“The Jordan Rules” is a saying cemented in NBA folklore. From the book itself to the tales and controversy, it dragged out of the darkness and into the light, every avid NBA fan has their take on the Jordan rules. While the Bulls were winning championships, there was a plethora of dirty little secrets hiding under the cover, and once the book was released in 1991, it pulled back the curtain on what was really going on with one of the greatest up-and-coming dynasties in league history, and these had adverse effects on what the Bulls were building.
Not to be confused with the physical play that the Detroit Pistons inflicted on MJ, “The Jordan Rules” was a bombshell book published by Sam Smith that covered the 1990-1991 Bulls to the extent no book has ever accomplished since.
Dirty laundry
When Chicago was crowned NBA champions in 1991, they were the darlings of the NBA community and were led by the best player in the world, Michael Jordan, who happened to be transforming into a global icon. However, the admiration was momentarily put on hold as large pockets of the NBA world were exposed to 378 pages of pure, unfiltered rawness on their hero, who was painted in an unflattering light as a terrible teammate and uncoachable star.
Often, Jordan was at the heart of all the controversial chronicles, and while he didn’t deny his negative actions when asked about the book, he did offer his perspective on how it was portrayed.
“I think a lot of misconception was coming from that book. With all the different encounters that we supposedly had or I had with certain players, you never saw the recovery from those incidents. If Horace (Grant) and I get into argument, hey, when we stepped on the basketball court, we were teammates. I passed him the ball; he passed me the ball, we smiled, we complement each other,” he said.
Pushing through the drama
Despite the black dye it cast over the Bull’s success in 1991, what was abundantly clear was it didn’t affect their ability to overcome it all and climb the mountain time after time.
The unfamiliar public scrutiny at a time when social media didn’t exist was largely unprecedented, and it could have broken Jordan, but he, too, put it all behind him and focused on what he could control on the court.
“We as a team have grown to just push the book aside and say, ‘hey, we’re a team that was very successful last year. Turbulent season? No. If it was a turbulent season in terms of what we’ve accomplished last year, please, let us have another one.’ I think we’re all united to the point where we will not let that book affect our personal relationships as basketball teammates,” he added.
Needless to say, it resulted in forming the greatest dynasty in sports, and when objectively looking at the situation, it seemed impossible that the Bulls could ever ascend to such heights, let alone stay there for the best part of a decade.