Table of Contents

IN

About the Author

Sam Smith was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune during the Chicago Bulls' 1991 championship season. He is a Brooklyn, New York, native with degrees in accounting from Pace University and in journalism from Ball State University. He has worked for Arthur Young and Co., the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, and States News Service in Washington, D.C. This is his first book.

Reviews

"The Jordan Rules ... might be the best sports book since Season on the Brink about Bob Knight."
- Chicago Sun-Times "Jordan boasts a wicked tongue, and not just when it's hanging out as he dunks ... [He] manages to blurt out enough in Smith's book to reveal his own narcis­sistic, trash-talking, obsessively competitive side."
- Newsweek "The Jordan Rules entertains throughout, but the most fun comes from just hanging out with the players. 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 "A riveting account ... what you want in a sports book: the behind-the-scenes stuff, a peek at the private side of the players, their hobbies and politics and religion, the way they get along or don't ... It's fair to compare The Jordan Rules with the campaign books that appear after every presidential race ... The difference is not only that The Jordan Rules explains more persuasively than most of the campaign chronicles how the winner was decided--it's that it does so more interestingly and with more understand­ing of the human heart."
- Fred Barnes, The American Spectator "Revealing ...with often-evocative glimpses of players, coaches and on-court tactics."
- Chicago Tribune "Thorough and funny and engaging ... Anecdotes and asides ... give a true flavor of life with a professional sports franchise."
- Philadelphia Inquirer "Author Sam Smith shows you the other side of Jordan without malice, the side that is not slickly commercialized, or dramatically canonized according to hang time. Smith's book doesn't make Jordan out to be a bad guy or a tyrant. It simply makes him out to be mortal."
- Orlando Sentinel "In some ways, reading this book made me like Jordan more. Beyond the pull of his puppeteers, he is revealed as being human. He grows and is humbled ... "
- Sports Illustrated "Revealing and controversial ... Smith takes you through the championship season that, as it turns out, was a truly rocky journey."
- Chattanooga Times "AN EYE-OPENER."
- San Diego Tribune "Taking advantage of daily access to the Bulls, Smith takes the reader beyond the press-conscious statements usually heard through the media .... An excellent documentary on the Bulls' championship season."
- Kansas City Star "An engaging, sometimes cruelly funny behind-the-scenes look at the Bulls' tantrum-and doubt-filled but finally triumphant journey to the NBA title."
- New York Newsday "In context, Jordan actually comes off as a sympathetic mortal, which is no easy trick given his supernatural powers and Fort Knox bank account."
- People "The Jordan Rules tells the story of how a pro basketball team overcomes the handicap of having the greatest individual virtuoso in history as its centerpiece player. Even a Michael Jordan must learn how to pay attention to team dynamics."
- Boston Globe "You know it's gotta be certifiable, reliable, verifiable, authentic and every other synonym when Bulls GM Jerry Krause labels Smith's work 'mostly fiction.' That's a sure sign the writer has the drop on the situation ... There's nothing more controversial than the truth."
- Peter Yecsey, USA Today