5 biggest scandals of Michael Jordan's career
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is recognized by many as the greatest basketball player of all time for his achievements on the court. However, not every story is perfect because he's faced his fair share of scandals.
Jordan always displayed excellence on the court, but he's also encountered some hurdles along the way. His career as an NBA star was always under a microscope, which made it difficult for him to make mistakes. However, MJ still got caught in a few controversies of his own making along the way.
Also read: Who is Sam Perkins? Finding out more about Michael Jordan's former teammate who won an Olympic gold
Michael Jordan's competitiveness has made him look bad on a few occasions
NBA stars are supposed to be competitive. We've seen it in LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and even Larry Bird, among other stars. But if the topic is about being competitive, no one compares to Michael Jordan's desire during his playing days.
The six-time champion is known as a gritty competitor who would do everything he could to have the upper hand. Back in the 1993 NBA Finals, when the Bulls battled the Phoenix Suns, he bought a $20,000 earring for Charles Barkley, to fool his "best bud" into thinking they were good friends. Chicago won the series against Phoenix that year.
Also read: Michael Jordan's personalized "To Kill A Mockingbird" book by Harper Lee hits the market at $24,000
#5 Punching Steve Kerr
Chemistry with one's teammate is important, which is why everyone was surprised to find out that Jordan once punched his own teammate, Steve Kerr. Now the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, Kerr talked about the incident on Netflix's "The Last Dance" in 2020.
"I have a lot of patience as a human being, but I tend to snap at some point cause I'm extremely competitive, too." Kerr said. "Just not really good enough to back it up, usually.
"We talked it out. From that point on, our relationship dramatically improved."
They may have hashed things out, but it was a bad look for the star shooting guard at the time.
#4 Michael Jordan's first retirement
Many were surprised when Jordan announced his retirement after winning the 1993 NBA Finals. According to him, he lost his desire to play basketball, but many have theorized that it had something to do with his father's tragic murder.
Still, he honored his late father by pursuing a baseball career, something that his dad always wanted him to do.
#3 His tenure with the Charlotte Hornets
MJ's stint as an owner was disappointing, to say the least. He wasn't able to construct a winning team in over 15 years of becoming an owner of the team. He spearheaded most of what happened on the basketball side of things but failed to be fruitful.
Recently, it was reported that Jordan sold his majority stakes for $3 billion.
#2 Denying Nike's unfair labor practices
Back in 1996, Michael Jordan and Nike got into a controversy regarding the shoe company's labor practices. According to reports at the time, Nike was utilizing sweatshop labor practices to produce more shoes.
The 14-time All-Star didn't further comment about the situation and decided to just focus on playing basketball.
#1 Leaving Isiah Thomas out of the Dream Team
Rivalries were intense during MJ's time as an NBA superstar. He had his fair share of rivalries, the biggest being against Isiah Thomas. Prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the US assembled the greatest basketball team in the history of the game.
However, in order for the team to have Jordan, they had to leave Thomas off the list. It was a request by the Bulls legend himself and the two have not talked to each other since then.