I am not going to add any unnecessary graphics to this section that might take away from what you, the reader, might learn and enjoy.
Hopefully these excerpts will provide you with a more intimate look into Jordan's highly unique and unorthodox life. Read them with an open mind and remember they have been taken out of context. The excerpts I have chosen still relay important thoughts and ideas, although they stand alone.
Let me say how greatly I enjoyed reading the books these passges are taken from, Second Coming by Sam Smith and Rebound by Bob Greene. I suggest you purchase a copy of both of these books. If you or somebody you know can help me contact either of these writers, please let me know immediately.
Again, all of these excerpts are taken directly from Second Coming and Rebound. I will continually be adding to this section of my site.
(The Morning Prior To His First Game Back)
When the jet arrived in Indianapolis, Jordan asked the others to leave the plane. Then he sat for a while, thinking mostly about his father. James Jordan had always been there for the pivotal moments of Jordan's life-the first championship, the disappointments in Detroit, the seventh game against the Knicks in 1992-offering advice and counsel. And Jordan did have doubts. Was he just on the rebound from baseball? Was it the right time? He'd gone through a similar period of uncertainty on a baseball trip to Memphis while he was with the minor league Birmingham Barons.
(Before the Game in Indianapolis)
There was always a ritual he went through before a game. He'd slap some resin dust into the face of broadcaster Johnny Kerr, a friend, and then he'd peer up into the stands to catch a glimpse of his family or friends for support. But his wife and kids would be home, and his dad, well...
Long after the Magic locker room emptied, Pippen, Ron Harper, and Pete Myers stopped by to see (Horace) Grant.
"Same old stuff, G.," said Pippen. "I'm still playing with a guy who's got to prove he can score fifty."
It was an observation not without merit, for Jordan, although trying to simply enjoy the game and camaraderie, couldn't escape the fact that he was still Michael Jordan, and that meant putting on a show.
"Look, I have this thought," he said. "But I want you to know that it's just a thought. It's not serious."
More silence.
"So when I tell you this, it's just something I think about, OK?"
I waited.
"I make the team (the White Sox)," he said. I make it to the majors. And I come up to bat, and I stand at the plate and I realize that I've done it. I've gotten it done.
"So I'm standing at the plate, and the pitcher throws the ball, and I knock it out of the park. Home run. I'm rounding the bases, and the ball goes out of the park, and the crowd is cheering. I head for home plate.
"And as I'm running toward home, I see that a gate is open. I cross home plate, but I don't stop. I run right out the gate, and through the tunnel and out of the stadium. I'm still in my uniform, and I'm running away, down the streets, as fast as I can. I can still hear the crowd back in the stadium, and I just keep on running. Keep on running forever."
Jordan's wife and children were waiting for him on a little walkway right outside the clubhouse. He came out carrying the ball-the baseball he had gotten his first hit with. It was impossible to even estimate how much that ball would be worth on the sports memorabilia market.
Jordan handed it to his younger son, Marcus, who was three years old. "Don't lose this," Jordan said to him.
Jordan turned to talk with his wife, and Marcus turned, threw the ball onto the grass, where it rolled under a bush and remained.
Twenty-five feet away, Juanita Jordan stood and watched him from behind, watched the man in the uniform being grabbed at by the screaming, squealing people. I was standing next to her; I looked over, and just for a second I got the impression that there were times when Michael Jordan--whoever that might be--seemed a million miles removed from her, too. When she might as well be looking at him from the farthest row in the highest deck of the biggest stadium in the world.
Yet the simple act of his leaving spring training became the biggest sports story--one of the biggest news stories--in the country. National newspapers tracked the New York Stock Exchange, and reported how the speculation that Jordan might put on a basketball uniform again was causing certain stocks to soar. One published report said that the stock-market value of five companies whose products Jordan endorsed had jumped a cumulative $2.3 billion in three days.
