How to Be Like Mike (30 page)

The greatest athletes can never relax their grip. This is why they so rarely retire gracefully. It can be a cruel fate for an athlete, but the truth is that there is no more admirable trait in a man than merely having great expectations for himself.

So I close this book as Michael Jordan ponders a comeback, as he asks himself how far he can carry
his
dream. How far will you carry
your
dream? We all have some of Michael Jordan lying dormant within us. All you have to do is release the weights that are holding you down; let go of the restraints that tie you in knots and keep you locked away from the
real
you— the you
wanting
to “be like Mike.”

AFTERWORD

By Michael Weinreb

The other night, I began watching the tail end of a nineteen-hour Michael Jordan Marathon on ESPN Classic. I saw Michael shoot over Bryon Russell in Game Six of the 1998 NBA Finals. I saw Michael’s gray pallor in Game Five of the 1997 Finals, the Sick Game. I saw Michael score thirty-five points in the first half in Game One of the 1992 Finals against Portland. I was lost. I was mesmerized. Michael toweled the sweat off his forehead. Michael shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

When I looked at the clock again, it was 4 A. M.

The weird thing was that watching it again made it all seem like it happened ages ago; it carries such historic context. “He is a slice of Americana now,” as
Chicago Tribune
columnist Bob Greene notes. “He’s one of those rare figures who dominated our culture. He pioneered the position. And there won’t be another one.”

And to think of all the time we spent chasing our own tail. The stories we wrote. The arguments we had:
The Next Michael is Grant Hill. The Next Michael is Jerry Stackhouse.
We assumed that The Next Michael was somewhere, gestating within the body of Tracy McGrady or Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant, that he was merely waiting for the proper moment to waggle his tongue and make himself seen.

Well, as Grant Hill wrote in the introduction to this book, that’s enough of that. Searching for The Next Michael is like looking for the next Enrico Caruso in a room full of lounge singers. It was a way of amusing ourselves until we came to the proper realization that the man you have just read about is not ever going to be replicated. Certainly, the next generation may show us flashes: a dizzying spin move, a dunk that leaves a lump in our throat, a blur of a crossover dribble; perhaps even a couple of NBA championship rings and the hint of a dynasty.

But The Next Michael Jordan? No. Uh-uh. Not going to happen.

I hope you have figured it out after eleven chapters, but let me repeat it:
This man is an anomaly
. The things he has done are stunning, but the things he
is
are equally admirable. He is a leader, a champion, a role model, a father, a teammate, a golfing buddy. He is one of the few figures to transcend the skepticism of my generation, a man whom no one would dare ridicule, whom no one would dare disrespect. He rises above our natural tendency toward cynicism, appealing even to those who favor their heroes on the fringes of society (see Dennis Rodman). We see his glistening bald head, his smooth skin, his sculpted body, his tailored suits, and we carry with us a picture of a graceful man with a monumental gift, a picture of perhaps one of the last of the great American icons.

It speaks a great deal that in doing fifteen hundred interviews for this book, Pat Williams received only four negative responses. Two were from autograph seekers, a group of people who will earn absolutely no sympathy from me. Two others were from sportswriters, a notoriously grumpy bunch. You will also note that we quoted dozens of sportswriters and autograph seekers who testified to Jordan’s equity with them. I challenge you to name one other celebrity who could elicit that type of response.

A radio commentator in Chicago recently referred to the head of Al Gore’s legal team, David Boies, as“the Michael Jordan of litigators.” When
Washington Post
reporter Michael Leahy passed this onto Jordan, he smiled and nodded. “The standard,” he said.

If anything, that’s why this story needs to be passed on to the next generation. Because we read the story of Jordan and the Sick Game and we push ourselves to work through our paltry midwinter colds. Because we read the stories of Jordan and his patience with handicapped children and we think twice the next time we come across a child with Down’s syndrome. Because this man is not normal. Because this man is the standard. If you get nothing else out of this book, I hope you realize that.

Lately, the question of another Jordan comeback has arisen. As I write this, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody except Jordan seems to know. But it’s funny. I have heard people say that he is too old, that he can’t compete, that he can’t lead his team to the play-offs, that he can’t carry a team on his back anymore. And every time I have this conversation, I imagine Michael Jordan in a gym somewhere, shooting free throw after free throw, working on a new jump shot, doing sets of bicep curls until he can barely breathe, and waiting for the proper moment to emerge from history, to show himself as the only Next Michael Jordan we will ever know.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the Orlando Magic, a franchise he cofounded in 1987. He is a veteran of thirty-three seasons in the National Basketball Association, serving as the general manager of the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic. Twenty-two of his teams have made the NBA play-offs, five have gone to the Finals, and in 1983 the Philadelphia 76ers won the NBA championship.

During his career Williams has traded Pete Maravich, traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Penny Hardaway, and drafted Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.

Prior to his involvement in the NBA, Pat spent seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, two years as a minor-league catcher and five in the front office. He also spent three seasons as an executive in the Minnesota Twins organization.

Williams is a 1962 graduate of Wake Forest University. He earned his master’s degree from Indiana University in 1964 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Flagler University in 1995.

Pat is one of America’s top motivational speakers. He speaks more than a hundred times a year and has addressed many of the Fortune 500 companies. He has authored twenty-two books on a wide range of subjects. His much anticipated autobiography,
Ahead of the Game,
was released in 1999.

Pat and his wife Ruth are the parents of nineteen children, including fourteen who are adopted from South Korea, the Philippines, Romania and Brazil. At one point, sixteen of the children were teenagers at the same time. Two of their sons are members of the United States Marine Corps and son Bobby is a coach in the Cincinnati Reds farm system.

Pat has completed eighteen marathons in the last six years, including six consecutive Boston Marathons. He is a Sunday school teacher, a Civil War buff, a weight lifter, and a serious baseball fan. Each winter Pat catches in Major League Baseball fantasy camps and like Michael Jordan, is always considering a comeback.

If you would like to contact Pat Williams directly or if you have a Michael Jordan story you would like to share, please call him on his private line at 407-916-2404 or e-mail him at
pwilliams@rdvsports. com
. Mail can be sent to the following address:

Pat Williams
c/o RDV Sports
8701 Maitland Summit Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32810

If you would like information regarding Pat Williams’s speaking engagements, please contact his assistant, Melinda Ethington. She can be reached at the above address or on her direct line at 407-916-2454. Requests can also be faxed to 407-916-2986 or e-mailed to
methington@rdvsports. com
.

LIST OF INTERVIEWS

I would like to make it clear that I did not interview Michael Jordan for this book. All of the Jordan quotes that appear within are pieced together from various sources. I did, however, interview virtually everyone else who had ever had a conversation with Michael Jordan. At last count, this list includes fifteen hundred people including eighty of Michael’s former Chicago Bulls teammates, coaches and staff, and most of his North Carolina teammates and coaches. I’ve heard a well-researched biography would involve between two hundred and four hundred interviews, but those who know me will vouch for the fact that I’ve always been given to overkill.

I did write Michael a letter of explanation as this book was being put together, and I believe I have reason to thank him. When I placed a call to his personal trainer, Tim Grover, he told me that he had an understanding with Michael: He would not talk about their relationship without Michael’s permission.

Five minutes later my phone rang.

“What do you want to know?” Grover said.

So thanks to everyone on this list. And thanks, especially, to the one person who is not on this list.

Current
NBA Players

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf

Tariq Abdul-Wahad

Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Cory Alexander

Ray Allen

John Amacchi

Derek Anderson

Kenny Anderson

Nick Anderson

Shandon Anderson

Greg Anthony

Darrell Armstrong

Ike Austin

Vin Baker

Dana Barros

Brent Barry

Jon Barry

Tony Battie

Corey Benjamin

David Benoit

Chauncey Billups

Corie Blount

Muggsy Bogues

Bruce Bowen

Shawn Bradley

Chucky Brown

Dee Brown

P. J. Brown

Randy Brown

Kobe Bryant

Mark Bryant

Jud Buechler

Matt Bullard

Scott Burrell

Jason Caffey

Marcus Camby

Elden Campbell

Chris Carr

Vince Carter

Sam Cassell

Kelvin Cato

Duane Causwell

Cedric Ceballos

Calbert Cheaney

Chris Childs

Doug Christie

Derrick Coleman

Bimbo Coles

Tyrone Corbin

Chris Crawford

John Crotty

Bill Curley

Dell Curry

Michael Curry

Erick Dampier

Antonio Daniels

Kornel David

Antonio Davis

Dale Davis

Hubert Davis

Terry Davis

Vinny Del Negro

Tony Delk

Vlade Divac

Sherman Douglas

Chris Dudley

Tim Duncan

Tyus Edney

Kevin Edwards

Howard Eisley

Mario Elie

Sean Elliott

LaPhonso Ellis

Pervis Ellison

Patrick Ewing

Jamie Feick

Danny Ferry

Michael Finley

Derek Fisher

Greg Foster

Rick Fox

Adonal Foyle

Todd Fuller

Lawrence Funderburke

Dean Garrett

Chris Gatling

Matt Geiger

Kendall Gill

Brian Grant

Gary Grant

Horace Grant

A. C. Green

Tom Gugliotta

Penny Hardaway

Tim Hardaway

Ron Harper

Othella Harrington

Lucious Harris

Antonio Harvey

Hersey Hawkins

Michael Hawkins

Alan Henderson

Cedric Henderson

Grant Hill

Tyrone Hill

Fred Hoiberg

Robert Horry

Alan Houston

Lindsey Hunter

Steven Hunter

Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Allen Iverson

Bobby Jackson

Jarren Jackson

Jimmy Jackson

Mark Jackson

Antawn Jamison

Avery Johnson

Earvin Johnson

Larry Johnson

Eddie Jones

Popeye Jones

Adam Keefe

Shawn Kemp

Steve Kerr

Jerome Kersey

Jason Kidd

Kerry Kittles

Brevin Knight

Travis Knight

Tony Kukoc

Christian Laettner

Voshon Lenard

Grant Long

Luc Longley

George Lynch

Don MacLean

Corey Maggette

Dan Majerle

Danny Manning

Stephon Marbury

Donyell Marshall

Darrick Martin

Jamal Mashburn

Anthony Mason

Tony Massenburg

Vern Maxwell

Walter McCarty

George McCloud

Antonio McDyess

Jeff McGinnis

Tracy McGrady

Jim McIlvaine

Derrick McKey

Aaron McKie

Ron Mercer

Darius Miles

Reggie Miller

Terry Mills

Sam Mitchell

Eric Montross

Alonzo Mourning

Lamond Murray

Tracy Murray

Dikembe Mutombo

Steve Nash

Johnny Newman

Moochie Norris

Charles Oakley

Hakeem Olajuwon

Jermaine O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal

Greg Ostertag

Bo Outlaw

Doug Overton

Billy Owens

Robert Pack

Cherokee Parks

Vitaly Patapenko

Gary Payton

Will Perdue

Sam Perkins

Elliott Perry

Wes Person

Eric Piatkowski

Paul Pierce

Scottie Pippen

Scott Pollard

Olden Polynice

Mark Pope

Terry Porter

Brent Price

Laron Profit

Theo Ratliff

Eldridge Recasner

Bryant Reeves

Don Reid

J. R. Reid

Glen Rice

Quentin Richardson

Mitch Richmond

Isaiah Rider

Cliff Robinson

David Robinson

Glenn Robinson

Larry Robinson

Carlos Rogers