Chapter 6: "The Greatest Endorser of the Twentieth Century" or "An Insidious Form of Imperialism"?

The Bulls did not win the NBA Championship the year he returned, and a new wave of players entered the league to challenge Jordan. Jordan responded by working hard to retool his game - he knew he was not as athletic as he once was, so he focused on beating teams with his jump shot. It proved successful, as he one his eighth scoring title in 1995-1996 and led the Bulls to a title while setting a regular season record with 72 wins and only 10 losses. He then beat the Utah Jazz for two straight years in the finals to complete his second 3-peat of NBA Championships. With his last shot being the game-winner to clinch the title in '98, he retired from basketball after that season.

Of course everyone knows now that he came back for a second time, playing with the Washington Wizards. by the time he retired in 1998, however, he cemented his status in the league, the US, and the rest of the world. Right after his second retirement in 1998, Fortune Magazine estimated that he had a $10 billion dollar impact on the US economy, but the number was far greater when including the entire world he affected. He was perfectly matched with the time he was in, as "nearly everyone who had been pulled into Jordan's orbit was sucked in by television", and all of the new technology of the times. He influenced people and economies in all regions, including countries in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe, which I experienced personally living in Austria. There is no doubt that Jordan stood alone as the most popular sports and commercial figure in the world.

Chapter 5: A Faustian Bargain

Michael Jordan's reputation kept taking hits in 1992, as he had to testify in the case of the drug-dealer James Bouler, whom Jordan was associated with. Jordan admit to lying to the press about a $57000 check to Bowler, which had to do with his gambling addiction. He said he lied because he wanted to "save the embarrassment and pain" of such a "connection to gambling". With the help of his successes on the court, however, Jordan kept his hero status. He pushed the Bulls through the playoffs, stirring up more controversies like when he gambled late into the night in Atlantic City before a game against the New York Knicks. He was also fined $25000 by David Stern for ignoring the press after the incident. His performance never took a hit though, and he beat New York and then the Phoenix Suns in the finals, setting an NBA record by averaging 41 points per game in the last series.

Then, in July of 1993, Jordan's father, James, was murdered by two teenagers during a robbery. Jordan was heartbroken, and promptly announced his retirement form basketball, saying he had nothing more to prove in the sport. Another shocking move came when he signed with the Chicago White Sox, specifically their Double-A team. His skill level was clearly not at the major league level, and he struggled mightily in Double-A. Nevertheless, he continued making millions of dollars a month from his endorsements. After less than 2 years away from basketball, Jordan returned to the Bulls, and soon showed he was still at the top of his game when he beat the Knicks with 55 points in his first week back. Nike, and the rest of the world, were happy to see him back on the court, and they showed it by continuing to buy their products, including Jordan's new #45 jersey, which he wore in honor of his late father.

Chapter 4: New Frontiers - And Inner Cities

By 1992, both Jordan and Nike started to come under fire in the form of accusations about the exploitation of employees around the world, especially in poorer countries. Another issue was that there were many killings that happened simply over Air Jordan sneakers, which of course did not help Nike and Jordan's rep as well. Furthermore, Jordan's criticisms were raised to another level, when it was found out that he might very well have an addiction to gambling. It was publicized that he frequently bet extremely large sums of money in games of cards or golf. Although, he was never accused of a crime, he was linked to several people of questionable backgrounds, to say the least, including a known drug dealer.

The second part of the chapter dealt mostly with Asia, and specifically China. With the largest population in the world, China presented endless opportunities for the spreading of the Nike and Jordan brand; however, there were many obstacles there as well. One big one was the tension there with the Communist government. They even kicked out the American news network CNN after they began publicizing ruthless imprisonments and killings at the hands of the Communist leaders. Still, with all of these issues, Chinese plants quickly became Nike's fastest growing production source. Nike founder Phil Knight once remarked: "There's no telling what can happen to the business if China truly catches on". Well, as we know from China's booming industry today, China did continue to catch on and move up the ladder in terms of global economies.

Chapter 3: Bittersweet Championships

In 1989, Time Magazine called Jordan the "hottest player in America's hottest sport". Besides Nike, Jordan was endorsing huge companies such as Gatorade, McDonald's, Chevrolet, and Coca-Cola. He was earning $25 million a year, but only $4 million of them came from his NBA salary. Everyone wanted to be like him, but there was still one glaring thing missing from his resume: an NBA championship. Jordan finally got the supporting cast he needed to get him through to the finals, and in 1991, he finally got his ring when he beat Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers to win the title.

At this time, Jordan and Nike were also expanding across the world, reaching levels of fame and popularity that had never been come close to before. From Europe to Asia to Africa, everyone wanted a piece of Michael Jordan, whether it was by watching him on television or buying his shoes. At this point, however, there were some negative happenings that came up due to the overwhelming fame of Jordan. It got to the point where he viewed basketball as an escape from all the craziness, and he took every opportunity he got to get away from people - he even skipped out on a team visit to the White House. As a result of this, the media began to be more skeptical of Jordan, which did not make him any happier, needless to say. Although his successes on the court continued, things would only get worse off it...

Chapter 2: The Globalization of Michael Jordan

This chapter chronicled the rise of Michael Jordan not only as a star athlete, but also as a global icon, which paralleled the rise of his main endorsement company, Nike. When Jordan came to the Chicago Bulls in 1984, the franchise was not doing well at all. They were one of the worst teams in the league. They generally filled up only a third of their arena, and the franchise was worth less than 19 million dollars. As soon as Jordan arrived, however, he began improving the team and filling up seats with through his dazzling performances on the court. Within his first ten years with the Bulls, they won multiple NBA Championships, easily sold out the arena each game, and the franchise became worth more than $190 million.

Phil Knight founded the Nike company in the 1960s. It took them several decades, but eventually Nike would dominate its markets by exhibiting all of the new corporate characteristics that came about during that time, most significantly the fact that they appealed not only to Americans, but the entire global population. They even got to the point where most of their products were manufactured outside of the U.S. Nike made a smart move when they immediately went after Jordan to endorse their products, in particular sneakers. They realized how popular he would become and how much of an impact he could have on people around the globe, and they were right. Through this collaboration, Jordan became the most popular and well-known athlete around the world, and everyone wanted to wear his shoes, which made Nike's profit sky-rocket as well. I myself can attest to Jordan's and Nike's influence on the globe, as I grew up a basketball fan in Austria. As a child, I could not get enough of Michael Jordan, and of course if I wanted the best shoes and sports gear, they would have to come from Nike, because I automatically associated it with Jordan.

Chapter 1: A Century of Preparation

In the the beginning of the first chapter, the author, Walter LaFeber quickly dove into Michael Jordan's beginnings/background, in order to show and create an understanding for how he was able to initiate this "New Global Capitalism", as the title of the book states. LaFeber wrote about Jordan’s childhood, how he was only an average basketball player until he was an upperclassman in high school, where the combination of hard work, a growth spurt and newly acquired athleticism began molding him into the player we all know. LaFeber then focused on Jordan’s freshman year at the University of North Carolina, in which Jordan hit the game-winning shot in the NCAA tournament final and helped UNC win the national title. After the game, UNC Assistant Coach Eddie Fogler was quoted as saying that “people will remember that shot 25 years from now”. Although Jordan’s career would include dozens of moments like these, in which he came through in the “clutch” and won games/titles for his team, it is true that the shot he hit as a freshman at UNC is still fondly remembered by all almost 30 years later, as it is considered by many (and by Jordan himself) to have been the start of the legend of Michael Jordan.

The second half of the chapter delved into the origins and beginnings of basketball. It was amazing to read this and hard to believe, but James Naismith really did invent the game simply for his physical education class, and to keep kids occupied and “out of trouble” between football and baseball seasons. The game immediately spread like wildfire and attracted both men and women – in fact, the first tournament was a women’s tournament that was held only a few months after Naismith came up with the basics of the game. Unfortunately, there were soon many controversies started around women playing basketball, as it was not considered “lady-like”, especially with the way they dressed for the games (shorts and uniforms).

Not surprisingly, the issue of race and segregation came into play soon as well. As the game of basketball spread across the nation, people soon discovered that a lot of money could be made by making this game into a spectator sport and creating professional teams and leagues. For a long time, however, black basketball players and teams were excluded from these leagues, so they had to create their own teams and play independently. This was how teams such as the Harlem Renaissance and Globetrotters came to be, and they often attracted even more people than the main leagues, as many of their players were better than the players in the leagues (before the NBA, there was the NBL and BAA). Even the great UCLA Coach John Wooden, who coached some of the best college basketball teams of all time, once said that the Harlem Renaissance was the greatest team he ever saw. Eventually, these players were invited into the professional leagues, and many were able to bring the game to a whole new level. They also paved the way for players like Jordan to have such a great impact and influence on sports and society.