When Nothing Else Matters
Encyclopedia
When Nothing Else Matters is a 2004 non-fiction book by Michael Leahy. The book chronicles basketball superstar Michael Jordan
's last comeback to the NBA playing for the Washington Wizards
.
Riding motorcycles and gambling prior to his return, Jordan attempted to fill the void that retirement inflicted. But his need for the rush of competition left him wanting more. Leahy documents his final two seasons in the NBA, and reveals a more human side of Jordan.
of The Times
wrote "A better book, a perceptive writer, might have noticed that there was something heroic in all this: but Leahy is too deeply committed to his premise that everything Jordan does is, by definition, shameful."
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
's last comeback to the NBA playing for the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
.
Riding motorcycles and gambling prior to his return, Jordan attempted to fill the void that retirement inflicted. But his need for the rush of competition left him wanting more. Leahy documents his final two seasons in the NBA, and reveals a more human side of Jordan.
Reviews
- Steven J. Lyons, Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
: "The Nexus at which the decline in Jordan's physical prowess and public image converge is deftly and devastatingly captured in Michael Leahy's When Nothing Else Matters. The staff writer for The Washington Post goes beyond the easy recounting of the familiar into a depth that is thought-provoking and engaging."
- Allen St. John, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
: "At its best, When Nothing Else Matters is the fourth act of a Shakespeare play....Jordan is Macbeth in high tops....When Nothing Else Matters tells the gripping tale of an aging superstar moving reluctantly from the one place where he was in complete control to a world where the rules weren't as clear cut."
- Dan McGrath, Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
: "Riveting, myth-shattering."
- Jon Ward, The Washington TimesThe Washington TimesThe Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
: "Michael Leahy has written a heck of a book....Mr. Leahy combines an unrelenting eye for detail with extraordinary big-picture analysis."
- Ron Rapoport, Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
: "When Nothing Else Matters gives us the best look we are likely to have of Jordan in decline....The result is a richly detailed, anecdote-driven account of one of the most famous men in the world approaching the end of his rope."
- Scott Tobias, The Onion A.V. ClubThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
: "Incisive...Michael Leahy reveals a great deal about Michael Jordan's inglorious stint with the Washington Wizards, but he reveals even more about the back-scratching culture of sports journalism, which allows flawed figures like Jordan to balloon into false idols."
- Tom Scocca, New York ObserverNew York ObserverThe New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. The Observer focuses on the city's culture, real estate, the media, politics and the entertainment and...
: "When Nothing Else Matters is a close-up portrait of an aging star's vanity, a cold-blooded case study in organizational politics...a scathing media criticism."
- John Marshall, Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
: "A gripping behind-the-scenes book....An important corrective to our current celebrity culture."
- Dave Hannigan, The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
(London): "[An] exceptional book. It says much about the cozy relationship enjoyed by elite athletes and the journalists who routinely cover them that it took a nonsports writer to produce the most telling insight into this twentieth-century icon."
- Michael Sokolove, author of The Ticket Out: "Leahy is that most unwelcome of characters around a pro sports team: a truth-teller. Where others were intimidated by Michael Jordan, or just plain blinded by his star power, Leahy stood his ground and assembled a tough-minded, fair and gripping account that reveals something far more interesting than Michael Jordan the icon--he gives us Jordan, the man."
- Glenn Stout, series editor of The Best American Sports Writing series: "Michael Leahy may be the first author to overcome his awe of Michael Jordan and let us see another Jordan, the legend in the autumn of his career. In this book we don't just meet the myth streaking across the sky--we meet a very human being finally returning to earth. When Nothing Else Matters transcends its subject, for as we watch Jordan descend, we also somehow see ourselves."
Criticism
In his review of When Nothing Else Matters, English journalist Simon BarnesSimon Barnes
Simon Barnes is an English journalist. He is currently Chief Sports Writer of The Times. He also writes a column on wildlife in the Saturday edition of The Times....
of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote "A better book, a perceptive writer, might have noticed that there was something heroic in all this: but Leahy is too deeply committed to his premise that everything Jordan does is, by definition, shameful."