‘Playing for Keeps’ tells story behind Jordan

BOOK NOTES by Joan Ruddiman

   It is rare in our age of spin doctors and sound bites to read a thoughtfully detailed account about the story behind the story.
   Not surprisingly, the author who is capable of such an analysis is David Halberstam, who has been awarded "every major journalistic award, including the Pulitzer Prize," according to his bio notes. He brings these skills to bear on examining the man, the myth and the media machine – Michael Jordan.
   The Jordan legacy was revived when his old coach, Phil Jackson, now with the Lakers, took another NBA championship. Halberstam was probably not surprised.
   Two themes play out in Halberstam’s lengthy book. Both are encapsulated in this title.
   First, "Playing for Keeps" succinctly defines Jordan’s character. The second, "Michael Jordan and the World He Made," is the relation of Jordan to basketball, which Halberstam sees as a profoundly changed game due to a convolution of variables. Like the historian he is, Halberstam supports these two themes with step-by-step analysis of facts in the context of time and culture.
   The book is no homage to Michael Jordan – it is not intended to be. That Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever seen to this date is not hyperbole but part of the author’s carefully crafted defense of this twin theses. No one beats Jordan; he drives himself and everyone around him to win.
   Then this extraordinary talent (with the great good looks and savvy intelligence he also possesses in abundance) fuels the brushfires of upstart Nike and ESPN, which turn the NBA into a bonfire of vanities.
   The book is not in any way a traditional biography. Chapters move from current to past and in-between as Halberstam builds his case. Much is told about Dean Smith, Jordan’s legendary coach at North Carolina, and Phil Jackson, the coach of the Bulls’ glory days. Jerry Krause, the Bulls’ general manager, is critically scrutinized.
   In understanding Jordan, one must understand the people who shaped him. Parents James and Deloris Jordan make appearances, more to substantiate facts already seen. But Jordan’s wife Juanita is given about three lines. This is not about the private Michael, but the very public man who transformed the game.
   A recurring theme that Halberstam seems to make is that Michael and his world were formed on initiative and innovation more than innate talent. The famous story of Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team reflects a clever, albeit clumsily handled catalyst to bring an undersized, underdeveloped high school player along. One more year in JV gave Jordan a chance to hone his skills, grow four inches and simmer. He always played hard, but thereafter even more so, never forgetting the sting of that cut.
   His intensity was recognized early on. Challenges drove him up, not out. Later Coach Dean Smith handled him in a similar way. Though he played as a freshman, highly unusual in the Carolina system, Coach Smith nixed a "Sports Illustrated" cover with the words, "You haven’t done anything yet to deserve a cover." Jordan took the initiative and went on to earn many covers.
   Jordan’s play was also innovative. In high school he already was trying some moves that many Michael wannabes would later emulate. He was attracted to the same innovative, high-flying risk-takers in business.
   Nike won him over with its unconventional approach in marketing him, versus the conservative Converse sneaker company. James Jordan summed the negotiations with Converse by observing that he saw "no creative ideas." The clever ad campaign with Spike Lee was the brainchild of a Portland, Ore., ad agency that was given free rein to create the Michael image. They beat out the staid Chiat/Day firm of New York City.
   Two of the most influential men in Michael’s professional life are presented in this light of being out of the mainstream, and therefore open to seeing greater possibilities. David Falk, Jordan’s agent, was a pup in the backyard of life when Dean Smith nudged Jordan his way. Together, Falk and Jordan shifted the power paradigm in the NBA from owner to player/agent control. The era of multi-million dollar salaries had begun.
   The reader is treated to detailed analysis of Jordan’s coaches. Some, like Dean Smith, obviously shaped the adult Michael Jordan. Others he encountered in the NBA learned more from him than they offered to him. Then there was Phil Jackson. Halberstam’s intent seems to be to contrast Jackson’s offbeat philosophy and coaching style with what most coaches do to and with their players.
   There is no denying Jordan’s greatness. As Fernando Martin from Spain’s’ team so simply expressed in halting English when asked about Jordan’s performance after an Olympic rout, "Michael Jordan? Jump, jump, jump. Very quick. Very fast. Very, very good. Jump, jump, jump."
   His charismatic smile broke down racial barriers, and made him a wealthy man in front of cameras in a business suit, as well as in his basketball uniform. His savvy in dealing with players, coaches, management and entrepreneurs is as great as his jump shot.
   But he didn’t do it alone. Jordan is the proverbial guy in the right place at the right time. Nascent ESPN, Nike’s foray into the basketball market, free agency in the NBA, even the baseball strike, all worked in his favor as he added the spark they needed to get fired up.
   Halberstam has written much more than a sports book. "Playing for Keeps" is social history (money, politics, mass media that motivates the world) and human psychology (the sprit that motivates man). He dissects the genius of Jordan, allowing the reader to comprehend how such genius is defined, discovered and nurtured and how, ultimately, it redefines its word.
Joan Ruddiman is a teacher and member of the Allentown Library Board.