Michael Jordan is often called the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. His two championship runs with the Chicago Bulls built a dynasty in the NBA, which also saw him get six NBA Finals MVP awards, five NBA MVP awards, 14 All-Star selections, two Olympic Gold Medals and in 2016, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Needless to say, Michael Jordan was an amazing athlete and gifted basketball player who should be in consideration for the greatest of all time.
However, Michael Jordan fans definitely have a blind eye to some of the things his Airness did during his time in the NBA. Michael Jordan wasn’t such a squeaky clean star as everyone thinks, and a few of these facts that fans ignore definitely don’t belong with the greatest of all time. From problems on the court with teammates to money issue to personal feuds, Jordan wasn’t shy about having some personal things to deal with while he was lighting the NBA world on fire.
17 His Entire Baseball Career
Michael Joran fans generally don’t want to talk about Michael as a baseball player, only his amazing basketball accomplishments. He was a pretty poor baseball player, so it should be no surprise why he came back to the NBA after only a few years of trying to make it as a ballplayer.
16 No Playoffs For Bullets
For the six NBA Championships, Michael Jordan won with the Chicago Bulls, he never once made the playoffs with the Washington Bullets in his two seasons there. In fact, they were the lowest points per game total seasons he had in his career, and Washington finished with a 37-45 season both seasons.
15 Step Aside Vince
During the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, Michael Jordan did make the team, but he wasn’t a starter in what would be his final All-Star Game. So Vince Carter gave up his spot for Jordan so he could have the spotlight for the final time, rather than just being an ‘off the bench’ player.
14 Needed Pippen
For all the success Michael Jordan had, a lot of it wouldn’t come without Scottie Pippen. In fact, without Pippen, Jordan was just 5-15 in the playoffs without him. He may be the greatest of all time to his fans, but even the greatest player needed great supporting players to run that dynasty.
13 Ball Hog
Michael Jordan may have been a greater scorer, but he put Kobe Bryant to shame in terms of being a ball hog. In the 1986-87 season, he was taking as many as 30 shots per game. No wonder his points per game numbers were so high, as he was taking a crazy amount of shots.
12 Playoffs In The 80s
When people think Michael Jordan, they think the two, three-championship runs he had with the Chicago Bulls. But in the 1980s, Michael couldn’t get out of the first round. Between 1984 and 1989, the Bulls only won five playoff rounds, losing to the Detroit Pistons three years in a row.
11 One-Sided League
Michael Jordan fans don’t want to talk about how bad the NBA was in the 90s compared to today. With new expansion teams, there was at one point 20% of the league losing more than 60 games in a season, which included Jordan’s final championship with the Bulls in 1998.
10 Bulls Just As Good After
Generally, when a great player leaves, the team suffers as well. Look at what happened when LeBron James left Cleveland. Well, when Michael Jordan left Chicago the first time, the Bulls only lost two more games the following season than they did with him. I bet he doesn’t come back if the Bulls are a bottom team.
9 Largest Divorce
Michael Jordan fans will only want to focus on his basketball career, but off the court, Michael had some issues. His divorce with his first wife Juanita resulted in a $168 million settlement, which would be $213 million today. It was at the time, the largest celebrity divorce settlement on public record.
8 Gambling Issues
Michael Jordan also had a pretty bad gambling habit, as during the 1993 playoff run, Jordan was seen in Atlantic City the night before a game against the Knicks. He admitted he had gambling losses of $57,000, amongst many other situations, as Jordan was pretty reckless with his money.
7 Worst Three-Point Shooting Contest
One of the most clutch shooters in the game was terrible in the spotlight of the All-Star Game competition. During the 1990 three-point content, Michael Jordan only scored five total points, and was obviously eliminated from the competition. Jordan fans definitely ignore this, not so clutch performance from the greatest.
6 Issues With Kukoc
When the Bulls signed Tony Kukoc, Michael Jordan wasn’t happy as they signed him before paying Scotty Pippen. So both players tried to make Kukoc’s life miserable in Chicago, especially when Kukoc was playing for Croatia at the Olympics and Jordan basically targeted him all game to make him look bad in front of management.
5 Bullying Kwame
Michael Jordan fans ignore just how rude and unsportsmanlike he could be to his own teammates, as was the case with Kwame Brown, as Jordan would curse out the teenager for making mistakes, which led Kwame to tears. Jordan has a history of ripping his own teammates when they weren’t playing how he wanted.
4 Golfing With The Enemy
Michael Jordan during the 1993 NBA Championship was seen golfing with his opponent, Charles Barkley, and even saw Barkley buy him gifts. Jordan would say it was all part of mind games, but it’s hard to turn a blind eye to golfing with the enemy with the NBA Championship on the line.
3 Keep Thomas Off Dream Team
Michael Jordan had a huge rivalry with Isiah Thomas, so much so, that he didn’t want him as part of the Dream Team. Considering Thomas was one of the best point guards in the league, it should have been a no brainer, buy Magic Johnson would later reveal how he and Jordan kept him off the team.
2 High Stakes Golf
Along with his gambling in casinos, Michael Jordan had a bad habit of making huge bets on the golf course. According to the Los Angeles Times, Jordan once had a gambling debt of $1.25 million in a single day of golfing. At some point, you just have to accept that you can’t put the ball in the hole.
1 Trash Talk His Own Team
There are plenty of rumors and talk of Michael Jordan getting into it with his own teammates. He apparently punched Steve Kerr in practice and would purposely pass the ball in impossible spots for teammates to get and then blame it on them. It seemed at times, Michael was all about himself on the court.