The Jordan Rules

Sam Smith’s seminal, New York Times bestselling “eye-opener” (The San Diego Union-Tribune) on Michael Jordan and the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls team—perfect for fans of ESPN’s hit documentary series The Last Dance.

This is the book that changed the way the world viewed Michael Jordan, while delivering nonstop excitement, tension, and thrills.

The Jordan Rules chronicles the season that changed everything for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. After losing in the playoffs to the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons for three consecutive years, the Bulls finally broke through and swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, on the way to their first NBA championship.

Celebrated sportswriter Sam Smith was there for the entire ride. He reveals a candid and provocative picture of Michael Jordan during the season in which his legacy began to be defined, and seeks to figure out what drove him. The Jordan Rules covers everything from his stormy relationships with his coaches and teammates and power struggles with management—including verbal attacks on general manager Jerry Krause and tantrums against coach Phil Jackson—to Jordan’s obsessions with becoming the leading scorer, and his refusal to pass the ball in the crucial minutes of big games. Jordan’s teammates also tell their side of the story, from Scottie Pippen, to Horace Grant, to Bill Cartwright. And Phil Jackson—the former flower child who blossomed into one of the NBA’s top motivators and finally found a way to coax Jordan and the Bulls to their first title—is studied up close.

“Smith takes us into the locker room, aboard the team plane and team bus, and seats us on the bench during games. Sometimes, books reflecting on a team’s success don’t reach the personal level with the people who made it happen: The Jordan Rules does” (Associated Press).

Discover the team behind the man, and the man behind the living legend, in this intense, fascinating inside story of the incomparable Michael Jordan.

Sam Smith has been covering the Chicago Bulls and the NBA for more than four decades. He was a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune for twenty-eight years, and currently writes for the Bulls’ official website. Sam has received the prestigious Curt Gowdy Media Award from the NBA Hall of Fame, and the Professional Basketball Writers Association Lifetime Achievement award. He is the author of the classic bestselling book The Jordan Rules—for which he had unparalleled access to Michael Jordan and the championship 1991-92 Chicago Bulls team—as well as the books Hard Labor, Second Coming, and There is No Next. You can follow him on Twitter @SamSmithHoops.