What about the ways in which people see athletes, and the way athletes have power within the sport, particularly within basketball? The so-called player-empowerment era. Nobody has changed anything because of LeBron James. LeBron’s a big figure and a great player, and he has an influence in society, but it didn’t change anything. I remember friends of mine would be in Russia, and they sent me home these nesting dolls-the Bulls with Jordan and Pippen-things you would never see anywhere else. Nobody thought it mattered if you put a player’s name on a sneaker.īill Walton tells this story: Nike came to him and said, “We’d like to produce this sneaker, the Bill Walton sneaker.” And Bill said, “Who’s going to buy sneakers because my name’s on it? It’s ridiculous.” Jordan comes along and endorses it. Nobody thought that sneakers would be a fashion statement back in the early nineteen-eighties. I’ve never seen anybody skipping down in the commercials, saying, “Be like LeBron.” Obviously, it was commercial and marketing and all, but Jordan changed so much in the world and society-the long shorts, the shaved head, and, obviously, the sneakers. In terms of being an influencer, if that’s the word we’re going to use, I think LeBron is similar in certain ways. He’s an influencer, as they say these days. That he’s just not only a basketball player. I had written three books on him, “There Is No Next”-the title referring to the idea that there was Kobe and LeBron and all these “next Jordans.” I just wanted to make the case that there is no next Jordan-this is the last in the mold, because of his impact in the world and society, and just beyond basketball. I knew they were doing these interviews over more than a year, which was fine. I wasn’t sure they would, though.ĭid you hear anything from the director about what Jordan felt about your being interviewed? I was around, basically, through Jordan’s entire career, so I guess they had to get around to me eventually. Other than being interviewed, other than being furniture, no. His most recent book is “ Hard Labor: The Battle That Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA.” During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed his relationship with Jordan over the past three decades, his problems with the documentary, and whether a book like “The Jordan Rules” could be written today.ĭid you have any role in the making of the documentary? I recently spoke by phone with Smith, who now writes for, the official Chicago Bulls Web site. The series, which arrived on Netflix on July 19th, does not present Jordan as flawless, but it was made with his oversight: Jordan gave the filmmakers exclusive rights to decades-old video, and he was given the opportunity to give notes on episodes. The abrasive demeanor originally chronicled in “The Jordan Rules” became a topic of conversation again this spring, when ESPN released “ The Last Dance,” a ten-part documentary series about Jordan’s life and career. Smith went on to write two more books about Jordan: “ Second Coming” and “ There Is No Next.” “The Jordan Rules” came to be known as an unvarnished look at one of the most famous athletes in the United States. Smith had spent many years writing for the sports section of the Chicago Tribune, and his book aired numerous stories about Jordan that had, until then, only circulated through rumors and gossip. The book documented the star’s hyper-competitive personality and frequently off-putting, egotistical behavior. In November, 1991, when the Chicago Bulls were in their second championship season of the decade, the journalist Sam Smith published “ The Jordan Rules,” an insider’s account of the previous season, in which Jordan won his first ring.
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