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There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan
Thirty years after Michael Jordan’s first NBA game comes an oral history of his legendary career, told by the men who played with him and against him, coached him, and witnessed first-hand the iconic greatness of the most dominant athlete sports has ever seen.Featuring interviews Larry Bird Magic Johnson Phil Jackson Reggie Miller Isiah Thomas Reggie Theus Chris Mullin Doug Collins Dominique Wilkins Steve Kerr John Paxson David Stern Gregg Popovich Derek Harper Bill Walton Karl Malone Horace Grant Joe Dumars Danny Ainge B.J. Armstrong Marv Albert Grant Hill Jerry Colangelo Bill Cartwright Jerry Reinsdorf Johnny Bach Rod Thorn Rick Barry Kevin Loughery David Axelrod President Barack Obama and many more!Written by Sam Smith—author of the New York Times bestseller THE JORDAN RULES and recent inductee into the NBA Hall of Fame—THERE IS NO NEXT assembles a cast of Hall-of-Famers, teammates, opponents, coaches, and others who experienced the ferocious drive and unparalleled greatness that defined Jordan’s career. Packed with previously untold stories and stunning insight into Jordan and his six championships, THERE IS NO NEXT is the last word on why there has never been, and will never be, another Michael Jordan.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2014
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About the author
Sam Smith
12 books18 followersSam^^Smith is an NBA writer for the Chicago Bulls website bulls.com. He is the author of multiple articles and books, including The New York Times bestseller, The Jordan Rules.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 5, 2015
I came across this book at the library; having read Sam Smith's previous Jordan books, The Jordan Rules and Second Coming, I looked forward to reading this one.
Verdict: if you're a fan of Michael Jordan and the Bulls for 30+ years, as I am, there's a lot to like here, and it's a quick read, despite some problems I had with the writing.
This book has a real "self-published" feel to it (even if it's not) that I found disappointing from a professional writer like Smith. Not that the writing is terrible -- it's functional, and doesn't aspire to be poetic. However, at various points throughout the book I found myself having to re-read a sentence (multiple times, in some cases) to decode and comprehend whatever it was Smith was trying to say; Smith could have used an editor who could have pointed out the multiple places where he could have been more clear or graceful in his sentence construction.
Furthermore, interspersed among his reporting/storytelling throughout the book are excerpts from interviews Smith conducted with various athletes, executives, etc. -- even President Obama chimes in. The interviews are reported verbatim, apparently unedited, which does a disservice to some of the people featured in the book who aren't the most eloquent, polished speakers. I think Smith could have refined the presentation of what they said -- as reporters did for Jordan throughout his career, which had a positive effect on the public's perception of Jordan as a public speaker, though he's definitely above-average without such "protection" from Chicago's provincial reporters -- without compromising his journalistic integrity. It would have made for a better reading experience.
For these reasons, I was convinced that Smith didn't work with an editor on this book, as I didn't recall having the same reaction to The Jordan Rules and Second Coming when I read them years ago. In the "Author's Notes" chapter that ends the book, Smith states that he considers himself a "journalist" more so than a "writer" -- compared to, say, David Halberstram, whom Smith praises within these pages as a personal hero (rightfully so) -- which I'd say is a fair assessment, given his writing in this book.
Then -- in the last paragraph of the book -- Smith reveals that his son edited the book. So he had an editor after all; however, I'd say he was better served by the editor(s) who worked on The Jordan Rules and Second Coming.
Anyway, I don't think the book's flaws are crippling, and Jordan fans will probably gladly suffer them while taking this trip down memory lane with Sam Smith. The book is a quick read and enjoyable, the aforementioned problems I had with it notwithstanding.
Verdict: if you're a fan of Michael Jordan and the Bulls for 30+ years, as I am, there's a lot to like here, and it's a quick read, despite some problems I had with the writing.
This book has a real "self-published" feel to it (even if it's not) that I found disappointing from a professional writer like Smith. Not that the writing is terrible -- it's functional, and doesn't aspire to be poetic. However, at various points throughout the book I found myself having to re-read a sentence (multiple times, in some cases) to decode and comprehend whatever it was Smith was trying to say; Smith could have used an editor who could have pointed out the multiple places where he could have been more clear or graceful in his sentence construction.
Furthermore, interspersed among his reporting/storytelling throughout the book are excerpts from interviews Smith conducted with various athletes, executives, etc. -- even President Obama chimes in. The interviews are reported verbatim, apparently unedited, which does a disservice to some of the people featured in the book who aren't the most eloquent, polished speakers. I think Smith could have refined the presentation of what they said -- as reporters did for Jordan throughout his career, which had a positive effect on the public's perception of Jordan as a public speaker, though he's definitely above-average without such "protection" from Chicago's provincial reporters -- without compromising his journalistic integrity. It would have made for a better reading experience.
For these reasons, I was convinced that Smith didn't work with an editor on this book, as I didn't recall having the same reaction to The Jordan Rules and Second Coming when I read them years ago. In the "Author's Notes" chapter that ends the book, Smith states that he considers himself a "journalist" more so than a "writer" -- compared to, say, David Halberstram, whom Smith praises within these pages as a personal hero (rightfully so) -- which I'd say is a fair assessment, given his writing in this book.
Then -- in the last paragraph of the book -- Smith reveals that his son edited the book. So he had an editor after all; however, I'd say he was better served by the editor(s) who worked on The Jordan Rules and Second Coming.
Anyway, I don't think the book's flaws are crippling, and Jordan fans will probably gladly suffer them while taking this trip down memory lane with Sam Smith. The book is a quick read and enjoyable, the aforementioned problems I had with it notwithstanding.
December 30, 2020
I really enjoyed a lot of the stories here. The most effective part of the book by far were the direct quotes from former players and other notable people like President Obama. I've never read anything by Sam Smith before, but what stopped this from being a 4 or 5 star book was that the writing itself was shockingly bad. I'm not sure if Smith was purposely going for some sort of casual approach, but it felt like talking to a fan at the bar about his sports memories after he's had too many drinks.
November 27, 2020
şahsen, michael jordan'ı anlatan ilk türkçe kitabı yayımladığı için martı yayınları'na teşekkür ediyorum. kitap, klasik bir biyografi olmasa da, büyük bir boşluğu dolduracağı için, ilk planda bu pek önemli değil. klasik bir biyografi değil, yazar tarafından üçlü bir yapı kurulmuş çünkü: bir yandan jordan'ın hayatı anlatılıyor; bir yandan jordan'ın tüm kariyerine şahitlik etmiş olan yazarımız, onun hakkında analiz ve yorumlarda bulunuyor; bir yandan da onunla oynamış, ona karşı oynamış, onu izleme şansına erişmiş ve onu tanıyan, neredeyse tüm büyük isimler, onu anlatıyor. bu üçlü yapının, klasik biyografi gidişatı yerine daha keyifli bir rota sunduğunu söylemek mümkün. lazenby ya da halberstam'in biyografilerinden birini çevirecek bir babayiğit de çıkar diye umuyoruz, yakın zamanda. tamam, yayın dünyamızda çok eksik var ama, jordan'la alakalı ilk kitap da, adam basketbolu bıraktıktan neredeyse 20 yıl sonra da çıkmasın yani.
May 31, 2020
Realistically this is say 4.25 stars. Given that it was a read along for Last Dance I’ll give it a bump. The interviews and comments from former players is the real benefit to the book. The rest of MJs story is pretty well covered elsewhere so if Sam Smith glossed over some details it was no biggy in my mind.
May 11, 2021
A riveting revisit of what made Jordan great, plus some new stories.
A must read for any fan Michael Jordan, his journey, the challenges he faced, and how he changed the world of basketball.
A must read for any fan Michael Jordan, his journey, the challenges he faced, and how he changed the world of basketball.
March 30, 2018
Great book. Great insight from Jordan’s peers. If you are a fan of the game and one of its best players you must read this book.
August 27, 2022
Sam knows MJ as well as anyone.
November 15, 2024
Fun read. But based on his descriptions of Pat Riley’s youth, I’m certain Sam hasn’t visited The Neck.
August 23, 2015
Proved his thesis but he was preaching to the choir. I was already a true believer but good to be reminded how much Kobe and LeBron miss the mark.
August 22, 2015
Once again, Michael Jordan is shown to be a devastating (but inspiring) force of nature.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews