Michael jordan timeline

"The rarest talent is like a comet streaking briefly across the sky, captured only by the trailing flash of its brilliance." In his resplendent biography of Michael Jordan, veteran sportswriter Roland Lazenby carefully chronicles the Hall of Famer's journey from his humble beginnings in Teachey, North Carolina, to his startling transformation to "His Airness."

"Personality-wise, he's a study," said former Chicago Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter of the six-time NBA champion.

Lazenby offers nuanced insights into the basketball phenom's character through soulful and, at times, wistful family narratives. To understand the full force of MJ's wondrous life, Lazenby opens with the poignant story of Dawson Jordan.

Born at the turn of the 20th century in a shotgun shack on the banks of North Carolina's Coastal plain, Michael's great-grandfather was a loom