
Playing for Keeps
Michael Jordan and the World He Made
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Narrated by:
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JD Jackson
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By:
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David Halberstam
About this listen
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 AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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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)
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Story
Using portraits of America’s flawed policy makers and accounts of the forces that drove them, The Best and the Brightest reckons magnificently with the most important abiding question of our country’s recent history: Why did America become mired in Vietnam, and why did we lose? As the definitive single-volume answer to that question, this enthralling book has never been superseded. It is an American classic.
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Preparation for Ken Burns
- By Chiefkent on 06-12-17
By: David Halberstam
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Eleven Rings
- The Soul of Success
- By: Phil Jackson, Hugh Delehanty
- Narrated by: Matt Walton
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. This is the story of a preacher's kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time. Eleven times, Jackson led his teams to the ultimate goal: the NBA championship - six times with the Chicago Bulls and five times with the Los Angeles Lakers. This book is full of revelations.
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Listener Beware
- By Robert S. Wegener on 07-12-13
By: Phil Jackson, and others
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When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies.
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Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
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Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson
- By: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Roland Lazenby
- Length: 30 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, from the highly respected, career sportswriter and author of Michael Jordan: The Life.
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The Definitive Book on Magic
- By Hebern on 03-04-24
By: Roland Lazenby
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The Baseball 100
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 30 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
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Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
- By Matthew R. on 01-21-23
By: Joe Posnanski
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October 1964
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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David Halberstam, an avid sports writer with an investigative reporter’s tenacity, superbly details the end of the 15-year reign of the New York Yankees in October 1964. That October found the Yankees going head-to-head with the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series pennant. Expertly weaving the narrative threads of both teams’ seasons, Halberstam brings the major personalities on the field - from switch-hitter Mickey Mantle to pitcher Bob Gibson - to life. Using the teams’ subcultures, Halberstam also analyzes the cultural shifts of the '60s.
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an excellent baseball book
- By Joe H on 12-31-18
By: David Halberstam
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Showboat
- The Life of Kobe Bryant
- By: Roland Lazenby
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive portrait of Kobe Bryant, from the author of Michael Jordan. Eighteen-time All-Star, scorer of 81 points in a single game, MVP, and one of the best shooting guards in NBA league history: Kobe Bryant is among basketball's absolute greatest players, and his importance to the sport is undeniable. Third on the NBA career scoring list and owner of five championship rings, he is an undisputed all-time great, one deserving of this deep and definitive biography.
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KOBE BEAN BRYANT
- By Allaeldien Abdelrahman on 12-14-18
By: Roland Lazenby
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Michael Jordan: In His Own Words
- By: Geoffrey Giuliano
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Giuliano
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Michael Jordan is more than a great player, a living legend, and an icon of our times. He is, when all is said and done, a great man. In this stirring audio biography Jordan sets the record straight on his amazing life and career and the single-minded inspiration behind it all.
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A waste of time.
- By D. Rachel James, (Author of Why Do I Fill My Life With Mess Then Wonder Why I Feel Like Sh**?) on 11-29-24
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The Bad Guys Won
- A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform - and Maybe the Best
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Jeff Pearlman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.
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Maybe 3.5
- By Lifeisshort on 02-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
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The Coldest Winter
- America and the Korean War
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Abridged
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Up until now, the Korean War has been the black hole of modern American history. The Coldest Winter changes that. Halberstam gives us a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides astonishingly vivid and nuanced portraits of all the major figures.
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Almost as good as The Best and the Brightest
- By Doug on 10-02-07
By: David Halberstam
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Blood in the Garden
- The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks
- By: Chris Herring
- Narrated by: Brian Hutchison
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive history of the 1990s New York Knicks, illustrating how Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason resurrected the iconic franchise through oppressive physicality and unmatched grit. Blood in the Garden is a portrait filled with eye-opening details that have never been shared before, revealing the full story of the franchise in the midst of the NBA’s golden era. And rest assured, no punches will be pulled. Which is just how those rough-and-tumble Knicks would like it.
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Great book, horrible performance.
- By Sean Conway on 07-21-22
By: Chris Herring
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The Children
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 32 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Children is David Halberstam's brilliant and moving evocation of the early days of the civil rights movement, as seen through the story of the young people - the children - who met in the 1960s and went on to lead the revolution.
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awesome and inspiring
- By gsag on 03-26-20
By: David Halberstam
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Charlie Hustle
- The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Ellen Adair, Keith O'Brien
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago that still stands today. He was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t. Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies—the rise and fall of Pete Rose.
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Narrator not appropriate
- By Charles C. Dean on 06-03-24
By: Keith O'Brien
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Football for a Buck
- The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump. Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America.
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Ahhh the USFL
- By Film Lover on 10-11-18
By: Jeff Pearlman
What listeners say about Playing for Keeps
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- Gabriel pineiro
- 10-18-21
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
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- Anonymous User
- 09-29-20
Excellent!
Excellent book for all fans of Jordan and Basketball itself. Amazing story through the years that Michael Jordan dominated the sports world.
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- S Gee
- 03-31-20
Great tidbits, details, and andecdotes
As a kid growing up during the 90’s and I couldn’t understand all of the business, media, and history surrounding Jordan/Pippen-era Bulls. This book put in perspective and contextualized the era and is a good read for someone who wants to understand the intersection of popular culture, sports, and business.” Better. The performance of the reading is well done too.
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- RJA
- 01-24-23
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.
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- John
- 06-13-20
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.
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5 people found this helpful
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- CMO
- 04-06-20
Great
This audiobook is perfect. Halberstam is in peak form; nailing how Jordan became the icon we know today. It excludes his personal life but deftly explains his relentless inner drive to succeed and dominate.
JD Jackson isn’t flashy as narrator but for me this is perfect. I dislike overly dramatic narrations and even though his various voices are not all that nuanced, I thought he perfected Jordan’s deep inflection.
I also like how this ends in 1998. No need to think about or even remember Jordan’s time in DC.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 05-24-20
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
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3 people found this helpful
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- David Wyatt
- 05-08-23
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.
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- DCG23
- 06-18-20
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.
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- jwj
- 06-16-20
Excellent companion to the Last Dance
Author should get royalties from ESPN, as this great book was obviously template for documentary
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2 people found this helpful