Jordan: The Man, His Words, His Life - Softcover

Krugel, Mitchell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312958145 ISBN 13: 9780312958145

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1995

Synopsis

An unauthorized biography, featuring interviews with the basketball superstar and other top players and coaches, reveals Jordan's personal life and professional development, explaining why he left basketball and why he returned. Reprint. AB. PW.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Yet another book about the ``retired'' basketball superstar, this one with passages written as if by Jordan, from ``Michael's perspective,'' though not in his ``exact words.'' Krugel, a sportswriter for the Hammond (Ill.) Times, covered Jordan and the Chicago Bulls for seven years and claims to be one of the ``select members'' of the media to whom the beleaguered star would talk about things other than basketball. If so, Jordan evidently has little to say. Krugel focuses on the past few seasons, on the Bulls' three straight NBA championships, and on the playoffs and games that highlighted those campaigns. There is scant mention of Jordan's well-publicized gambling difficulties, including his infamous trip to Atlantic City during the 1993 playoffs. Nor does Krugel--or Michael--discuss at any length the August 1993 murder of Jordan's father. And there's little said about the ``fed up'' superstar's seemingly contradictory decision to play professional baseball just four months after retiring from basketball in order to get out of the media spotlight. There is ample--and worthwhile--dissection of Jordan's thought processes during a game, of particular games, such as the the one of March 1990 against Cleveland when he scored a career-high 69 points, and of individual, last-second shots that brought dramatic victories. There are also interesting examinations by Jordan and others about what it was like to guard the best ever to play the game. Joe Dumars, who Jordan says guarded him better than anyone else, claims that the best way to cover the superstar was to ``stay in front and make him take the toughest shot you can.'' Dan Majerle and others, though, plead no contest: ``Let him get his 30 and hope you can win the game.'' Includes a handy listing of Jordan statistics and records, and some interesting basketball lore and history; but there's really little new here. (8 pages photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

To the tune of Kermit the Frog's lament, "It Ain't Easy Being Green," Michael Jordan croons, "It Ain't Easy Being Mike." The retired Chicago Bull great and current White Sox wannabe provides a brief introduction to each chapter of Hammond Times reporter Krugel's surprisingly candid and objective biography. Krugel carefully examines Jordan's legendary competitiveness, concluding that it is both the source of Michael's athletic greatness and a kind of personal curse. We see the effect of his competitive spirit both in his gambling fiascoes, on the one hand, and in his night-in, night-out mastery of professional basketball, which, as Krugel explains it, was made possible not only by natural talent, but also by Jordan's remarkable ability to create a small challenge for himself in each game, whether it was teaching a rookie opponent respect or disappointing the home fans when the Bulls were on the road. Krugel also explores the stifling nature of Jordan's celebrity, detailing the horrors of living in a fishbowl. Though Jordan's relationships with teammates were often tenuous, they, too, recognized the double-edged sword of being the world's most famous person: As one teammate put it, "They couldn't pay me enough to be Michael." A fine biography as well as a thoughtful look at the burdens of fame in the modern world. Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0312958145
• ISBN 13: 9780312958145
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 307