JORDAN IS A “VICTIM” WHO SUES A NASCAR “BULLY,” WHICH IS FUNNY UNTIL HE WINS

Life seems good, including a benign yellow-eye pigment, and if he takes down the racing series for “monopolistic” practices, we’ll be reminded why he’s the first athlete on the Forbes 400 money list

     If Michael Jordan is tired and mistreated, the concern could be the yellow pigment in his eyes. Is he drinking too much tequila? Does he gamble every day and night at his Florida club? Might he miss owning the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets? He did stick out his tongue for a photo at a Monaco soccer match, but he seemed angry last month.

     Turns out he was very mad. The discoloration in his sclera is only an aging omen, fear not, and at 61, Jordan actually was eyeing another challenger to his throne. We once saw him intimidate every basketball player in his path, even in practice, when he claimed the Greatest Of All Time legend and won six championships in Chicago. It’s safe to say, decades later, that he’s about to soar, hammer, swish, shrug and make his final shot with a timeless right hand suspended in a North Carolina courtroom.

     Jim France has the inbound pass. He is the CEO and chairman of NASCAR, a racing series that is privately owned. Jordan co-owns a team known as 23XI and is seen at tracks with a headset, sunglasses and a Jumpman logo on his cap. He is not confident about NASCAR’s future in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape and refuses to sign an extension of a charter agreement, believing teams are in a “constant state of financial vulnerability” through revenue sharing. Worse, he thinks France is involved in “anti-competitive practices” and doesn’t care about ownership fairness. In Jordan’s mind, to quote Hall of Fame driver Jimmie Johnson, “the best thing to be is NASCAR, the second-best a driver and the last thing a team owner.”

     So, Jordan’s team and Front Row Motorsports are suing France and the series with a federal antitrust extinguisher. He is treating France like every opponent he met in the postseason. He treats him like Dennis Rodman when he was trashed up and bedding down. He treats him like Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf. He treats him like Scottie Pippen when he whined. And in a comment that will have his enemies hollering and hooting, Jordan went so far to say this in the legal paperwork:

     “The France family and NASCAR are monopolistic bullies. And bullies will continue to impose their will to hurt others until their targets stand up and refuse to be victims. That moment has now arrived.”

     Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a “target,” he says. France and NASCAR are “bullies,” he says. The all-time competitive tyrant of sports claims he has been browbeaten. Would Steve Kerr like a followup, after Jordan punched him in the face as teammates? Would Reinsdorf like to say something after a 121-loss baseball season, recalling how Jordan devoured him in “The Last Dance” docuseries? The widow of Krause? Pippen? Rodman?

     Anyone?

     Why? Jordan will win his suit. He’ll brawl and get what he wants, though he refers to himself as “David” while facing “Goliath.” Magic Johnson? Karl Malone? Reggie Miller? Patrick Ewing? David, with a sling and stones?

     “Everyone knows that I have always been a fierce competitor, and that will to win is what drives me and the entire 23XI team each and every week on the track,” Jordan said. “I love the sport of racing and the passion of our fans, but the way NASCAR is run today is unfair to teams, drivers, sponsors and fans. Today's action shows I'm willing to fight for a competitive market where everyone wins.”

     We’d rather see him battling for championships in the NBA, where ownership failed him and, no doubt, he also failed ownership. In NASCAR, Jordan’s team has won seven times in 138 Cup Series races. Star driver Denny Hamlin, who helped launch the team, said France has “made a very serious threat to us, so we had to react seriously.”

     In the lump sum of life, all you need to know about Jordan is a number: $7 billion. As Nike struggles with flat revenue, his brand remains the strongest in the company, with a six-percent gain last quarter while men’s, women’s and children’s divisions are down. His retro and lifestyle units helped make up for reductions in his performance sneaker. “We are taking actions to reposition Nike to be more competitive and to drive sustainable, profitable long-term growth,” CFO Matthew Friend said.

     So after the documentary’s rousing success on ESPN, Jordan not only carries on in footwear but sold his house in Highland Park, Ill. It took 12 years, but someone bought it for $14.85 million. He swallowed a hit, but he sold the Hornets for $3 billion with a masterful $2.7 billion profit.

     The yellow eyes? Jaundice, when red blood cells break down? More probable, the conjunctiva developed harmless tissue. What do I know about ophthalmology? Michael Jordan cares enough to hire big attorneys. In the end, he will own NASCAR.

     And pile up more money, with an estimated net worth of near $4 billion, the first time a pro athlete has ranked that high on the Forbes 400 list.

     He never stopped dancing, did he?

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.