"Michael Leahy has written a heck of a book Mr. Leahy combines an unrelenting eye for detail with extraordinary big-picture analysis."

--ion Ward, The Washington Times

"When Nothing Else Matters gives us the best look we are likely to have of Jordan in decline... The result is a richly detailed, anecdote-driven account of one of the most famous men in the world approaching the end of his rope."

--Ron Rapoport, Chicago Sun-Times

As one of the greatest, most celebrated athletes in history, Michael Jordan conquered professional basketball as no one had before. Powered by a potent mix of charisma, nearly superhuman abilities, and a ferocious need to dominate the game, he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and captured every basketball award and accolade conceivable before retiring and taking a top executive post with the Washington Wizards. But retirement didn’t suit the man who was once king, and at the advanced age of thirty-eight Michael Jordan set out to reclaim the court that had been his dominion. When Nothing Else Matters is the definitive account of Jordan’s equally spectacular and disastrous return to basketball. Washington Post writer Michael Leahy reveals the striking contrast between the public Jordan and the man whose personal style alienated teammates and the Washington owner who ousted him.

Introduction  

1 The Purge, May 2003  

2 "Nothin’ Compares to Bein’ it"  

3 The New World 

4 When Supremacy Ends 

5 Resurrection  

6 Secrets and Tensions  

7 The Costs of Pretending 

8 Collapse--and the End of the New Jacks 

9 One More Gamble 

10 "They are probably the most fragile team I’ve ever been around..."  

11 The Backlash 

12 The Romance Ends 

Acknowledgments