Playing for Keeps Michael Jordan and the World He Made by David Halberstam

Playing for Keeps Michael Jordan and the World He Made Reviews

• 
  Brina

  I read this book when it came out As I watched the Cavaliers win the NBA title last night I thought how I really haven't followed basketball since Michael Jordan retired Spoiled being able to watch all the Bulls games on television I saw electrifying plays night after night Halberstam allows even casual fans insights into Jordan and the Bulls circus Looking back now that the game has reached global proportions Halberstam really meant it when he said Michael Jordan transformed the world Kids the world over really wanted to be like Mike I guess now they want to be like LeBron instead but it shows the lasting power Jordan has had on the game the world over I will have to dig this book out of the boxes of books I still have at my parents' home An enjoyable read and apropos to read now I am looking forward to reading it again
• 
  Adam

  David Halberstam can do no wrong A wonderful look at the modern NBA and how the intersection of money marketing entertainment and sport created a climate where Jordan could become the most famous person in the world The reporting and storytelling is excellent but it lacks something that Breaks of the Game had Breaks felt like because he was Halberstam was there There was a real connection to the players coaches and everyone involved Playing for Keeps like the modern NBA is sterile and everything feels like it was down at an arms length However it is a great read and a wonderful companion to Breaks
• 
  Donna

  This book was written before Michael Jordan announced his retirement in 1999 Halberstam is a great writer though I think this book could have been edited down about 10% It's not just about Jordan but about how he changed the NBA and how sports changed to sports entertainment during his years in it Key components of this change are the rise of ESPN and the marketing connections of the players I felt I got to know Jordan a bit better even as a Chicagoan I had heard much of this before especially his drive toward perfection and winning This book is great for a sports enthusiast as well as for those interested in the sportsentertainment culture which has grown in the last 10 15 years
• 
  Matt

  45 What a fun read Comprehensive in scope yet not overcrowded with minutiae Interesting anecdotes insightful analysis and best of all for this former MJ aficionado sheer nostalgia
• 
  Andrew Carr

  If you liked the Last Dance documentary this is the book version And yes the book is betterPlaying for Keeps tells the same story of the final 1997 1998 season of the Chicago Bulls while also explaining the backstory of how Jordan Pippen and Jackson came to be on that court in the final seconds of a dynasty almost unlike any other in modern sport While The Last Dance which I loved is uite narrowly focused on basketball team dynamics Playing for Keeps also tries to set the broader story of why the Bulls and Jordan mattered beyond their sport Halberstam covers the rise of the NBA under Stern Magic and Bird before Jordan's arrival looks at the way Jordan breaks through race barriers in advertising which other black athletes had fallen short on and some of the problems for the NBA after Jordan left being too rich too uickly and too much wasted talent a problem of the early 2000s but long since banishedHalberstam is a great writer making the story flow very easily It's not the only to view the Bulls and the NBA but this is one of the best sports books I've read and one which any fans of The Last Dance documentary would be crazy to miss The narrator of the audio book on Audible even has a passable Michael Jordan impression
• 
  Toni

  This is than just a book on Michael Jordan As a relatively new fan of the NBA started following in 2000 when I met my husband I really enjoyed all the information about former players and to see how the league has changed over the past 30 years most notably the contract amounts and lengths which were small and long even MJ's compared to today's playersI knew Jordan was competitive but I didn't really know just how much until I read this book There are a few players out there today that exhibit some of his ualities but there is only one Michael Jordan
• 
  Siddhartha Vaidyanathan

  One of the best books on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty If you liked the Last Dance you will love this
• 
  William Johnson

  This was reprinted from my website Secure Immaturity Please check it out and commentAlthough I consider David Halberstam may he rest in peace one of my all time favorite authors I never actually finished one of his books I read hundreds upon hundreds of pages in his books for sure but I never finished them not because they aren’t good but because well his depth of knowledge his skilled writing and his deep analysis of both history and current affairs made me selfish Not only would any other book be useless since Halberstam is exhaustive and complete in his research but I also upon finishing his books not NEED to get any knowledge on the subjects he wrote aboutThat is a the sign of a great writer BUT oddly enough it is also the sign of someone killing all enjoyment of other points of view Why the hell do I want to read anything else when I have something so complete and perfect But finally I finished a Halberstam book and while my need to read anything about the particular topic of this book is no longer needed I am left with the feeling that I read something special uniue powerful andwellhere’s that word again perfect The book is Playing for Keeps Michael Jordan and the World He Made and from this point forward I no longer need to read anything else about Michael Jordan ever again andunlike with other Halberstam books and topics I am okay with that Where can you go from here? Sorry Michael Leahy and Sam SmithI previously read The Jordan Rules and was satisfied if not entirely impressed with the experience It depicted one season of Michael Jordan’s career with the Bulls and was highly speculative and circumstantial While I felt there was a layer of truth to it there certainly was both an agenda and a bias at work In the end I felt the book tried to bring down Jordan and only had so much evidence to work with Plus the writer was writing a book for the first time and the book was and I shouldn’t throw stones at glass houses but mediocre at bestWhen I picked up Playing for Keeps I wanted to get the exhaustive research of Halberstam in regards to not only that one season 1991 but of Jordan’s whole career I expected a neutral tone and a fair look at his career I got that and thanks to superior writing sorry Sam the book manages to praise Jordan without patting him on the back and point out his faults without pulling his pants down and give him a spanking In other words the book is a COMPLETE view of a human being and his impact on the world oddly enough Halberstam spends 5 pages explaining how The Jordan Rules effected basketball the media’s relationship with Michael and Michael himselfHalberstam utilizes a mind boggling approach that is not only difficult to read at times but must have been hell to put together There is a frame format used at varying points of the book showing the Chicago Bulls 1997 1998 season Michael Jordan’s last as a Bull and consider the ‘Last Dance’ by Phil Jackson and company surrounded by a somewhat chronological look at Jordan’s life from junior high to the beginning of that 1997 1998 season Then the book completes that sporadic season overview and ends with an epilogue showing the ‘post Jordan’ years Add to this during the so called chronological bits back and forth narratives in different time periods giving back story to the other ‘characters’ in Jordan’s lifeI said it was mind boggling but I didn’t say it wasn’t fun Halberstam is just covering all the bases and for large portions of pages Jordan won’t even appear Because like in real life people are not just themselves they are made or help make other people as well and Halberstam expertly fleshes out the principal core of Jordan’s supporting cast Phil Jackson Scottie Pippen Dennis Rodman Dean Smith the creation of ESPN Larry Bird the Bad Boy Pistons just to name an important few Without these complex breakdowns and jumps in time the core thesis of the book showing how Jordan changed the world could not be possible In the end you get not just the complete story of Jordan but of the world he inhabits which he thus changedThough the book is only 424 pages it is dense Halberstam wisely chooses to stick with Jordan’s athletic exploits Though his personal life such as family growing up etc is brought up and explained the Jordan we know helped influenced the world when he was on the court not growing up in a house dreaming of playing baseball or skinning his knee at school While Jordan’s personality is examined his competitiveness his media savvy his gambling problems etc the main focus is his EFFECT on the world Halberstam never denies us his book’s core thesis which can be seen on the cover read the titleThe book starts basically with his heavily profiled high school snub for the Varsity team goes through the UNC days the early Bulls days the struggles with the Pistons onto the early championships and Dream Team briefly through the baseball sabbatical back to the new championships and along the way going through his endorsement deals relationship with players managers and coaches public victories and defeatsembarrassments the death of his father and is legacy on the court and off it both for the economy and for the sport of basketball Though the book was written before Jordan’s abortive comeback with the Washington Wizards the book is truly really complete Jordan’s Wizards career is not only best forgotten but sadly unimportant to the development of the current NBA In a way it just signified how the NBA died as Halberstam will point out when Jordan left at the peak of his powersThe book’s ‘post Jordan’ analysis is sad Once you’ve gone through decades with Jordan and the world of sports you kind of feel this loss remember how you felt in 1999 with the strike and a Jordanless NBA? Yeah Halberstam brings it all back for you and upon reaching the end you truly feel how ‘important’ Jordan was despite the fact that most athletes are deemed unimportant these days No one in that field has really changed the worldand since Halberstam’s goal was to show how MJ did indeed do that and made me feel the way he did his book is an amazing success An all time favorite I recommend to the fullest extent I can
• 
  Joseph Stieb

  A rare gem the book that can please both the hoop junkie and the history student I shouldn't be surprised Halberstam is an exceptional journalist one who shifted effortlessly between sports books and the broader world The book itself reflects that because Halberstam gives you the story of MJ the basketball player but also all the aspects of basketball and American life he changed and was changed by modern celebrity culture the mass media unrestricted free agency advertising the globalization of basketball and American culture post racialnesscolorblindness and the mainstreaming of the NBA Of course there are also tons of stories about his incredible competitiveness training big games upbringing and other formative experiences The portraits of other key players in the MJ story including Magic Dean Smith Scottie Phil J and others are absolutely awesome and will tell you stories you definitely never heard before even if you are a junkie So overall this is probably the best hoop book I've ever read listened to actually although not the greatest sports book still Friday Night Lights by 3 miles
• 
  Ben Deutsch

  I dove into this after the league's premier historian Bill Simmons called this the best Jordan book that's been written Halberstam meticulously details every step of Jordan's career from his backyard battles with his brother to his final uest for a championship The reporting is incredible and the book is loaded with anecdotes from MJ's friends competitors and business partners The author plays with time to convey Jordan's impact on the sport and American society at his apex while simultaneously providing context on how near pyschopathic determination fueled his journey to get there You're left feeling that the show Jordan put on for us was eual parts magic and grit I'd like to explore similar books for Kareem and LeBron but I finished this book feeling strongly than ever that Jordan is the GOAT