(670 The Score) The first person to pull the curtain back publicly on Bulls legend Michael Jordan's abrasive manner was then-Tribune beat writer Sam Smith with the book "The Jordan Rules," which was published in 1992.
It chronicled the 1990-'91 Bulls' breakthrough championship-winning season. In doing so, it provided an unvarnished look at how the hard-driving, at-times maniacal Jordan bluntly held his teammates to a high standard and also revealed the contentious relationship between Jordan and then-general manager Jerry Krause.
In the latest episodes of "The Last Dance" on Sunday night, Jordan acknowledged that Smith's book caused problems for him. It chipped away at his pristine public image and showcased how his teammates sometimes didn't agree with his methods.
Now 28 years later, what stands out to Smith is how Jordan handled their relationship at the time. Even though Smith's honest account led to more drama, Jordan granted him the same respect he did any other media member on a daily basis.
"He handled it really professionally," Smith said on the Dan Bernstein Show on Monday. "Because look, if Michael Jordan is picking a fight -- the ones like Rasheed Wallace or Russell Westbrook where it's 'next question' or singling out the media person -- the media person is losing that battle. There's no sympathy. No matter whether you're right or not, it doesn't matter if you're on the other side of Michael Jordan, you know, back then. To his credit, he never said a word to me. He has never -- I've run into him a couple times in recent years in Charlotte -- but any time (he's never said a word). When he came back in '95, he was fine with me. I did a couple one-on-one interviews with him. But he never once said a word to me about the book -- nothing, never asked me about it.
"Even the first day when I went to the locker room after it was published and I said, 'If you got any questions about it, problems, let me know.' Never said anything."
The book didn't slow down the success of Jordan or the Bulls at all, as they won five more championships in the next seven seasons. Throughout it all, Smith went about his job and Jordan went about his.
"He would always answer me just as he'd answer anybody else when I asked a question, because I'm still there covering the team, doing the league beat," Smith said. "I'd be in the press scrums and ask him something. And he would answer it or he'd say, 'Oh yeah, Sam.' And then the other writers would go, 'See, he likes you.' I would go, 'No, he doesn't like me.' So he understands about being a pro. I always kind of appreciated that, respected him because he easily could have made me a target and certainly it wouldn't have done me any good. But it probably wouldn't have done him any good either, and he understood that."
