The Jordan Rules

The New York Times bestseller about the legendary basketball star's impact on the sport during his team's championship seminal season. With a new introduction by Sam Smith, NBA Hall of Fame columnist

A highly competitive force of nature, Michael Jordan's ambition and endurance drove him—and his Chicago Bulls teammates—to victory. After three years of consecutive losses to the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, the Bulls defeated them in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, paving the road to their first NBA championship.


In The Jordan Rules, award-winning sportswriter Sam Smith chronicles the season that gave birth to the legend, revealing how Jordan's personal drive for success caused conflict between him and his team, both players and management. Coach Phil Jackson and general manager Jerry Krause found themselves targets of Jordan's temperament and assertiveness on and off the court. Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Bill Cartwright share their experiences with a teammate who didn't engage in teamwork, keeping the ball to himself during important games to ensure he would become the Bulls' top scorer. It would fall to Coach Jackson to motivate and inspire Jordan and the Bulls to play together and earn their first title.


This is the essential behind the scenes story of how Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls made basketball history and became pop culture phenomenons.

"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