Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made

by David Halberstam

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist comes “the best Jordan book so far” ( The Washington Post ), the story of Michael Jordan’s legendary years with the Chicago Bulls, capped by the 1998 NBA Finals and the team’s second three-peat.

From The Breaks of the Game to Summer of ’49, David Halberstam has brought the perspective of a great historian, the insider knowledge of a dogged sportswriter, and the love of a fan to bear on some of the most mythic players and teams in the annals of American sports. With Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls he has given himself the greatest challenge and produced his greatest triumph.

In Playing for Keeps, Halberstam takes the first full measure of Michael Jordan’s epic career, one of the great American stories of our time. A narrative of astonishing power and human drama, brimming with revealing anecdotes and penetrating insights, the book chronicles the forces in Jordan’s life that have shaped him in to history’s greatest basketball player and the larger forces that have converged to make him the most famous living human being in the world.

Genres: Sports, Basketball, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Audiobook, Journalism

432 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

David Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.

Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.

In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.

Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.

After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.

Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.

Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.

David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 5 out of 5]

May 27, 1991: Memorial Day and that means one thing. Our community pool is open for the summer. Usually Memorial Day in Chicago means snow and the cancellation of baseball and barbecues. One year my softball game got snowed out, and another year (later on) my parents had had enough and we went to a local resort hotel with an indoor pool for the entire weekend. There was no snow on tap in Chicago’s forecast in 1991, only basketball, which left me with a huge dilemma. To this day, I pine for time in water, but for the first time our Bulls were about to sweep Detroit’s Bad Boy Pistons out of the playoffs en route to the finals. What is a 11 1/2 year old supposed to do? Easy. Listen to the Bulls game from the pool loudspeakers and bask in the joy of radio broadcaster Johnny “Red” Kerr announcing that the Bulls had vanquished the Pistons once and for all. The Bulls ascendancy, and with it the next eight years of my teen years experiencing the thrills of them winning six times, had begun. All of us at the pool cheered and the party began, mirroring the globalization of American culture throughout the decade. The age of Michael Jordan as an international superstar had arrived, and as a young person living in the Chicago area, I was lucky, fortunate, privileged to be along for the ride.

I read David Halberstam’s Playing for Keeps as soon as he published it in 1999. I had recently turned twenty but was old enough to be jaded by the Bulls’ breakup because I followed their every move in the newspapers. As soon as the team completed their Last Dance championship in 1998, management ran champion caliber players and their coach out of town. In hindsight I am convinced that in the shortened 1999 season, Jordan could have won again, but that is a debate for another time and place. The 1999 Chicago sports scene was dismal: the Cubs, Bears, Blackhawks, and now Bulls competed for a place in the second division. Meanwhile a college quarterback named Tom Brady was making a name for himself, but no one at the time knew that he would surpass Jordan in championships won. In 1999 any book allowing me to relive the Bulls championship glory was a must read. The last events had only occurred a year earlier, but basketball was not the same for me, and still isn’t. When Jordan once approached Halberstam about collaborating on a biography with him, the author noted that he should wait until he had been retired for at least ten years, then they could talk. At that point, Jordan had elevated himself as a businessman and team owner, and Halberstam had tragically been killed in a car accident, so this dream team partnership never came to fruition. Years have passed, and I still watch Jordan highlights on YouTube. I also decided to make David Halberstam one of my featured authors this year, and a quarter century later, it was more than time to reread this gem. While Halberstam was most notably a historian and journalist, he loved sports and wrote several sports books. After twenty five years, I could through adult eyes appreciate the scope of Jordan’s career and take a trip down memory lane of my youth.

Michael Jordan’s career arc mirrors my childhood perfectly: he joined the Bulls as a legend in the making the year I started kindergarten and won his last championship following my freshman year of college. In essence, Michael Jordan was my childhood. David Halberstam did not set out to write a new biography of Air Jordan. By 1998, many books had already been written about him, my favorite being Hang Time by Bob Greene, and he had even starred in Space Jam with Bugs Bunny. What Halberstam set out to do was to tell the story of Michael Jordan as a cultural icon. In the 1990s, he was the most famous American in the world, rivaled only by Princess Diana. He grew the NBA from a fledgling league to a multibillion dollar conglomerate, coming of age when cable emerged on the airwaves. Before joining the Bulls, Jordan also signed a deal with Nike, which lead to endorsement deals with notable American brands across the advertising spectrum. I still remember his classic Big Mac commercial with Larry Bird and Charles Barkley as well as his ads for Wheaties, Hanes, and Coke. His Be Like Mike jingo for Gatorade has remained so popular that it still surfaces on the air from time to time. Between the emergence of cable and the branding of America in the 1980s, Jordan came of age as a professional athlete at a perfect time to market himself. His international fame continued to grow as he continued to win, and kids today still wear his gear. This humble man from Wilmington, North Carolina had no idea what he was about to create by signing on with Nike. With that partnership, he allowed the ad men on Madison Avenue to be race blind and took his first step toward becoming the international star that he is today.

Although Halberstam told Jordan’s story from the angle of how he changed the cultural outlook of sports during his career, he still told the story of Jordan’s career as well. Every key moment is here from being cut from his high school team, to his days at North Carolina, to his Bulls’ career, with chapters thrown in on the Dream Team and his hiatus as a minor league baseball player. Jordan did not grant interviews but did allow Halberstam access to many of his close friends, which gave the book an extra layer of introspection that many Jordan biographies do not have. All the key players, both teammates and rivals, are here. Halberstam details how the Bulls’ management took credit for the championships even though they never stepped on the court, leading to a feud of epic proportions between the players and coach with the front office. In my house, we referred to them as the two evil Jerrys, who were not actually evil, just an egomaniac desiring more credit than he actually deserved. Coach Jackson, Pippen, Rodman, the Pistons, the Lakers, the Jazz. The entire career arc is here, expertly crafted by Halberstam, who allowed me to relive all the happy events that I got to experience growing up in Chicago. Even though I am a walking sports encyclopedia, I still savored every moment, desiring to know how the games played themselves out, even though they all happened more than twenty five years ago. From this well crafted homage to the greatest to lace them up, it shows just how special he was of all these years later if I felt more than just nostalgia reading about them. This is the effect that Halberstam desired: that Jordan was more than a balletic, game changing player, he was a cultural icon, and still is, who changed the way people viewed the modern athlete. Since his retirement from the Bulls, kids today still wear his gear and want to be like Mike.

June 14, 1998: I’m home from my first year of college, where I managed to watch the opening rounds of the playoffs. I knew it would be the last one, and I wanted to savor each and every game. It is Sunday night, and the game is in prime time. If Jordan plays, the NBA on NBC is an event, and my family, at least the sports loving members of it, are locked in. My adrenaline is flowing, as it still does for big sporting events. I know that the Bulls are going to win, and sure enough they do, Jordan hitting the shot for the ages to win 87-86, willing his team to victory. Six championships in eight years, a feat unprecedented in this modern age of player movement. Not many champions could have scripted a perfect ending, but his Royal Airness did, his years with the Wizards not withstanding; however, he was the ultimate wizard on the court, Larry Bird once proclaiming that he is G-D disguised as Michael Jordan. The Bulls last dance is over; twenty two years later cable superstation ESPN would retell the season as a documentary. At age 18 1/2, a key facet of my childhood is over. I savored every moment, being fortunate to watch most Bulls games on television. All these years later, I rarely watch basketball although a young woman from my alma mater is bringing me back to the game. Kids might have grown up wanting to be like Mike, but they don’t play defense, desiring the highlights to put them on television. There will never be another person who comes along at a perfect time to market himself as a cultural superstar. David Halberstam was also one of the best and brightest in his field. I thank him for allowing me to relive all of these memories.

5 🏀 stars

[Recensioniconcise · Rating 3 out of 5]

La storia dei sei anelli vinti dai Bulls

Sottotitolo ingannevole.
Più che la storia di MJ è il racconto molto dettagliato dei 6 campionati vinti dai Bulls, dei compagni di squadra, degli allenatori e della dirigenza.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 more sterile and everything feels like it was down at an arms length. However, it is a great read and a wonderful companion to Breaks.

[Andrew Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the Last Dance documentary, this is the book version. And yes, the book is better.

Playing 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 quite 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 quickly and too much wasted talent (a problem of the early 2000s, but long since banished).

Halberstam 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).

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 sports/entertainment culture which has grown in the last 10-15 years.

[Mariateresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

La lattura di “Air” è stata una sfida, l’uscita dalla mia comfort zone fatta di romanzi per entrare nel mondo del basket. Io da una parte e il Michelangelo del canestro dall'altra.
Io che tutto quel che sapevo su questo sport lo devo ad un anime “Slam Dunk” . chi si ricorda dell’esilarante Anamichi Sakuragi in onda su 7 gold? Ma, col finire delle puntate, era finita la mia parentesi di passione sportiva. Poi, con la sesta tappa della “guess my book” challenge e l’obiettivo “leggi una biografia”, mi son detta: proviamoci!
E questo bel mattoncino di cinquecento e passa pagine non è stato certo facile da affrontare: per l’argomento quasi sconosciuto e per il contentuto.

Mi aspettavo una biografia concentrata sull'uomo, non sulla storia dell’NBA. Anche se, alla fine, Michael Jordan è il basket, è impensabile parlare dell’uomo, di come sia diventato un mito, senza parlare del baket, della storia di questo sport e di come siano cambiati – entrambi- nel corso di circa vent'anni..
Da sport del quartiere, sport per ragazzi di colore, è diventato uno sport importante, al pari del baseball , giocato a livelli altissimi e con fatturati da milioni di dollari. Uno sport che a metà degli anni ’80 inizia a prendersi i propri spazi complici la tv , la presenza di grandi campioni,(giocatori del calibro di Magic Johnson, Larry Bird e Jordan hanno senza dubbio dato una grossa mano )l’esportazione in Europa della propria cultura. (musica, Mc Donald’s, coca cola e così via)
Halberstam ripercorre la storia di Michael da Chapel Hill, passando per l’esordio vero e proprio nell’86 (playoff contro i Celtics) , fino al ritiro dalle scene e quello che è chiaro fin da subito è il carattere di questo genio: è un guerriero che non vuole perdere. Semplicemente non è ammissibile, non nel suo mondo, non se può far qualcosa per impedirlo.
È uno che non si risparmia mai. Dà sempre cento in campo e in allenamento, usa la rabbia come carburante e considera il limite come un’asticella da innalzare e superare ogni volta.
Ha un grande carisma ( che gli fa ottenere un contratto multimilionario con Nike, per citarne uno) e doti fisiche innate. Tutte qualità che forse avrebbe indotto qualcun altro ad adagiarsi sugli allori, a fare il minimo indispensabile; ma non lui.
Forse per via del bisogno di emergere, o per l’antica competizione col fratello maggiore (per quanto bonaria). Per Michael non c’è mai un “abbastanza”, c’è sempre un “si può fare meglio”.
Forse, arriva a dire l’autore della biografia, Michael era in perenne competizione soprattutto con se stesso. E per questo ha lavorato sempre duramente, arrivando a criticare i compagni di squadra meno stacanovisti, meno orientati alla vittoria, e ad attirarsi le loro ire, che però, duravano poco di fronte alla realtà dei fatti e alla verità che Michael dimostrava in allenamento e in partita.

C’è qualcosa di eroico nel modo in cui gioca, nel modo in cui conduce la squadra alla vittoria. Ci sono una dedizione totale, una profonda gioia, e un amore che lo muovono e che lo hanno reso la leggenda che è diventato.
Ama mettersi alla prova – per il gusto di vincere- anche nel golf, sport che pratica per ricaricarsi, per prendere una pausa dalla pressione mediatica (che gestisce, comunque, meglio di tanti altri. Unico screzio con la stampa avverrà al funerale dell’amato padre e quando verrà fuori uno scandalo nel mondo delle scommesse.)

L’unico campo in cui non riuscirà mai ad eccellere è il baseball, ma quella parentesi lo aiuterà a migliorare caratterialmente, a smussare spigoli e a comprendere meglio i compagni di squadra quando tornerà all’amore di una vita: il basket con i Bulls.
E in chiusura di carriera e del libro, l’autore fa un paragone azzeccatissimo, quello con l’omerico Ulisse e il suo osare arrivare fino alle colonne d’ercole e superarle.
Come Ulisse, anche MJ si supera fino a dove è umanamente possibile, con l’eleganza dell’eroe. E con la sua stessa potenza, o forse anche di più perché, parafrasando Larry Bird ,quando giocava era Dio.

Due stelle e mezzo, perché è stata una lettura faticosa, con tantissimi riferimenti a fatti dell’ NBA, tanti tecnicismi, tanti aneddoti non direttamente riferibili a Michael, ma a tutto il contesto che gli ruota intorno. Il punto di partenza e di arrivo è quest’uomo straordinario, ma nel mezzo la storia prende tante direzioni, come affluenti di uno stesso fiume .
Di sicuro sarà apprezzatissimo dagli esperti di settore ( ricostruzione accuratissima) e dai fans di Jordan .
Quel che mi è piaciuto di più è quel che emerge dall'esempio di Michael, cioè che i limiti sono solo un illusione e con talento e intelligenza si possono fare grandi cose.
È stata una faticaccia, ma sono contenta!
Alla prossima! Buone Letture!

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Halberstam is one of my very favorite writers of nonfiction. His realm of work ranges from the Korean War to the NBA to the struggles the Detroit faced with foreign car competition to the Vietnam War (which is where he first attracted national attention). This book is an excellent recounting of the 1990s championship run of the Chicago Bulls with special emphasis on Michael Jordan. BUT Mr. Halberstam goes much deeper in his analysis than the typical sports book. He delves into the history of both the NBA and player/management relationships that was the foundation for the astonishing growth of the NBA in the 1990s. It was great fun reliving the thrilling Michael Jordan years told by a master of the craft. Sadly, we lost Mr. Halberstam in a car accident in 2007 but there is fortunately a wealth of nonfiction books that he wrote that are on my "to read" list.

[Siddhartha Vaidyanathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Mak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veldig god og veldig metodisk om Michael Jordan, menneskene i hans verden, og sporten han spelte.

For oss som har sett The Last Dance vil eindel være kjent, blant anna virkar det som om dokumentaren har kopiert strukturen med å hoppe i tid frå boka. Likevel er det ei svært god bok, langt meir detaljert enn dokumentaren.

Det som eg synest er bra er Halberstam sin relativt lette skrivestil, særlig hans strålande og nyanserte portrettar av nøkkelfigurane som dukkar opp i historen. Mindre offentlig kjente aktørar som David Falk, Jordans agent, blir me betre kjent med, men også "godt kjente" Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird og selvfølgelig Jordan sjølv er beskreve med større djubde og nyanse enn på film. Ikkje minst er det ein fryd å lese noen som så sømløst går ut på nødvendige tangentar, slik som lengre personportrett, uten at ein følar at det sakkar drivet i den større fortellingen.

Det mest interessante, ved siden av hovudobjektet Jordan, er den større fortellingen om endring og vekst av NBA som liga og basketball som sport. Boka lever opp til undertittelen "Michael Jordan and the world he created". Her er ein mangeåring dedikasjon, kjærlighet og interesse for temaet frå forfattaren tydelig, og gjer det som for meg er 30-60 år gammal historie svært tilgjengeleg og fengande. Plasseringa av basketball, Jordan, Celtics, Lakers og Bulls-lagene i den større samfunnskonteksten oppleves heilt nødvendig slik Halberstam skriver om det.

Dette er ei god bok for alle som vil vite meir om Jordan, Pippen, Jackson, eller eit anna utall markante figurar i amerikansk basket- og sportshistorie. Det er også nær essensiell lesning for alle som likar NBA og vil forstå korleis ligaen som me kjenner den i dag blei til. Trekker kun ei stjerne fordi eg hadde sett dokomentaren og såleis kjeda meg litt i dei partiene med gjennomgang av dei siste tre Bulls-meisterskapa.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, erano anni che non mi trascinavo un libro per ben due mesi. Sono faticosamente giunta alla fine di questo racconto biografico con la sensazione di fiato corto e una spossatezza non indifferente, non tanto per i concetti e i personaggi trattati quanto per la densità di informazioni che si ricavano da questo lavoro. Non sono particolarmente ferrata in campo di biografie e il mio stupore potrebbe derivare da questo, ma ho trovato questo libro estremamente approfondito e minuzioso nello spiegare ogni singola dinamica nominata all'interno di queste righe. A volte, forse, troppo approfondito, con divagazioni al limite dell'accettabile, a mio parere.
D'altra parte, ho trovato alcune sezioni stranamente scarne, su tutte direi il racconto delle controversie legate al personaggio Michael Jordan, come la tendenza a non schierarsi riguardo tematiche sociali e politiche e le critiche che ne sono derivate. Dopo aver letto trenta pagine dedicate alla tv via cavo sinceramente mi sarei aspettata una riflessione altrettanto approfondita su ciò che ha tentato di attenuare l'aura mistica attorno ad un personaggio che negli anni Novanta era considerato alla stregua di un dio, anche al di fuori degli USA.
Poco efficaci i salti temporali della prima metà del libro, a volte faticavo a trovare il collegamento che potesse unire le due epoche, ma potrebbe essere un mio problema personale legato a scarsa attenzione. Inoltre, ho riscontrato qualche difetto nel racconto in alcuni punti, soprattutto in corrispondenza delle partite (escluse le finali di Conference e le finali NBA del '98), dove la narrazione stentava a decollare, appensantita da un approccio secondo me leggermente troppo cronachistico.
Segnalo un'ottima e utile bibliografia inserita nel capitolo dei ringraziamenti, a prova dell'immensa ricerca che sta dietro a quest'opera, secondo me uno dei punti di forza più grandi, che mi ha convinta a dare quattro stelle piene.
Inutile dire che gli ideatori di "The last dance" hanno preso a piene mani da questa fonte, a tratti ricalcando fedelmente la struttura narrativa e la modalità di descrizione dei personaggi secondari di cui tutta la vicenda è costellata.
Consiglio la lettura a chi già possiede un buon background legato all'ambiente NBA e sportivo americano, per i profani di questo campo ma soprattutto per i non appassionati potrebbe risultare un ostacolo un pochino arduo da superare.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se avete visto la docuserie The Last Dance su Netflix, la lettura di questo libro può essere considerata un approfondimento multidimensionale di quella storia raccontata già bene sul piccolo schermo. Se non avete visto The Last Dance, correte a recuperarlo! Non è un documentario su un fenomeno sportivo, ma (anche) il racconto di un pezzo importante di cultura popolare statunitense prima e globale poi. Michael Jordan è stato innanzitutto questo: un’icona del basket NBA che è stato per primo in grado di valicare ogni confine geografico e culturale, affermandosi come un punto di riferimento dentro e fuori il campo da pallacanestro. Il libro scritto da David Halberstam è però materiale che consiglierei soprattutto agli appassionati di basket, perché non è solo una biografia di Michael Jordan, ma un racconto dell’evoluzione che la stessa NBA ha vissuto negli anni di attività di "Air". Si ripercorre la vita della sua stella più luminosa, ma l'autore si prende anche del tempo (e delle pagine) per raccontare i compagni di squadra, l’allenatore, i dirigenti dei Chicago Bulls, dell’NBA, gli avversari e le squadre che hanno reso avvincenti le sfide di quegli anni d’oro. Ecco, pur essendo appassionato di basket, forse avrei apprezzato qualche capitolo in meno.

Questa e altre recensioni nella mia newsletter mensile sui libri: https://bit.ly/ponzabook

[Giuliarum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sono una fan dell’NBA, nonché del grandissimo atleta conosciuto come Micheal Jordan ed è stato interessante immergermi nella descrizione di una carriera così entusiasmante (carriera che purtroppo non ho potuto seguire sulla mia pelle e che potrò recuperare solo da vecchi filmati, reportages e libri).
Si parte dalle radici nella Carolina del Nord e si arriva sino alla vetta del sesto anello, passando per ogni singola sfida che MJ abbia affrontato.
È una lettura da intraprendere, se si è stati colpiti dalla docuserie targata Netflix, “The last dance”.
Tratterrete il respiro, esulterete e piangerete insieme a questo grande campione, mentre le pagine scorrono veloci, quasi volando all’altezza di Mr. Airness.
Sicuramente, completerò questo approfondimento con altre letture, per non avere un solo ed unico punto di vista.

[James Gisler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it is because I just finished watching the amazing “Last Dance” documentary about the Bulls, but this book was disappointing to me. It felt like many of the same stories, but told poorly in comparison. It also seemed to float around a bit without much connection. It felt kind of like a fan boy account trying to sound like a sportswriter. I’d give it a 2.5, but because I think this was below average I’ll give it a 2.

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Jordan. A god ball in hands. An exceptional athlete and icon. A 'superstar' whose career goes beyond the small world of basketball to reach a whole era, incarnate a whole culture.

In 'Playing for Keeps', the historian and journalist David Halberstam, with passion and genius, has the talent to retrace more than the biography of the player -he also shows how the man, in his own way, personified the rapid changes of a society who shaped him to turn him into a God of sports and money. The thing is, turning professional in 1984, Michael Jordan, besides his incredible skills on the courts benefited also from an advantage his predecessors (Larry Bird, Magic Johnson...) didn't have: he came out of age, as a player, during the 1980s. It matters.

In a book which is as intelligent as it is detailed, Halberstam indeed shows himself instructive as much about how professional sports evolved during the past decades as he is about the triumphing capitalism fuelling it. Fans can rest assured -of course he retells the journey of the player, the big moments of his careers, from the kid in North Carolina to the Chicago Bulls (a tumultuous saga by itself!). He even shed some lights upon those who made such success possible in the first place (family, coaches, teammates, agents...). But it's not what stroke me the most in here. What sets such read apart is that he goes beyond it all to explain the rise of the Jordan's cult, a man who will end up getting paid more than $40 millions on average just to play ball.

At a time when the NBA itself was in the midst of a revolution (new owners, new image, new politics), take a young player with an exceptional talent and just throw him into a frenetic globalisation, full up to the brim of American culture and where new medias serve more and more the cults of 'stars' whose salaries are increasing exponentially, and you'll have all the ingredients indeed to birth a legend. ESPN, Nike, McDonald and other leading companies embodying triumphing profit-making will do the rest -thanks to them a player will transcend his sport to become an icon, the symbol of a whole culture that Halberstam displays with brio and relevance.

Fascinating, this perspective, besides being the retelling of the exceptional career of a basketball genius, adds a particular interest to a must-read which will no doubt please every fan. The only regret is that, published in 1999 (after Jordan's second retirement) it ends with the 1997-98 season. Such ending surely is epic (the Bulls' victory against the Utah Jazz!), but there's nothing about his return in 2001 and his following career with Washington (Halberstam died in 2007, he could have expended it). Nevertheless, here's a masterpiece of a biography! Brilliant.

[Joseph Stieb · Rating 5 out of 5]

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-racialness/colorblindness, 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 · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 quest 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 equal parts magic and grit. I'd like to explore similar books for Kareem and LeBron but I finished this book feeling more strongly than ever that Jordan is the G.O.A.T.

[José Volta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a Michael Jordan aficionado, you HAVE to read this book. If you are a basketball fan, you HAVE to read this book. If you simply enjoy sports, you should definitely read this book. If you are none of the above, I would say to you: read this book. David Halberstam's ability to get you hooked is amazing. His writing is simple while managing to be so rich on vocabulary and figures of speech. That's what struck me the most, how articulate, smooth, clean and simple his writing is. True writing skills of one of the greatest journalists ever. Even for a huge MJ fan like me, every story told on this book had a new detail that I've never read or knew before. Truly a pleasant read, I'll definitely be looking for other books from him.

[Douglas Biggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Halberstam is my favorite historical writer period. No kne writes so well, so smoothly, somehow with empathy but without judgement about so many different people and events and this book is the definitive history of Jordan through his first retirement, as much as I loved The Last Dance, this is infinitely superior.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible character study that highlights why Michael Jordan was so special. One of the best books I’ve ever read but dinged a star because the ending was a little too abrupt and needed more time to breath.

[Chema Caballero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen libro, quizá faltan más detalles en algunas historias

[Nick Verna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Halberstam is great. Almost as good as The Breaks of the Game.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having already read the Lazenby biography of Jordan probably made me downgrade this book one star. Halberstam's version is more focused on the environment that Jordan lived/worked in, as opposed to Lazenby's more Jordancentric version, so it grants some additional insight into the pieces making up Jordan's world.

There wasn't much new for me about Jordan in this book, but lots of new stuff about the different persons moving in and out of Jordan's life. The problem is that the supporting cast isn't as interesting as the main figure, which makes me prefer the Lazenby book.

Still an okay read and it got a bit better towards the end. Would probably have given it 3.5 stars if possible.

[SERGIO NOGUERA BONED · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5*

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Jordan may be one of the, if not the, greatest basketball players of all time and in this book, Halberstam brings even casual fans (and perhaps most of all them given some or even many of the individual stories may be known to regular basketball followers) into the world of Jordan and the Bulls and by extension the growth of the NBA. An interesting read without being overly technical, perhaps more ruthless editing and pruning may have made it an even stronger book in being more concise, but perhaps this feels like being overly critical.

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blame it on "The Last Dance": I revisited this fantastic book about Michael Jordan because the fantastic 10-part documentary on ESPN had me thinking "wait, didn't David Halberstam cover a lot of the ground of this in his book?" Yes, yes he did. But where the film gives us the different participants some years after, this book, written during the last season Jordan suited up for the Bulls (and before he suited up for the Wizards, coming out of retirement) was written in the moment, with the "right now" sense of importance of what was coming to an end. Halberstam, one of the best writers of non-fiction ever to appear in American literary history, gives us a detailed look at Michael Jordan's career arc from talented player elevating a so-so Bulls team in the late Eighties to a team player learning to trust his cohorts in their quest for six championships (three-peats both cycles). If anything, this book should be the companion to the "Last Dance" film, but it's certainly one worth seeking out if you're watching the film and wanting to know more.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Halberstam is to writing sports books the way Robert Caro is to biographies. He was just so much better at it that it almost doesn't seem fair when others attempt it. While Playing for Keeps is not quite as strong as The Breaks of the Game, it's still great. What makes Halberstam's work so good is that he doesn't just profile one subject--Michael Jordan--rather he presents a story of the late 1980s and 1990s NBA. This includes whole chapters that are about the rise of Nike, David Falk, the 1986 Celtics, and a host of other subjects that a normal biography would not spend much time explaining or thinking about. The result is that Michael Jordan becomes interesting context to which you can view the rest of what's going on in basketball over a roughly 20 year period.

The only other caveat on this book is that if you already read the recent biography of Jordan that came out in the last year or two you may find some of these parts repetitive.

[Vitalijus Sostak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a basketball fan in any way (in fact, not a sports guy at all), but reading about Michael Jeffrey Jordan achievements one cannot help but to be impressed.
This book is a goldmine for basketball aficionados - so many details about players, coaches, games, drafts, training regimes etc. that it sometimes was too much for a layman to grasp and appreciate. Otherwise, it's a beautiful Jordan's biography that mainly focuses on his NBA years.

Intense, motivating reading.

"He was a great player with the best work ethics [in NBA], which was why he always rose above everyone else [in important games]".

[Dante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book about Michael Jordan will struggle for material which hasn't been covered and analyzed exhaustively, and Halberstam's is no different. Nevertheless, this is probably the best overview of Michael Jordan's career (excluding his Washington Wizards years, which took place after this book was published). Given Halberstam's historian's take on things, this book is best in describing how Jordan influenced (and was influenced by) the cultural and business trends of the times. I'd highly recommend it to any Bulls fan (or basketball enthusiast in general).

[RYD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether he is writing about the quagmire of Vietnam, Balkan peacekeeping, Olympic rowers or Michael Jordan, David Halberstam is great.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. 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.