You probably remember the 1990s as a time of pure Michael Jordan worship. The Gatorade commercials, the "Be Like Mike" jingles, and that pristine, corporate-friendly image that suggested Jordan was less a man and more a hovering deity. Then, in late 1991, a guy named Sam Smith dropped a grenade right into the middle of the party.
His book, The Jordan Rules, didn't just sell copies. It broke the spell. For the first time, the public saw the "other" Michael: the teammate who punched Will Perdue, the superstar who called GM Jerry Krause "Crumbs" because of the donut flakes on his blazer, and the ultra-competitor who sometimes made life miserable for anyone who couldn't keep up. Honestly, it was the first time sports fans realized that winning at that level is rarely pretty.
What Sam Smith Actually Exposed
When people talk about the Sam Smith Jordan Rules saga, they often focus on the "bullying." But if you actually read the text, it’s more of a forensic autopsy of a championship season. Smith was a beat writer for the Chicago Tribune, and he had the kind of access modern journalists would kill for. He was on the planes. He was in the back of the locker rooms. He heard the whispers.
Basically, the book chronicled the 1990-91 season—the one where the Bulls finally got past the Detroit Pistons. It revealed a locker room divided by Jordan’s massive ego and his relentless, sometimes cruel, demands.
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- The "Crumbs" Moniker: Jordan’s open disdain for Jerry Krause was legendary, but Smith put the details on paper.
- The Horace Grant Feud: Jordan frequently targeted Grant, once reportedly telling flight attendants not to feed him because he "played like s***."
- The Phil Jackson Dynamic: We see the "Zen Master" not just as a philosopher, but as a calculated politician trying to balance MJ's gravity with the rest of the team.
It's a messy, human story. Jordan wasn't a villain, but he wasn't a saint either. He was a guy obsessed with a single goal, and he viewed his teammates as tools to get there. If the tools were dull, he tried to sharpen them with a hammer.
Why the Book Was a "Woj Bomb" Before the Internet
Before social media, fans only knew what the PR departments wanted them to know. Smith changed that. He broke the unwritten "sacred vow" of sports journalism: that what happens in the locker room stays there.
Some fans in Chicago were livid. They saw Smith as a traitor trying to dismantle a dynasty just as it was starting. Media peers criticized him too, wondering why he didn't put these stories in the newspaper first. Smith's response was simple: you can't capture the complexity of a season in an 800-word daily column. You need the space of a book to show that Jordan could be both a jerk and the ultimate winner.
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Surprisingly, Phil Jackson actually liked the book. He felt it humanized Michael. He thought it brought "His Airness" back down to earth, showing people the sheer weight of the competitive drive required to be that good.
The Fallout and the Snitches
The biggest mystery for years was: who were Sam Smith’s sources?
Jordan was convinced it was Horace Grant. He held that grudge for decades, even bringing it up again in the 2020 documentary The Last Dance. Grant has always denied being the "snitch," but Smith has hinted that his information came from everywhere—players, assistants, even management.
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When the book hit the shelves, the atmosphere in the Bulls' facility turned toxic. Jordan reportedly stopped talking to certain people. He became more guarded. Yet, the wildest part of the whole Sam Smith Jordan Rules era is that the Bulls kept winning. They didn't just win; they became the greatest dynasty in modern sports history.
It turns out, the truth didn't break them. It just made them more honest about who they were.
How to View the Jordan Rules Legacy Today
If you're a basketball fan or just someone interested in how high-performance cultures actually work, looking back at this book is essential. It’s the blueprint for the "unfiltered" sports biography.
- Read the original text: Don't just rely on the highlights from The Last Dance. The documentary was a Jordan-produced project; Smith’s book was independent journalism.
- Compare the eras: Notice how Jordan’s "bullying" in 1991 would be handled in today’s social media climate. It would likely lead to a PR disaster, yet in the 90s, it was the fuel for six rings.
- Appreciate the nuance: Understand that a person can be a difficult teammate and a great leader at the same time. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
The lesson here is pretty clear. Greatness is complicated. Sam Smith didn't ruin Michael Jordan’s legacy; he just gave it some much-needed texture. By showing the flaws, he actually made the championships feel more earned.
Go back and find an old copy of the book. Read it with the knowledge of what came after. You'll see that the "Rules" weren't just about how to stop Jordan on the court—they were about the price everyone had to pay to be in his orbit.