Playing for Keeps

Michael Jordan and the World He Made

By: David Halberstam

Narrated by: JD Jackson

Length: 20 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

From a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes “the best Jordan book so far” (The Washington Post), the story of Michael Jordan’s legendary years with the Chicago Bulls, capped by the 1998 NBA Finals and the team’s second three-peat. 

From The Breaks of the Game to Summer of '49, David Halberstam has brought the perspective of a great historian, the insider knowledge of a dogged sportswriter, and the love of a fan to bear on some of the most mythic players and teams in the annals of American sports. With Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, he has given himself the greatest challenge and produced his greatest triumph. 

In Playing for Keeps, David Halberstam takes the first full measure of Michael Jordan's epic career, one of the great American stories of our time. A narrative of astonishing power and human drama, brimming with revealing anecdotes and penetrating insights, the audiobook chronicles the forces in Jordan's life that have shaped him in to history's greatest basketball player and the larger forces that have converged to make him the most famous living human being in the world.

©2012 David Halberstam (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"David Halberstam has written a remarkable book about the changes in American society over the last twenty-five years. On one level, it is about basketball and the game's greatest player, Michael Jordan. On another level, it is about how an entertainment culture envelops Jordan and makes him its own. But on its deepest level, it is a story about working to overcome the odds, honoring parents and family, and striving to become a positive social force. This book is a must read for basketball fans, admirers of Jordan, and anyone who seeks to understand sports in America today." (Bill Bradley)

If You Liked "The Last Dance," You Will Love This

This is a really great book for sports fans, and particularly for Michael Jordan fans. The book, which was written about 20 years ago, covers Jordan's life, including the North Carolina years. It provides an incredibly in depth look at Jordan, his teammates and coaches. For the Chicago Bulls years, it covers much of the same ground as the recent ESPN documentary "The Last Dance."

I'm not sure, but my guess is that this book was a primary source for a good part of "The Last Dance." The documentary even follows the basic organization of the book--going back and forth between championship years.

What the book offers is a much more in depth look at coaches and others in Jordan's life, including UNC coach Dean Smith. For all of Jordan's massive talent (and his incredible work ethic to become the best basketball player ever), we learn much more about the influence of his parents, his brother Larry, and Dean Smith, Roy Williams and other other coaches who helped launch his career.

The book also provides a more in depth look at the Bulls years and the people who shaped it, providing, for example, a somewhat more nuanced view of Jerry Krause than the documentary. The book includes informative vignettes on Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and other teammates, and, of course, Phil Jackson.

The narration is really good and the audiobook is well produced.

Excellent Companion for "The Last Dance"

I wanted to have a book that would give me more context while watching "The Last Dance" Jordan Documentary and this book exceeded my expectations! the depth of the content, how it goes beyond just MJ and explains the people around him, this book is everything you need to know about Jordan and the world around him. aside from being about Jordan's life from Carolina to Chicago, it also enlightened me about the NBA world around Jordan and how the world changed because of him

Excellent companion to the Last Dance

Author should get royalties from ESPN, as this great book was obviously template for documentary

For Jordan fanatics

This is the most detailed book on MJ I have ever read or heard. The narration is strong for the most part. I will say that it’s wild how many names he mispronounces. I don’t blame the narrator for that. It’s like nobody reviewed the audio to correct it.

Brings Back Memories

I grew up in Illinois watching Jordan and the Bulls. This book brought back so many good memories and brought to light what was taking place behind the scenes. I highly recommend this book.

Extraordinary

Once I started I found it difficult to stop. I had read other books on Jordan but this book not only tells his story but his extraordinary impact on the growth of the NBA.

Perfect for NBA nerds!

Perfect companion to nextflix's The Last Dance. Also give great detailed insights about the nba as on organization during the 80's and 90's

Excellent!

Excellent book for all fans of Jordan and Basketball itself. Amazing story through the years that Michael Jordan dominated the sports world.

To long

Long and not specifically about Michael Jordan. A lot of fluff about irrelevant stories. Pretty interesting but would not purchase again

Loved this book about MJ and the Bulls

Full disclosure, I grew up in Chicago and was in my late teenage years, then early 20's when the Bulls went into their two 3-peats. I also was listening to this book in correlation to the "Last Dance" document series on ESPN. This was so good to have both of these on at the same time. The doc touched on A LOT of this book, but this book just really dived into the content more. I remember discussing with family and friends who I was watching the doc with, "why" things happened that way or "how" this played out after because of the insight of this book. It was really well done by Halberstam. The narration by Jackson was also spot on. Overall, I really enjoyed this book thoroughly. It brought me back to those great Bulls teams & Chicago celebrations. Again, if you can watch the "Last Dance" and also listen to this book, in unison, it just makes the experience greater.

sublime

Love basketball? love beautiful writing? love Michael Jordan? then get it!
The reading was also very well performed. I loved it

Great Book for an Even Greater Player!

I enjoyed the narrator's voice but would like more celebrity or NBA celebrity narrator's in future releases.