Michael Jordan: The Life

Product Information

Roland Lazenby’s Michael Jordan: The Life is an in-depth biography that covers the legendary basketball player’s entire life. From his humble beginnings in North Carolina to his rise to superstardom in the NBA, Lazenby paints a vivid portrait of Jordan’s life and career. Through interviews with those close to Jordan, Lazenby provides insight into what made him such a successful athlete and person. He also looks at Jordan’s struggles, particularly with gambling, and how he was able to overcome them. Overall, this book is an essential read for anyone interested in learning more about the life and legacy of Michael Jordan. It is an incredibly well-researched and comprehensive account that sheds light on the man behind the myth.

the category i put this novel in was that its a non-fiction book because everything and experience in this book is true because it tells you all the ups and downs Michael Jordan did to be successful but he would love the game win or lose. On the court, his almost mythic flair for the spectacular prompted former Los Angeles Laker superstar Magic Johnson to say simply, "There's Michael, then there's all the rest of us." Jordan’s impact off the court has been equally profound. He was an inspiration to many, and his influence transcended basketball. His brand of clothing, shoes, and other products have become iconic symbols of success and style. His philanthropic work has also made a positive impact on many people’s lives. LaFeber’s examination of Nike and its particular dominion over the global marketplace is often scathing, while his fascinating mini-biography of Michael Jordan and the commercial history of basketball reveal much about American society. Michael Jordan: Life Lessons from His Airness by David H. Lewis The Shrug. The Shot. The Flu Game. Michael Jordan is responsible for sublime moments so ingrained in sports history that they have their own names. When most people think of him, they think of his beautiful shots with the game on the line, his body totally in sync with the ball – hitting nothing but net.I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” he remarked. I was saddened to read about the struggles he’s faced. His entire life has been dominated by his stardom, which has separated him from his humanity and ability to assume any sort of normal lifestyle. This has resulted in coping mechanisms like excessive gambling. For all the riches and fame he has acquired, MJ seems relationally like the poorest man I’ve ever heard of. I hope there are better, more fulfilling days ahead for him. With the possible exceptions of boxer Muhammad Ali and baseball player Babe Ruth, no athlete has made a greater impact on American society – or in the world – than Michael Jordan. Follow the life of one of the most recognizable athletes and living brands inside this engaging and balanced biography.

Michael Jordan is a legendary basketball player who is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. He played in the NBA for 15 seasons, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls and earning five MVP awards. He was a 14-time All-Star and a 10-time scoring champion. He also won two Olympic gold medals with the USA Men’s Basketball team. He is the only player in NBA history to be named MVP of the All-Star Game, the regular-season, and the playoffs in the same year. After his retirement from basketball, Jordan became an entrepreneur, and is now the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets. His legacy lives on in the form of his iconic sneakers, apparel, and a statue outside the United Center. Purpose of the List of Books About Michael Jordan This was a very similar book to Kobe’s “The Mamba Mentality.” I enjoyed reading about his processes in going through all of the different championships. The flu game process was an interesting read where even more was going on and he was basically chugging coffee just to survive. Nothing of value comes without being earned. That’s why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can’t demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see,” he writes.I only got one opportunity to see him play in person. It was the year they only lost two--count 'em, two--home games out of 41. But one was the game vs. Charlotte with me in the nosebleed section. In Driven from Within, Michael makes it clear that the basis for his phenomenal success came from the inside out, thanks in part to those who guided him along the way. His skill, work ethic, philosophy, personal style, competitiveness, and presence have flowed from the basketball court into every facet of his life. Off the court, Jordan's ability to alter markets and drive the business of his marketing partners is unprecedented.

The depth of the book becomes pretty shallow in Jordan's later years, however. His divorce is mentioned almost as an afterthought. One never gets the full sense of Jordan's philandering, but there are stories of games of pool in topless bars, all-day golf excursions, and plenty of fine cigars and booze to fill the time. Lazenby makes MJ's playing for the Wizards seem like a benevolent deed, not something Jordan did because he couldn't succeed at anything else and his ego just wouldn't let his position within the game go. The book is fairly critical of his time as "The Loser" as owner of the team with the worst single-season record in league history. In some cases, perhaps Jordan is reaping bad karma from having been so critical of Krause and Reinsdorf and holding grudges when they traded his friends or made other necessary business decisions. But for all his greatness, this scion of a complex family from North Carolina’s Coastal Plain has a darker side: he’s a ruthless competitor and a lover of high stakes. There’s never been a biography that encompassed the dual nature of his character and looked so deeply at Jordan on and off the court – until now. Living and working in the Chicago area during the awesome Bulls' run caused me to become a solid fan. Although I was aware of most of the content of this book already, it was interesting to read MJ's voice in the 1st person. Basically a magazine article on steroids with all the photos and sidebars. In Michael Jordan: The Life, Lazenby draws on his personal relationships with Jordan’s coaches; countless interviews with Jordan’s friends, teammates, and family members; and interviews with Jordan himself to provide the first truly definitive study of Michael Jordan: the player, the icon, and the man. Playing for Keeps by David HalberstamThe 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. Unfortunately the book doesn’t provide a lot of new insights once you have seen the series. I would have liked to understand, at a more profound level, how this remarkable drive came into existence. However, the book doesn’t provide such insights in depth. It does provide examples on how he leveraged this drive for his success. The only parts where I felt it scratched the potential origin of his discipline and drive is when it described the values and principles his parents and early coaches instilled in him. Tinker Hatfield did a great job explaining much of what went into each Jordan shoe ranging from events happening in Jordan's life, to changing the material to increase the basketball shoe durability. I was surprised to learn that Tinker Hatfield did not start designing the Jordan shoe till III, which is when it started to get good. Furthermore, that Jordan had to use a new pair for each game until Jordan XI came out. The book also talks a lot about the evolution of 'Brand Jordan' and how building on the Jordan line it came to stand on its own. I was amazed by Jordan’s relentlessness as a competitor. He was truly an assassin on the basketball court. If there was any small chance....000001% chance that you would challenge Jordan’s ability to win or his status as the best, you would be sought out, humiliated, defeated and your reputation stomped on. Michael would then give a great press conference interview after the game to make you look like his inferior in every way. Teammates experienced a mix of awe and fear as he demanded absolute perfection, even in the most mundane practice situations. MJ was the perfect mix of other-worldly athleticism, iron-hard competitiveness, and savvy charisma. Lazenby's book Bull Run! was named Sports Book of the Year for 1997 by the Independent Publishers Association.

The NBA started in 1947 and till this day it is very popular and i’m doing my research on Michael Jordan. Two books i have read are Driven From Within Michael Jordan by Mark Vancil the genre of the book is non-fiction and the other book that i have read was The Sixth Man by John Feinstein and the genre is realistic fiction. The Michael Jordan book was about his life and how became the greatest basketball player and well known. The The Sixth Man is about how a kid that plays basketball in middle school and they win the championship. My opinion about these two books are that they are both about basketball and they both deal with going threw age and going threw their lives. I was inspired by these books because i always loved basketball as a little kid growing up and i played it too and until today i still play basketball. Basketball journalist Roland Lazenby spent almost thirty years covering Michael Jordan's career in college and the pros. He witnessed Jordan's growth from a skinny rookie to the instantly recognizable global ambassador for basketball whose business savvy and success have millions of kids still wanting to be just like Mike. Yet Lazenby also witnessed the Michael Jordan whose drive and appetite are more fearsome and more insatiable than any of his fans could begin to know. Michael Jordan: The Life explores both sides of his personality to reveal the fullest, most compelling story of the man who is Michael Jordan. The book is very straightforward and chronological. I really liked how they weaved commentary from Michael Jordan, Tinker Hatfield (The designer of the Jordan Shoes) and other people into the book. Forged successful teams out of players of varying abilities by getting them to trust one another and perform in sync.Jordan’s words “Don't let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.” in this quote he said that to not let people tell you things that will make you not want to do what you really want and believe in. Michael believed that he could become a famous basketball player and could be something in life. Some people believed in him and some people didn’t and Jordan didn’t listen to them because he knows that he was good. This book was nice because it has comments from teammates and people who worked will him and they wrote things about he and wrote he it felt to work will him and how he was when he is not playing basketball. Michael also talked about then and how it felt to play with them. I enjoyed how much time was given to Michael's early life. Too often biographies skim over the origins of the person and race to their famous days. This book provides plenty of details about Jordan's high school and college days. The author pulls no punches but also gives everyone his due. It's easy for people in retrospect to claim Jordan's high school basketball coach must have been crazy to cut him, but it made sense at the time and in the situation. Jordan's anger and combativeness with managers and other front office types has its roots in this early stage of his life, driving his urge to prove to everyone he is not only better than they think but the best period. This book may be the best book I have ever read. I feel that since I have been involved in many sports I can relate to how he was feeling throughout his career. I was also able to understand the plot lines very easily because it was different parts of his career. I also watched the documentary “The Last Dance” which talked about the Bulls championship franchise. Since I watched that as well I was able to make connections between things that he talked about and things that he didn’t. I really enjoyed hearing Micheal Jordan’s view of his career and comparing it to people that analysed his career. There was a lot of drama with those championship teams and to hear what the best player had to say was very interesting. M. J. and his accomplishments were founded on discipline, hard work, and knowing how to channel the deep, competitive drive within. Michael Jordan: Life Lessons from His Airness offers a courtside seat to the wild ride that made Michael Jordan a star and reveals valuable insights for anyone trying to make their own lofty dreams come true. Michael Jordan: A Biography by David L. Porter