# Jumpman: The Making and Meaning of Michael Jordan - Hardcover

by **Johnny Smith** (Author)

**How Michael Jordan's path to greatness was shaped by race, politics, and the consequences of fame**

To become the most revered basketball player in America, it wasn't enough for Michael Jordan to merely excel on the court. He also had to become something he never intended: a hero.

Reconstructing the defining moment of Jordan's career--winning his first NBA championship during the 1990-1991 season--sports historian Johnny Smith examines Jordan's ubiquitous rise in American culture and the burden he carried as a national symbol of racial progress. _Jumpman_ reveals how Jordan maintained a "mystique" that allowed him to seem more likable to Americans who wanted to believe race no longer mattered. In the process of achieving greatness, he remade himself into a paradox: universally known, yet distant and unknowable.

Blending dramatic game action with grand evocations of the social forces sweeping the early nineties, _Jumpman_ demonstrates how the man and the myth together created the legend we remember today.

### Author Biography

**Johnny Smith** is the J. C. "Bud" Shaw Professor of Sports History and associate professor of history at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of five books, including _Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X_ (written with Randy Roberts). He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

**Number of Pages:** 336

**Dimensions:** 1.3 x 9.3 x 5.9 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** November 07, 2023

## Details

- **Price:** 30.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 30.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Jumpman: The Making and Meaning of Michael Jordan - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-23