The contrasting paths of Michael Jordan and LeBron James
Jumpman: The Making and Meaning of Michael Jordan. By Johnny Smith. Basic Books; 336 pages; $30. The Book of James: The Power, Politics, and Passion of LeBron. By Valerie Babb.
PublicAffairs; 304 pages; $30. One way of grasping a country’s traditions and troubles is to leaf through a history book. A more enjoyable method is to watch its sport. On Christmas Day millions of Americans will tune in to basketball on television: the National Basketball Association, North America’s premier basketball league, is staging five games.
As well as offering the thrill only top-class sport can provide, the NBA can also give viewers an insight into a serious side of America: its race relations. The NBA has long been dominated by African-American players. Yet it is not just that they have shaped basketball, basketball has also shaped African-American identity.
The sport features heavily in rap lyrics and in the oeuvre of Spike Lee, probably the most influential black film-maker of all. And since black players first joined the NBA in the 1950s, the basketball court has doubled as a battleground for civil rights. Champions like Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were Black Power icons, their slam dunks reverberating across American society.
But no other player has jumped as high as Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Mr Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and helped launch a hugely successful sportswear brand, Jordan, which last year raked in $5.1bn in revenue. Mr James, now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, has won four titles (three of them with previous teams).
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