remembered. At our core, we all want 'to be like Mike'. This book is recommended for sports fans and those interested in reading about how one individual finds the drive to compete and excel, until they are the best in the world.