"Flowers from someone extremely special, thank you, Michael Jordan" - Shane Warne's family receives flowers from Michael Jordan following cricket legend's memorial at MCG
Michael Jordan was in the middle of his first retirement in 1994 when he met a young Shane Warne at the Nike headquarters in the United States. Fast forward to 2022, Jordan sent flowers as a tribute to Warne, who died at the age of 52 on March 4.
In a story on her Instagram account, Warne's daughter Brooke revealed that the family received flowers from Jordan on the day that cricket legend had a public memorial. An estimated 50,000 fans paid tribute to Warne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday, while millions around the world watched on television.
"Flowers from someone extremely special. Thank you, Michael Jordan," Brooke Warne captioned.
What a class act Michael Jordan is - sending flowers to the family of @ShaneWarne following his death. https://t.co/DAR4yqvp14
When "The Last Dance" was released in 2020, Warne posted a throwback photo of him meeting Jordan in 1994. Warne noted that he enjoyed the first two episodes of the docuseries featuring "His Airness," his career and his final season with the Chicago Bulls.
"Really enjoyed the first two episodes of the @jumpman23 documentary and bought back some great memories of hanging with the great MJ at Nike in the states!" Warne had captioned.
Jordan can bee seen wearing a Chicago White Sox shirt, as he was in the middle of his first retirement. Jordan was a professional baseball player at the time with the White Sox. He was also seen holding a Sherrin ball used in Australian Rules Football.
Shane Warne, one of the greatest cricket players in history, died on Mar. 4 while on vacation in Thailand. He was named by Wisden as one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000. Warne is considered one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history.
During his career, Warne wore the number 23 as an homage to Jordan. Warne played for Australia between 1990 and 2007, while his professional career lasted till 2013.
Michael Jordan and other sports GOATS
Michael Jordan is considered the greatest of all time or GOAT of basketball. He's the measuring stick for any great basketball player, with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and more behind him in many GOAT rankings.
In addition to cricket's Shane Warne, many other sports GOATs have met Jordan. One of them is legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who is considered the NFL's best. Brady and Jordan once played pickup basketball while on vacation in the Bahamas in 2015.
Jordan is a well-known gambler and was with "The Great One" Wayne Gretzy in Las Vegas. A story told by former VP of Hard Rock Hotel, Rich Strafella, Jordan and Gretzky were gambling when the NHL GOAT taught "His Airness" how to tip properly.
Michael Jordan once tipped a waitress a $5 chip for bringing him a drink. Wayne Gretzky stopped the waitress, removed the $5 chip, grabbed one of the many $100 chips on Jordan’s side of the table, and gave it to her. Then he said, "That's how we tip in Las Vegas, Michael." https://t.co/s8od4LRhAo
MJ's favorite sport after basketball is golf. Over the years, Jordan has maintained a friendship with one of the sport's GOAT in Tiger Woods.
How’s this for a pairing? 🤩⛳️
Flashback to 2007 when @TigerWoods played golf with Michael Jordan @WellsFargoGolf. https://t.co/HCSS0bpSq0