Driven from Within

Author: Michael Jordan, Tinker Hatfield  

List Price: $35.00

Pages: 208

Publisher: Atria (October 24, 2005)

Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 1.0 inches

ISBN: 0743284003  

Jordan's book illustrates¹¹ the most important aspect of success -- call it "passion" or "desire" or "drive" -- it's that internal fire that compells a person to keep practicing, to keep perfecting, to keep going for "it" until the goal is achieved. When the work is not optional but the Only Option, everything in life takes on a different perspective -- and that is how dreams become statistics in the record books.

Book review

Michael Jordan was, of course, the greatest. But imagine if he hadn't been so lucky as to have such a nicely shaped head. Without the genius-level move of shaving it, premature¹² baldness may have dealt a real blow to his self-esteem at a crucial point early in his career. Look at Lew Alcindor's bald spot. Only Magic could rescue him. Or consider Clyde Drexler. Who knows if MJ would've gone on to win all those championships if he'd had to play with such a stigma¹³. (On the other end of the spectrum¹⁴, MJ's shaved head may have prevented him from being honest with himself about his age when he decided¹⁵ to return to basketball with the Washington Wizards.) . . . The sad reality is that there are many of us who can't just go ahead and shave our heads to hide our baldness: we'd look ridiculous. And toupees¹⁶ don't work either--as anyone who's read Russell David Harper's insubordinate rant¹⁷ called "Bald" would know.

Author introduction

Michael Jordan, the best known athlete in the world, is a leading scorer in the National Basketball Association (NBA), who led the Chicago Bulls to many recent NBA championships. He is, by far, and will be for a time to come, the best basketball player in the history of the game. Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina and as a freshman scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against the Hoyas of Georgetown. Jordan was selected college player of the year for the 1983-1984 season, and in 1984 he led the United States basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Jordan left college in 1984 to play with the Bulls. He finished his first season (1984-1985) as one of the top scorers in the league, with an average of 28.2 points per game. He was also named rookie of the year and made the first of his nine All-Star game appearances. Jordan finished the 1986-1987 season as the second player, after Wilt Chamberlain, to score more than 3000 points in a single season. He led the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons (1987-1993), tying Chamberlain's record, and averaged more than 30 points per game in each season. He also became the Bulls' all-time leading scorer and set numerous scoring records, including most points in a playoff game (63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986); and highest scoring average for an NBA championship series (41 points per game in the 1993 NBA finals). He led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship title in 1991; with Jordan, the Bulls won again in 1992 and 1993. In addition to his three league Most Valuable Player awards (1988, 1991, 1992), Jordan won the All-Star game MVP award twice (1988, 1996) and a record three-consecutive NBA championship series MVP awards (1991-1993). Jordan was also a member of the United States Olympic basketball team, known as the Dream Team, that captured the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Stating that he had lost his desire to play professional basketball, Jordan announced his retirement prior to the 1993-1994 season. Initially noted for his scoring, his tenacious defensive play had made him one of the greatest all-around basketball players in NBA history. He had also become a worldwide celebrity due to his success in the NBA and the Olympics, and his numerous commercial endorsements.