Twelve-One Man Book Review - Relentless: From Good to great to Unstoppable
- Evan Mahoney
- Apr 21
- 13 min read
Book: Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable, By Tim Grover
Reviewed by: Evan Mahoney - Twelve-One Man
Rating: 3/5 Twelve-One Men
I picked this book up off of a suggestion from the 75 Hard reading list from Andy Frisella. For those of you that are not familiar with Andy, Andy is a self-made millionaire entrepreneur who hosts a very successful podcast in the Real AF, formerly the MFCEO.
I found Andy through a video interview on the Ed Mylett YouTube channel and found him to be pretty intriguing. What drew me to Andy was his foul-mouth (speaks to my soul), no-nonsense approach to business and motivation.
He also isn’t afraid to share his human vulnerability such as his struggles with food action and depression. Wow, a successful person who sucks just like me!
While his podcast is listed as an entrepreneur podcast and often speaks on entrepreneurial topics, the main driver in his message is his belief in living a life with grit, integrity, and honestly just sucking it up and not being a little pacified wallflower/snowflake (his and my words).
His approach and message came at a time in which I needed a strong kick in the butt, and honestly a direction from a strong male, in order to find my path in life. Through that I worked through the 75 Hard program, was ultimately unsuccessful due to multiple factors, but ended up growing in the end of it.
Needless to say, I’ve been working through his book recommendations, as I believe that they are spot-on for what men need these days, to eliminate the noise of a misguided world, online pulls and traps, and even feminized suggestions and beliefs.
Onto the book...
Tim Grover is a renowned training expert whose claim to fame is/was training strong willed and relentless types such as Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, and most notably, the great Michael Jordan.
!["The one thing that Michael [Jordan] has, that really stands out, is that he doesn't compete with anyone else. He competes with himself." - Tim Grover.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b4e3c9_001064273450449fa3931f0d98c0dcf2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_640,h_357,al_c,q_80,enc_avif,quality_auto/b4e3c9_001064273450449fa3931f0d98c0dcf2~mv2.jpg)
His book details lessons that he’s learned in training these individuals and explores the grit, integrity, and the strength it takes to have the mentality of one of these individuals, including himself.
He categorizes competitive individuals into 3 categories: the cooler, the closer, and the cleaner, with the latter category being held for the elite, not just athletes of tremendous skill, but athletes of strong mental fortitude and focus.
According to Grover, to be a cleaner, such as the likes of Michael Jordan, you have to be ruthless in your desire to win. In that desire to win, you put people's feelings, even your own feelings about how others perceive you, to the side for the ultimate goal, which is to win.
And if you’ve done research on Michael Jordan or maybe even watched “The Last Dance” documentary on Netflix (I highly recommend it), you know that Michael Jordan’s will to win was second to none.
A true cleaner has what Grover calls, the dark side, in which his will to win and succeed, trumps all other desires. Being around a closer is actually rather difficult in that they are not the pump you up and get you motivated types, rather, they are the kick your butt and yell in your face types.
Final takeaways - This is a good book to see the different levels of dedication, focus, and will to win it takes on the road to success and how these people/players play roles in organizations, teams, and even society.
For the reader, this book develops the understanding of the role the cleaner plays and understanding that in playing this role, it can often come with a lot of sacrifice. This hyper focus on winning is actually outside society's “norm” and can actually rub a lot of people the wrong way.
For men who are struggling with following their heart, mind and spirit, and are afraid of what other people will think of them, this book is greatly beneficial. It teaches you that you have to be different to be great and this difference doesn’t necessarily make you wrong, it could actually be the very thing that makes you legendary.
However, in reading most of the book there is not much in the way of motivation or strategy to become a cleaner. There are a few indications that it is possible to become this if you are not already, but unfortunately, does not do a deep dive into the path that it requires to become one.
The reader rather has to analyze what these cleaners are all about and brainstorm ideas in which to become that. In strictly a mindset/greatness understanding, with real-life, interesting stories and examples, this book is great.
However, if you’re looking for something to motivate you AND give you the steps to be great, this book really isn’t it. All in all, the information and stories in it are really interesting, easy to follow, and keep you wanting to read.
The pages have good-sized text and the flow of reading moves along nicely. You feel like you make a good amount of progress on the book every time you read it. At no point was I really bored with the book, rather, it just left me desiring more information on the path to become great.
For the reasons that I listed I’m giving this book 3 out of 5 Twelve-One men and suggest this as a read for those of you that are a little bit further down on your greatness journey and have some tools, tips, and strategies in place or have been practicing them already.
Don't forget to leave your comments, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this post.
Stay tuned for more book reviews and more suggestions in the future and don’t forget to buck the norm and go be great…Twelve-One Man out…
Check this out…Comment below: What is your favorite Michael Jordan moment??
Just for fun, here are some interesting stories that were compiled about Michael Jordan in the reddit feed r/NBA by user chewdzzle. What a legend. Enjoy…
Here a list of some Michael Jordan stories I found throughout the internet. Feel free to share any I did not include.
Bill Clinton
They two were playing golf together when MJ forced the former president to play from the furthest away tees.
"You're going to play from the little girls' tees?" Jordan asked him.
Calling his shots
"I'm coming down. I'm going to dribble it between my legs twice. I'm going to pump fake and then I'm going to shoot a jumper. And then I'm going to look at you. And that's exactly what he did."
"Bejeweled Demigod"
He's obsessed with the iPad game Bejeweled. He passed level 100 so he's officially a "Bejeweled Demigod"
Mugsy Bogues
"On the biggest possession of the game, Mugsy had the ball with the Hornets down 1. Jordan backed off of him and told him: “shoot it you f—ing midget.” Mugsy shot it, didn’t come close. A year later Mugsy actually told Johnny Bach that he believes that single play ruined his career. His shot never recovered."
Always gotta win
MJ told ESPN's Wright Thompson that his fiancee Yvette pressured him into driving seven hours so she could see where he grew up. He said that would have never happened 10 years ago:
"It's amazing what women can talk you into doing. Make you change. Ten years ago, we'd have been arguing all f---ing day. I would've won. This time, this stage where I am, you win. That's progress."
Blind Free-Throw
In a Nov. 23, 1991, game against the Denver Nuggets, Jordan had some fun with Dikembe Mutombo at the free throw line with five seconds left in a Bulls victory. "Hey, Mutombo. This one's for you," Jordan says, and makes a free throw with his eyes closed.
Clyde "The Glide" Drexler
When told that Clyde Drexler was a better three-point shooter than him, Jordan responded "Clyde is a better three-point shooter than I choose to be."
Ping Pong
He once lost a game of ping pong to a teammate, then proceeded to buy a table and spend the next six months practicing almost non stop.
Allan Houston
When the Dream Team lost to the college All Stars in a scrimmage, before the rematch the following day Jordan pointed at Allan Houston and said "I got him," and as the legend goes, he didn't touch the ball for two hours.
Mel Turpin
One game in Utah, Jordan dunked on John Stockton. Jazz owner Larry Miller yelled "pick on someone your own size." On the next possession he dunked on 7'1 center Mel Turpin and shouted "he big enough for you?"
Jerry Stackhouse Rookie Year
I heard one about this story when Jerry stackhouse was a rookie.
-Stackhouse tells the story about his first encounter with Mike as a rookie
-So Jerry is guarding Mike as Mike brings the ball down the court. Jerry is waiting for him on the other side of half court.
Jordan makes eye contact with Stackhouse and starts the trash talk of course
JORDAN: Which Side?
Jerry doesn't say anything back because he knows Jordan is trying to get in his head.
JORDAN: Which Side? STACKHOUSE: Whatever man, just play ball man JORDAN: I'm not saying what side do you want me to go by you, thats gonna happen regardless, I'm going to put you on my poster today so I am asking you what side you like of yourself and I'll make sure that when I dunk on you I know what side you want showing.
1 on 1 with Pippen
Even after some grueling practices and off-season training sessions. He would occasionally ask Scottie Pippen to a 1 on 1 match that would sometimes last a few hours.
BJ Armstrong (Johnny Bach, former Bulls assistant coach)
BJ Armstrong? Very talented player, but unbelievably sensitive. Jordan used to tear him apart every minute. If BJ missed two shots in a row on passes from MJ, Michael would walk by the bench and say, “get his ass out.”
Barkley
The day before game 4 of the Bulls Suns finals with the Bulls leading the series 2-1. Michael and Charles Barkley went golfing. They played 48 holes of golf. And Michael bought Charles a $20,000 diamond earring. Johnny asked MJ, “what did you do all that for?” Michael responded, “he won’t get in my way the rest of the series, what’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends. I hate that fat ****.” Jordan dropped 55 in game 4 and Barkley never touched him once.
Steve Kerr
The two guards were matched up in a scrimmage. It was intense. Jordan had heard the critics after the Bulls’ playoff loss to the Orlando Magic and intended to silence them. He averaged 26.9 points in the final 17 regular-season games after coming out of retirement, but shot only 41 percent from the field. The postseason defeat to the Magic in the conference semifinals, his first series loss since 1990, had some suggesting his best years were behind him. At 32 years old, Jordan was hell-bent on proving otherwise. It was palpable in every drill, every time down the floor.
He and Kerr talked trash on a couple of possessions, and then it escalated.
“I took exception to something he said,” Kerr says. “So I was talking back and I don’t think Michael appreciated that ... and we got in the lane and he gave me a forearm shiver to the chest and I pushed him back. And next thing you know, our teammates were pulling him off of me.”
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Kerr wound up with a black eye. He threw some punches before it was broken up, too.
“I knew that if we were in an actual fight he could actually probably kill me if he wanted to,” Kerr says. “It was more just I’m going to stand up for myself.”
Kerr and Jordan didn’t have much of a relationship at that point. They’d played together for only two months. Before Jordan left the arena that day, then-Bulls coach Phil Jackson -- who perhaps would have prevented the tiff if he wasn’t in his office doing a media conference call, Kerr suggests -- told the superstar he had to speak with Kerr that night.
Jordan made the call within the hour and apologized. They talked some more at practice the next day and moved on.
Chuck Daly
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Jordan rang Daly's room. Getting no response, he went directly to Daly's room and knocked. Then he pounded. He wouldn't go away until he got his rematch. He got it, and he won by a shot. But would you expect anything else?
Bullying Bill Cartwright
When the Bulls let Charles Oakley go and brought in Bill Cartwright, Jordan resented the loss of his friend and took it out on Cartwright, calling him “Medical Bill” and intentionally throwing impossible-to-handle passes at him in practice to draw attention to what he perceived to be his bad hands.
Rodney McCray
'He's the most viciously competitive player I've ever seen. That's what makes him, I think, the greatest player ever. He has practically ruined [reserve forward] Rodney McCray for us.' When the two players are on opposite teams in scrimmages, the source says, "[ Jordan] is in Rodney's face, screaming, 'You're a loser! You've always been a loser!' Rodney can hardly put up a jumper now.’
Robert Parish
In one of his first practices with the Bulls, Parish botched one of the plays and was amused to find Jordan jawing at him just inches from his face.
‘I told him, “I’m not as enamored with you as these other guys. I’ve got some rings too,”’ Parish recalled. ‘At that point he told me, “I’m going to kick your ass.” I took one step closer and said, “No, you really aren’t.” After that he didn’t bother me.’
Kwame Brown
As a leader Jordan proved more tormentor than mentor. Many Washington players got the business end of a Jordan harangue, but he designated second-year forward Kwame Brown as the whipping boy…A source told SI that Jordan ritually reduced Brown to tears in front of the team.
Cheating an Old Lady in Cards
Buzz Peterson invites Michael Jordan over to play a casual game of cards with Peterson’s mother. No money is wagered—just a simple, friendly game.
But when the old woman gets up to use the bathroom, Peterson catches Jordan trying to cheat.
Trying to cheat not to win any money, but just because he wants to win at all costs.
OJ Mayo
“I’m playing in my camp against O.J. Mayo, he was a top high school kid coming out,” Jordan says. “And I had never met him. First time. In front of my camp, he starts this thing about ‘you can’t guard me, you can’t do this.’ I got my campers here, so obviously I can’t really can’t go where I want to go because I own my camp. So I stop the camp, send the kids to bed.
“We go back to playing, and he starts his whole thing ‘you can’t guard me.’ Finally I just said, ‘You may be the best high school player, but I’m the best player in the world.’ So from this point on, it’s a lesson. And from that point on, it was a lesson. He never won a game. I posted him up, I did everything.”
Jim Jackson
During the 1996-1997 season, while Jim Jackson was on the Nets, Jackson was enjoying a good game against Michael Jordan and the defending champion Chicago Bulls. Jackson was talking trash to Jordan who shut up Jackson by pointing out that he was wearing Jordans.
Real "Flu Game" Story
The real truth, Grover says, is that Jordan was poisoned.
"100 percent," Grover says on TrueHoop TV. "He was poisoned for the 'flu game.' Everyone called it a flu game, but we sat there. We were in the room." Grover explains:
We were in Park City, Utah, up in a hotel. Room service stopped at like nine o'clock. He got hungry and we really couldn't find any other place to eat. So we said eh, the only thing I can find is a pizza place. So we says all right, order pizza.
We had been there for a while. Everybody knew what hotel. Park City was not many hotels back then. So everyone kind of knew where we were staying.
So we order pizza. Five guys came to deliver this pizza. I take the pizza and I tell them: "I've got a bad feeling about this. ... I've just got a bad feeling about this."
Out of everybody in the room, [MJ] was the only one who ate. Nobody else had it. And then 2 o'clock in the morning I get a call to my room. Come to the room. He's curled up in the fetal position. We're looking at him, finding the team physician at that time.
Immediately I told him it's food poisoning. Not the flu.
Airport "Gambling" (u/wjbc)
1.Jordan used to bet with his teammates that his bags would get taken off of the plane first, then pay airport workers to do it.
2.Jordan used to bet with his teammates about everything, and one time he bet on whose luggage would come out first at the airport. What his teammates didn't know is that he had pre-arranged for his luggage to come out first with the employees at the airport, who of course were happy to do something for Michael Jordan. I hope he tipped the airport employees afterwards, but that wasn't part of the story.
Two Left Shoes (u/korndog42)
During the 92 Dream Team run Clyde Drexler was a part of the team along with Jordan. Drexler's Blazers had just lost to Jordan's Bulls earlier that summer in the NBA finals. In addition Jordan had completely cemented his position as best SG in history, a title that many had thought would be Drexler's just a few years earlier. Anyway, that summer Drexler brings two left shoes to practice on accident. He is so fearful of what Jordan will say to/about him that he wears the two left shoes for the entire practice. Jordan is said to have heard about this years later. He laughed.
Luc Longley (u/FobbyDigital)
"We were playing Detroit and I came out on fire in the first half. I think I had 17-18 points, half-a-dozen rebounds, a couple of blocks — playing like an All-Star. For the first time ever, because Michael was very cautious with his praise, he came into the locker room high-fiving me, slapping me, hugging me, saying, 'Man, you play like that, we’re going to win the world championship. That’s awesome! You’re an All-Star. Why don’t you play like that every day? I knew you had it in ya.' Anyway, so we went out for the second half ... and I finished the game with exactly the same stat line as I had at half-time. I had a terrible second half. We came in after the game — we’d won. When everybody else was happy to be winning, Michael was furious. He said, “Luc, I am never, ever going to say a nice thing about you again.” It demonstrated how Michael thought that because he said something good … Like, it had nothing to do with Michael, really. It was me playing the game. I just drew a couple of fouls and didn’t play as well and didn’t get my opportunities. He was true to his word; never said anything nice again."
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