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Michael Jordan is the definition of fearless, possessing an unrivalled mentality and belief which enabled him to achieve incredible things on and off the court.
He produced a masterclass in the classic ‘Flu Game’ when suffering from food poisoning in game five of the 1997 NBA finals, finished with 38 points in 44 minutes against the Utah Jazz,
But as a youngster, the six-time world champion was massively affected by two traumatic events that would change his life forever.
Aged seven, Jordan watched his friend lose his life after an accident in the sea. The Chicago Bulls icon held his companion’s hand as tightly as he could but he could not compete with the current and had to make the difficult decision to release.
Recalling the tragedy to Playboy magazine in 1992, he said: “I went swimming with a very good friend one day, and we were having fun catching waves.
“At one point, the current was so strong that it swallowed him, and he grabbed onto me. It’s called ‘the death lock’ when someone can die. I practically had to break his hand, he was going to take me with him.”
Image: Getty
That ordeal was difficult enough for a young person to process but another distressing event witnessed by Jordan happened just four years later.
He had a drowning scare while at baseball camp at the age of 11 and then while at college, his girlfriend at the time drowned while everyone was away for vacation.
That led to Jordan suffering from hydrophobia, something he discussed openly in his autobiography ‘For the Love of the Game: My Story’.
He had a drowning scare while at baseball camp at the age of 11 and then while at college, his girlfriend at the time drowned while everyone was away for vacation.
That led to Jordan suffering from hydrophobia, something he discussed openly in his autobiography ‘For the Love of the Game: My Story’.
“I’m not going in the water anymore,” he declared.
“Everyone has a phobia about something. I stay away from water.”
However, it appears as though the 61-year-old was able to overcome his fear and he owns an incredible super yacht which is worth a staggering $80 million dollars.
Image: Getty
Still, he does have some reservations, adding: “Only big ones [boats], not small ones, and I need a life jacket.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA, Basketball
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Michael Jordan’s financial position is so great that he was once able to turn down a whopping $100 million fee for two hours of his time.
The Chicago Bulls icon is inevitably one of the biggest and most marketable stars in all of sports.
The NBA legend, one of the biggest and most marketable stars in all of sports,
has made ridiculous cash from a slew of endorsements over the years.
A six-time NBA champion, he well and truly transcended basketball and changed the game with his Nike sponsorship.
But while Jordan made a whole of money from his various endorsements, he was very selective.
He wouldn’t just take any old appearance even it was easy money, as his agent has revealed.
David Falk, Jordan’s representative, has shed light on some of the opportunities Jordan has said no during his time working for him and there was one mindblowing offer that he knocked back.
Falk told WFAN: “[Jordan] turned down a deal to do a one-day golf appearance when he was in Asia a few years ago for a pre-season game with Charlotte.
“And some woman in the Philippines offered me seven million dollars for one day, wanted him to play in a golf tournament. And he turned it down. I brought him a deal three years ago for 100 million dollars.
“And all he had to do, other than give his name and likeness, was make one two-hour appearance to announce the deal. And he turned it down.”
Image: Getty
Jordan earned less than $100 million for his exploits on the court but as of last year, Forbes said the 61-year-old boasts a net worth of $3 billion.
He is said to have earned more than $2 billion from Nike, Hanes and Gatorade, while he recently sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets basketball team.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA
Michael Jordan and Nike share the most recognisable athlete-brand partnership in sports history, but their paths could easily never have crossed.
Back in his days at the University of North Carolina, the future basketball star seemed destined to sign a deal with either Adidas or Converse.
Jordan preferred the three-stripe brand, but on the court he worse Converse because Dean Smith and the UNC at Chapel Hill were sponsored by them.
In the movie ‘Air’, it was revealed that after games Jordan would switch back into Adidas gear.
So, how did he end up at Nike rather than one of the two basketball giants at the time?
Nike had a budget of $250,000 to try and sign up three to four players from the 1984 NBA Draft.
According to ‘Air’ though, Sonny Vaccaro abandoned that idea and forced the company to use the entire budget on Jordan.
To persuade Jordan to sign with them, Nike offered the future Hall of Famer a 5-year, $2.5 million contract for after his rookie season.
However, to protect themselves in case Jordan flopped, Nike inserted four clauses into the deal. To protect his deal, Jordan needed to achieve just one of them.
Jordan needed to do one of the following: be named to an All-Star or All-NBA team, win Rookie of the Year, average 20+ points per game or sell over $4 million worth of Nike Air Jordans.
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan
Perhaps predictably, the Chicago Bulls star smashed all of those requirements.
By the end of his rookie season, Jordan had averaged 28+ points per game and had sold $162 million worth of sneakers.
He was also crowned Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Star and All-NBA second team.
The rest, as they say, is history. Both player and brand had profited hugely from the partnership, with Jordan making an estimated $1.6 billion up until 2023.
Another revelation to come out in ‘Air’ is that Jordan’s mother ensured that her son got 25% of every Jordan sneaker sale when they initially negotiated his contract.
Over time that figure has fallen to about 5% due to his share in the company getting diluted, but it’s still something unheard of in sports history.
Featured Image Credit: PA/Alamy
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA, Basketball, Chicago Bulls, Nike
Ben Affleck has explained why Michael Jordan doesn’t appear in his latest film, Air, which is all about the NBA legend’s famous Nike shoes.
Recently people have been looking back at some of the things they did three years ago, during the initial Covid-19 lockdown, with the memories coming flooding back.
One of the standout bits of television that we could all enjoy to take our minds off the shoddy way we all had to live back then was Netflix’s ‘The Last Dance.’
The docuseries gave us incredible insight into the Chicago Bulls’ title winning side of 1997/98, and taught us more about Jordan, even if he was accused of being a liar.
As well as creating a bunch of memes, and some dreadful comparisons to literally every other sport, it showed us the competitive streak Jordan needed to be as good as he was.
However, the series didn’t tell us everything about the six time NBA champion but now we’ve got a way to get more insight, thanks to the new film ‘Air.’
Directed, and starring Affleck, the film tells the story of how the basketball star and Nike came together to create the Air Jordan range that continues to be iconic to this day.
Weirdly though, there isn’t a single moment of MJ in the entire 112 minute film, and the director has explained why that is.
“I did not ever plan on it, because I never thought for a second—hey, Michael is so magnificent, so famous, the whole reason why he represents and means what he does in terms of greatness and excellence, is because he’s so, so enigmatic and majestic and identifiable immediately, by his carriage and demeanor and what we’ve seen him do physically,” he explained in a Q&A session.
“The one sure way to ruin the movie and have the audience understand that the whole thing is a fraud is to point the camera at anybody that’s not Michael Jordan and say, ‘Hey, that’s Michael Jordan!'”
Jordan is considered by many as the greatest of all time in the NBA. Image: Alamy
Not having him in the film wasn’t the only decision that the boss of the film, who plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the film, considered.
Affleck revealed he spoke to Jordan about why he couldn’t play himself, adding, “The only person who could play Michael Jordan, as I’ve said to him, is too old now to play Michael Jordan.”
At 60-years-old, the former Bulls star was certainly far too old to play a rookie version of himself, who first made an NBA appearance in 1984.
However, he was still able to have a say in the film, with Jordan demanding that if the film were to be made then Viola Davis had to play his mother, something Affleck made sure happened.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: NBA, Basketball, Nike, Michael Jordan
