The NBA's global success today would not exist if it were not for Michael Jordan. The legacy Jordan has created has allowed his name to become synonymous with the sport of basketball and be viewed as a mystical figure amongst his NBA peers.
If one looks at the growth of the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement and athlete brands, its origins can unquestionably trace back to the historic rivalry of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. But just when we thought we hadn't seen anything like Magic's passing and Bird's unathletic dominance, a skinny kid from North Carolina took TV ratings and marketing to a whole another level.
While in comparison to the Air Jordan shoe brand's prolonged sales dominance, the Converse Weapons didn't exactly hold its ground, to say that Jordan didn't come without his flaws would be untrue. So without further ado, here are the things Jordan wishes would disappear.
13 The Luggage Gambling Story
According to The Ringer's Bill Simmons, on a day when the Chicago Bulls were waiting for their luggage at a Portland airport, Jordan proposed a bet to his fellow Bulls teammates: whoever's luggage came out first was the winner. A type of bet that is supposed to be predicated on chance was revealed to be altered: Jordan had bribed a baggage handler prior to the friendly wager and knew he was going to be first all along.
12 The Crying Emoji
The meme has been overused and younger generations who have never even seen Jordan play recognize him simply as "the crybaby face." Despite his close friend Charles Oakley admitting years ago how much the meme bothers Jordan, during Jordan's heartfelt Kobe Bryant eulogy, it was the first time he spoke publically about the meme as Jordan poked fun at the annoyance the meme had caused him all these years.
11 Karla Knafel
With Jordan still being married to Juanita, his first wife, in 2002, Karla Knafel filed a lawsuit asserting that she had been promised $5 million as hush money to remain silent about her affair with Jordan, along with carrying his alleged child. Conceding he had paid her $250,000 during their early 90s affair, Jordan has since been cleared of allegations after DNA tests determined Jordan wasn't the father.
10 The Real Flu Story
When Jordan's former trainer Tim Grover made a guest appearance on the True Hoop TV podcast, he made the claim that during Jordan's infamous 1997 Flu game, Jordan was battling food poisoning from pizza instead. Why is this important? Well, if it's true, although Jordan dominated that game, it changes the entire "playing with the flu" narrative; a game viewed by many to be one of Jordan's signature games.
9 Jennifer Williams
Per AceShowbiz, a feud amongst the two Basketball Wives costars led to Tami Roman posting a short diss song aimed at Jennifer Williams via Instagram. In the video, Roman made the accusation that Williams had been seeing Jordan privately when he was still married to Juanita Vanoy and had receipts to prove it. Whether or not the story is fabricated, the perception of long-term infidelity doesn't necessarily help Jordan's case.
8 The Cheap Owner Story
Although Chris Broussard's reputation has taken quite a hit going back to his ESPN days, sharing a story on Speak For Yourself a while back, apparently Jordan asked his good friend to come to one of his Hornets games. Despite the friend declining Jordan's invite due to work and family commitments, Jordan's persistence eventually influenced him to change his mind. So once the day of the game arrived, Jordan made his friend pay for his ticket.
7 Having the Final Say On Isiah Thomas
When the Dream Team documentary aired on NBA TV, it contained a short segment that discussed Isiah Thomas being left off the team. Other than Jordan's approval being hinted by Pippen, Jordan went on record to say, "it was coming from higher places that didn't want Isiah Thomas on the team." However, in Jackie MacMullan's Dream Team book, sources begged to differ. Per Business Insider, Johnson confirmed that it was important for Michael to enjoy playing the games.
6 The Ranking Of His Divorce Settlement
When Jordan divorced his first wife, Juanita Vanoy, in 2006, the $168 million settlement was considered by Forbes to be the most expensive celebrity divorce ever. Notwithstanding Jordan signing a prenup, it still ended with Juanita being entitled to half of his hard-earned fortune. Obviously, there have been more expensive divorces in recent history but rest assured, given Jordan's competitive personality, it likely bothered him being on the opposite/losing end of that settlement.
5 The Jordan Shoes Quote
The quote constantly gets mentioned whenever one discusses the Jordan shoe brand or wants to criticize Jordan's altruism: after declining Harvey Gantt's request to help him overthrow his political competitor, Harvey Gantt, Jordan famously responded by saying, "Republicans buy shoes, too." Low and behold, as the writer, Sam Smith, who published the quote himself disclosed: Jordan was simply being facetious.
4 The Gambling Debts Theory
As revealed by Jackie MacMullan on The Lowe Post podcast, Jordan felt he was being taken for granted. He was infuriated at how many people genuinely believed the conspiracy theory that his father was killed as a result of gamblers repaying a gambling debt. MacMullan added, "it more the idea of you can't find anything wrong with my basketball ability, so now you're going to start poking into my personal life?"
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Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Barkley, as we all have grown to appreciate, Barkley's character traits center around telling the harsh truth in a comedic fashion. So when he was asked to clarify his claim about Jordan being cheap, Barkley shared a story and exposed Jordan's sentiment on the homeless by quoting Jordan's own words: "If he can say do you have any spare change, he can say welcome to McDonald's can I help you?"
2 Jerry Krause's Nickname
By his early 20s, Jordan developed an impressive ability to code-switch (behavior and language used during interviews vs off-camera) and became mediagenic. Appearing on children's shows like Sesame Street, Jordan's media portrayal allowed him to maintain a positive public image. Granted, while Sam Smith's Jordan's Rules book didn't help, Smith along with Jack MacMullan have long reported that Jordan demeaned his boss, Krause, by calling him "crumbs."
1 Conning Scottie Pippen In a Bet
Back in 2016, ESPN pundit and former Suns front office member, Amin Elhassan, reported on The Lowe Post podcast that for an entire season, Jordan tricked his then Bulls teammate, Pippen, into accepting a bet. Reportedly, when Jordan discovered from the Bulls' staff that the animated bulls races that played on the Jumbotron at halftime were prerecorded, Jordan deviously used the knowledge to his advantage against Pippen. In the end, Pippen lost hundreds of dollars.