NBA.Craig Hodges, when talking has a price
NBA.The truth about Michael Jordan's most controversial phrase: "Republicans also buy sneakers"
There are many books on Michael Jordan.
About his career in the NBA, about each of his six titles, about the Olympic gold in Barcelona, about his two retirements, about his family, about his years at the University of North Carolina, about his life after basketball ... Writings, documentaries, films ... Everything to try to understand the personal and sporting life of the best basketball player of all time.
So what has 'Michael Jordan: The Life' (editorial geoPl
aneta) to be considered the great biography of the number 23 of the Chicago Bulls, also the basis of the ESPN and Netflix documentary 'The Last Dance' ?: "There was not a complete, comprehensive and independent biography that saw his life through the broad cultural context that it demanded, "explains its author, Roland Lazenby, to EL MUNDO, who covered Jordan's career for thirty years, from his first steps in Carolina to the last consequences of his retirement in 1998. Three decades in which he was witness of the evolution, the virtues and the defects of one of the great personalities of the last century.
"I think Michael had been pushed away from his own legacy by the needs of marketing. There were many things about his life and the life of his family that had no explanation," Lazenby sums up.
How would you define the transformation that Michael experienced as a person and as a basketball player?
He went from being an ordinary boy to what I have come to call the visible face, the god of a global marketing empire.
He also became an extreme and deeply confident competitor.
Also, it flew.
His fury at attacking the basket and doing so many other things during a game and the time he was out of it lured the audience and his fans.
What was Michael Jordan like before joining his first basketball team at the Laney High School?
He was a lost and frustrated young man.
His family was very concerned about his ability to earn a living or even to find friends.
This book inspired the television documentary "The Last Dance." How much have all the texts, books, iconic photographs and documentaries made about him helped Michael Jordan?
Oh, I think they have contributed enormously, especially the televised games, the photographs, the marketing and the publicity.
To a certain extent, the books too.
They all built an image that has been hugely profitable for Jordan and his business partners.
The sporting exploits and divine charisma exuded by his performances and his images of each game turned Michael Jordan into "Jesus Christ."
That's what they called him at the United Center in Chicago.
"Jesus".
As Tim Hallan, director of public relations for the Illinois franchise, tells in 'The Life' and one of the closest men, also by position, to the figure of '23'.
"He was a God who walked the Earth among mere mortals. His abilities seemed from another world," says Lazenby.
What was Michael Jordan's best game?
There have been so many ... So many ... But Game 6 of the Finals against Utah in 1998 was huge.
He consolidated and condensed years of public opinion emotions about Jordan into one sequence, one image.
All his battles with Jerry Krause (General Manager of the Bulls), the drama around him ... Everything.
In the summer of 1990, two years before the Barcelona Olympic Games, Nike wanted to get as much profit as possible from its great ambassador and sent Jordan on a tour of Europe, with stops in Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom. Kingdom and Spain.
At his side was Sonny Vaccaro, the representative who was key in Jordan's signing with the brand in 1984 and who accompanied the '23' throughout his journey through the Old Continent.
In 'The Life', Lazenby explains the details of the trip and how important those stops in the big European cities were for Jordan.
In the two days he was in Barcelona, in addition to promoting his image, he had time to try a one-on-one golf course with Severiano Ballesteros (without success, since the Spaniard was playing a tournament) and to play a friendly match with the great players of the ACB.
He played 28 minutes, scored 37 points and fell in love with the public at the Palacio de los Deportes in Barcelona and La 2 de Televisión Española, which broadcast the match.
You say in the book that "that trip marked a subtle and profound personal transformation for Jordan."
Do you think it was on that trip that Jordan and his people realized the commercial and economic possibilities they had outside the United States?
That journey was part of that transformation process, of course, because Vaccaro and Jordan were there to experience and see it personally.
And to reinforce it.
It kept happening without their presence, but their participation in that visit helped them gain clarity and momentum.
He connected the marketing with the marketing motive, him.
It may sound abstract until you see things unfold after that.
This "development of things" is summarized in that in 1990 the only thing that Jordan had achieved in the NBA was the MVP of the 1987-1988 season, nothing more.
The Detroit Pistons of Isiah Thomas, their great rivals, had defeated them on three consecutive occasions, and it was not until 1991 that they managed to beat them.
From there, six titles, six Finals MVPs and four more season MVPs.
Many of Jordan's critics argue that Michael was only able to start winning when Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson got older or retired.
What did Jordan think about this?
Do you think that in his prime Michael would have beaten them all?
Yes. He was getting younger and stronger, and they were older and their teams were getting weaker.
He accelerated his retirements in some respects, especially that of the Pistons.
In the book he also mentions Jordan's retirement and his attempt to be a baseball player.
What do you think about the conspiracy theories surrounding Jordan's decision to leave the NBA, his gambling and gambling problem, and the favorable treatment that league commissioner David Stern may have had with him?
I think those problems with the game were turning into real problems, but the real reason for his retirement and his move to baseball was that Michael was mourning the murder of his father.
It was a tough experience that finally broke his will to continue in basketball.
In sports, today there is a lot of talk about the mental problems of athletes, mental health, the pressure to which they are subjected, the psychological work that must be done with them ... How do you think this translates into a star of sports like Michael Jordan?
How many times did you want to isolate yourself from the world and disappear?
According to George Mumford, a Bulls psychologist, those feelings were a regular, daily part of Jordan's life for much of his playing career.
However, he did not express them in public because he did not want to show weakness to his opponents.
Craig Hodges, Jordan's former teammate, has also published a book to tell his story.
In it, he talks about how Michael didn't want to get involved in social problems.
Do you think Jordan regrets not having acted more or that it was commercially and financially convenient for him not to comment on certain topics?
Why do you think he does it now?
I think he's sorry.
I think that's why he's trying so hard now, but I also understand why he wasn't so involved.
What do you think of Jordan's work in front of the Hornets?
At the sports level, the results are not as expected, but how would you define your work on a social and economic level?
Do you think Jordan is happy with that?
I think Jordan wants to win, but it is very difficult in Charlotte.
It has greatly improved the business and the stability of the franchise in the city.
Jordan was unusual in the way he approached competition and sport.
He was inflexible, and there are few if any players like that today.
The game in the NBA and everything related to it has changed dramatically.
You also wrote 'The Life of Kobe Bryant'.
What parallels have you found between the Kobe and Jordan stories?
His style of play, his work ethic, his iron will and his desire to win.
Be willing to do the crazy work that makes winning possible.
What was your reaction to Bryant's death?
What do you think you would have achieved in your life after basketball?
I felt immense shock and sadness.
I still feel it.
Kobe was on his way to becoming the most ardent champion in the game.
When he died, basketball lost perhaps its greatest lover.
And that is remarkable because it is a sport deeply loved by many.
To continue reading for free
Sign inSign up
Or
subscribe to Premium
and you will have access to all the web content of El Mundo
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more