Michael Jordan once gave his luxurious Ferrari 550 Maranello to a fellow NBA legend because he knew how desperate he wanted it.

Former Chicago Bulls superstar Jordan is one of the richest men in sport and boasts an incredible car collection.

He had no issue with flaunting his wealth during an incredibly successful career, which caught one teammate’s eye.

Scottie Pippen has been called Jordan’s greatest teammate by the man himself and the pair dominated in the 90s.

They won six NBA championships together with the Bulls and in 1997, Jordan decided money was no object.

Chicago reporter Melissa Isaacson wrote in a 2010 column for ESPN: “For the Christmas of ’97, Pippen had an earring made for Jordan – a diamond-encrusted replica of the NBA championship trophy.

“Jordan, who had planned to give Pippen a box of cigars, reconsidered and instead gave him his red Ferrari, which Pippen had long admired. ‘He wanted it so bad,’ said Jordan. “It wasn’t a double locker, but it would do.”

At the time, Jordan’s Ferrari was worth around $170,000 and that’s increased to $331,000 in modern money.

Despite the generosity from Jordan, Pippen seems to have never considered him a close friend off the court.

“Michael was bigger than the game, you know. Even my initial arrival to Chicago he was a big, iconic figure for the NBA. So, we never really had that off the court relationship,” Pippen told GQ per CBS Sports.

“Our relationship between the lines was impeccable. We pushed each other to be great. We trained with each other to be the best. So, everything we did, from a basketball standpoint, it was a high level of respect there that we knew we could be the best.

“We could be dominant. We had went through pretty much the Vietnam War to get where we got to. We were battle tested.”

Jordan was famously demanding and very rarely lost… although one night in Las Vegas, he did.

Per Fadeaway World, Rich Strafella, former VP of Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, told the story of Jordan gambling with ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as a waitress brought their drinks.

“I remember a night when Wayne Gretzky insulted Michael Jordan at the table,” Strafella said.

“It was a private salon game. Michael had ordered a drink from the cocktail waitress, and he gave her a five-dollar chip.

“Wayne took it off the cocktail waitress’s tray, gave it back to Michael, grabbed a hundred-dollar chip from Michael’s stack and put it on the cocktail waitress’s tray. Then he said, “That’s how we tip in Las Vegas, Michael.”

Savage stuff from Gretzky. Calling out Jordan in public and remaining on good terms.

Michael Jordan once gave his $331,000 (£264,942) Ferrari to a sporting legend as a Christmas gift.

Regarded by many as the greatest NBA player of all time, Jordan won six titles with the Chicago Bulls while off-the-court he established himself as an institution through savvy brand deals and investments.

As per Forbes, Jordan’s salary during his NBA career totalled $90million (£72million). However, he has earned $2.4billion (£1.92billion) pre-tax courtesy of corporate partners such as Nike, Hanes and Gatorade.

In turn, a Ferrari 550 Maranello, valued at $170,000 (£136,150) – £264,942 in modern money – is the equivalent of pocket change for the Bulls icon.

And in 1997 Jordan gifted said supercar to his team-mate Scottie Pippen for Christmas.

“For the Christmas of ’97, Pippen had an earring made for Jordan – a diamond-encrusted replica of the NBA championship trophy,” Chicago reporter Melissa Isaacson wrote in a 2010 column for ESPN.

“Jordan, who had planned to give Pippen a box of cigars, reconsidered and instead gave him his red Ferrari, which Pippen had long admired.

“’He wanted it so bad,’ said Jordan. ‘It wasn’t a double locker, but it would do.’”

Despite Jordan’s generosity, his superstar status meant Pippen never regarded him as a close friend off the court during their playing days.

“Michael was bigger than the game, you know. Even my initial arrival to Chicago he was a big, iconic figure for the NBA. So, we never really had that off-the-court relationship,” Pippen told GQ per CBS Sports.

“Our relationship between the lines was impeccable. We pushed each other to be great. We trained with each other to be the best. So, everything we did, from a basketball standpoint, it was a high level of respect there that we knew we could be the best.

“We could be dominant. We had gone through pretty much the Vietnam War to get where we got to. We were battle-tested.”

NBA great Michael Jordan did not hesitate when naming the four players who could potentially get the better of him in a 1 vs 1 match.

Over the years, Jordan has often been regarded as one of the greatest of all time in the world of basketball.

The 61-year-old played for Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards during his career, winning the NBA championship on six occasions and was also named the NBA Finals MVP six times.

Jordan was also named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times.

Since retiring from the sport back in 2003, Jordan continued to be one of the biggest names in basketball thanks to his work with Nike.

Despite being one of the GOATs of the sporting world, Jordan has previously named four players who could have got the better of him in a 1 vs 1 match due to their style of play.

As per Fadeaway World and Jumpmanhistory, Jordan said when asked about his toughest opponents during his playing days: “The hardest opponent for me to play against? In terms of 1-on-1? Small guys.

“[Allen] Iverson, Damon Stoudamire, Rod Strickland. Those little guards like that, it’s tough for me. Muggsy [Bogues]. [John] Starks? No problem with Starks.”

Speaking about Allen Iverson in particular, Jordan said: “He could beat me on the perimeter, but I could take him in the post. He’s a heck of a good player. He’s a young talent. He is gonna continue to get better once he learns how to play the game on a much higher scale.

“Right now, he’s doing a lot on physical ability. He’s good, he’s quick. That’s a challenge for me to go out to him and his stature. He’s so quick and small. But it’s a challenge. I won’t back away.”

In total, Jordan got his hands on six NBA Championships, six NBA Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs, and one NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Furthermore, he was an 11x All-NBA, 9x All-Defensive, 14x NBA All-Star, 10x NBA Scoring Champion, and 3x NBA Steals Champion.

During his rookie season in the NBA, Michael Jordan was asked to name his toughest opponent.

The Chicago Bulls icon was selected with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft and quickly made his mark on the league.

He would go on to win six titles, five Most Valuable Player awards and six Finals MVPs.

Widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, Jordan stood out as a special talent right away, winning the Rookie of the Year award at the end of his debut season.

When asked to name his toughest opponent, the then-21-year-old could have named any of a number of NBA luminaries he’d already faced off against by that point.

Jordan had gone head-to-head with Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, for instance, who was the league’s reigning MVP.

He’d also played against the Los Angeles Lakers‘ iconic point guard Erving “Magic” Johnson and a tough Detroit Pistons team headlined by star guard Isiah Thomas.

But instead Jordan named a player whose footsteps he’d followed in at the University of North Carolina.

“To play against? Has to be Walter Davis,” Jordan said. “I played against Walter Davis in the summertime, and he’s been an outstanding basketball player.”

Davis – who, like Jordan, was a 6ft 6ins shooting guard – played for the UNC Tar Heels between 1974 and 1977.

Jordan looked up to the star scorer and himself joined the college side coached by the legendary Dean Smith in 1981.

And while he never reached the heights Jordan would attain, Davis went on to enjoy an esteemed NBA career.

He was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the fifth overall pick in the 1977 NBA draft and he went on to become the Arizona side’s all-time leading scorer.

A six-time All-Star, Davis also has spells with the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trailblazers before retiring in 1992.

In 1994, his No.6 jersey was retired by the Suns. And Davis, who died last year at the age of 69, has recently been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2024 class.

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, but there is one former NBA star he believes could have been on his level.

According to Craig Hodges, a former teammate of Jordan‘s on the Chicago Bulls, the iconic No.23 once admitted that Clyde Drexler was just as talented as he was, only he wasn’t as marketable.

Speaking to Vlad TV in 2020, Hodges recalled a conversation with the five-time Most Valuable Player award winner in which Jordan spoke highly of the former Portland Trail Blazers guard.

“Not every great athlete is marketable like that, and they have just as much talent,” Hodges said. “I remember having a conversation one time. It was like four of us, MJ included.

“And the conversation came up about Clyde Drexler. And MJ said this, and I quote: ‘Clyde Drexler is just as good as me. He just don’t know how to play the game.’

“Do you follow me? And we ain’t talking about basketball.”

Drexler was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 1983 NBA draft, one year before Jordan entered the league.

The 6ft 7ins shooting guard went on to enjoy a standout 15-year career, with per-game averages of 20.4 points, 5.6 assists and 6.1 rebounds.

A 10-time All-Star, Drexler never won an MVP award and didn’t come close to matching Jordan’s haul of six NBA titles.

He did, however, finally land the first and only championship of his career while playing for the Houston Rockets in 1995 – which, coincidentally, came while Jordan had briefly retired to try his hand at baseball.

In The Last Dance, the 2020 Netflix documentary about his career and success with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan took exception to comparisons between himself and “Clyde the Glide”.

“Clyde was a threat,” Jordan said. “I’m not saying he wasn’t a threat, but me being compared to him, I took offense to that.”