On the Road with the Chicago Bulls – A Curiosity Conversation with Writer Sam Smith
Sam Smith sounded skeptical.
“Why do you want to talk to me?” he asked.
After four decades working as a journalist, Sam Smith is used to asking the questions.
Though he’s spent 30+ years covering sports, he’s also covered business and politics – and he’s from Brooklyn. He’s probably wondering what I’m really after.
But I don’t want to sell him anything. I’m not trying to score free basketball tickets or get dirt on Michael Jordan.
I just want to hear Sam’s story.
“I enjoyed your book,” I told him. “And I am curious about your story.”
Following my curiosity
Several years ago I read a piece about film producer Brian Grazer and his love of ‘curiosity conversations.’ He filled a book talking about all of the people he’s had curiosity conversations with – from CEOs and celebrities to politicians and scientists. I loved that idea of reaching out to people that you find interesting just to learn about them.
Although I couldn’t offer Sam Smith millions of dollars for the film rights to his life, I reached out to request a conversation. I had discovered his writing when The Last Dance premiered in 2020, when I (and millions of others) took a metaphorical time machine to the 1990s to relive the glory of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. I hadn’t heard of Smith’s book The Jordan Rules before then.
Growing up in basketball-mad Indiana, I knew about the 1990s Bulls and Jordan, but I didn’t really know about the Bulls. I didn’t know about the players who complemented Jordan on the court, or the behind-the-scenes drama the athletes and coaches had with management. The Michael Jordan I knew was a superstar athlete who pushed McDonald’s and Nikes – not other players.
But after reading Smith’s book, I learned what it was like to be with the Bulls during the 1990-91 season – on the road to their first NBA championship. The Michael Jordan detailed in the book isn’t the image PR teams pushed in the 1990s, but it aligns with the Michael Jordan who gave that Hall of Fame speech in 2009.
After a series of emails, Sam and I were able to connect on Zoom, and I asked what inspired him to write The Jordan Rules. He told me about David Halberstam’s ‘wonderfully written’ book, The Breaks of the Game. It documents the 1979-80 season with the Portland Trailblazers, and would serve as a great model for the book Smith would write.
Another great idea that was rejected
During our conversation, Smith reminded me how much the NBA has changed over the last 30 years. When he began covering the Bulls, basketball was a tertiary sport in the US, and the Bulls were a tertiary team in Chicago. When Smith pitched his book about a season with the Bulls, publishers in New York dismissed it.
Who would want to hear about a team in Chicago? The Knicks, the Celtics, the Lakers – those were teams people cared about
Smith said he received 10 rejection letters – some of them ‘very nasty.’ He got an agent who was able to secure a deal with a publisher, and they expected the book would do ‘OK regionally’ and ‘maybe sell 20,000 copies or so.’
Then the Bulls won their first NBA championship.
Interest in the team – and Michael Jordan – soared just as Smith’s book was hitting the shelves.
The Jordan Rules spent three months on The New York Times bestseller list.
“How many copies did it sell?” I asked him.
“I don’t know...Quarter-of-a million hard-copy. Enough to buy a place in Arizona and set up an endowment at my university,” he laughed.
Have a Curiosity Conversation in 2021
When I first contacted Sam Smith, I felt nervous. I understand that a request like mine is unusual – but I also know that my request (and curiosity) is sincere. I told Sam I wasn’t trying to sell him anything, that I just wanted to hear his story. And I kept that promise.
One thing we were reminded of in the last year is the importance of connection – and a curiosity conversation offers you the chance to connect and learn about someone else. It can be scary reaching out to someone you don’t know and possibly being rejected – but it’s worth the risk.
Be curious.
You never know who you’ll meet - or what you’ll learn!
More Curiosity Conversations
Melissa Ludtke told me what it was like being a female journalist covering (and going up against) Major League Baseball in the 1970s.
Nir Eyal told me what it takes to be Indistractable.
Jacquie Robison told me how becoming a mother inspired her to start a non-profit and support inclusion.
William Laven told me what it is like growing up with – and managing – a stammer.
Joelle Murray told me how she used creativity to promote her business – and meet Ryan Gosling.