NOW THAT MICHAEL JORDAN ISN’T NERVOUS, HE WILL GUIDE A LEAGUE THAT MAKES $77 BILLION
We are allowed to escape Charles Barkley and listen to wisdom from The GOAT, who joined NBC and spoke about family — and a recent free throw — while teaching the NBA’s young players about prosperity
Isn’t it fascinating how basketball still demands Michael Jordan? He is required to teach urgent lessons, about tactics and culture, with a deep and resonant voice at age 62 and an unconditional command beyond anything Charles Barkley comprehends. He owned an NBA franchise that lapsed in Charlotte and runs a racing team that is suing NASCAR, calling it an illegal monopoly. Consider those dull subplots to what he should have been doing all along.
Let him educate today’s ballers. Jordan knows. Does anyone else?
For the first time in much too long, since his COVID documentary, we saw him Tuesday evening in large form on NBC. He didn’t have a wine glass by his side. He wasn’t angering Scottie Pippen. Maybe he was listening to the old “Roundball Rock” theme music. This was his chance to comment about the game he turned into his domain.
His first topic: family. His son, Marcus, was arrested this year for DUI and said he has a substance abuse problem. “It’s amazing. You never really know how much time you do not have for family,” Jordan said. “That’s what I have time to do now. The most valuable asset I have is time. That’s why you don’t see enough of me. I’m trying to spend time with family members, things I’ve been missing out on for such a long time.”
Then he explained why he was sitting with the network’s Mike Tirico, at halftime of the Thunder-Rockets game. “I have an obligation to the game of basketball. Not financially, I’m OK. As a basketball player, I want to be able to pass on messages of success off the game. I love the game like you wouldn’t believe. I wish I could take a magic pill and go out and play the game. That competition is what I live for. I miss that aspect of playing and being able to challenge myself. It’s better for me to talk to you and not pop an Achilles. As an athlete, you have an obligation to pay it forward.”
Part of the obligation is load management — and why he played 82 regular-season games nine times and at least 80 games 11 times. That will be the subject on his next show, which might help players who sit out too often for no reason. For now, he wants us to know how he dealt with recent nervousness.
“I haven’t picked up a ball in years. You don’t see a hoop anywhere around here,” Jordan said. “I was at the Ryder Cup. I rented a house from an owner. He came over to do a picture. He has grandkids. It was a meet-and-greet. He said, ‘I want you to shoot one free throw?’ Really? I already paid for it. When I shot the free throw, it was the most nervous I had been in years. Those kids heard stories from parents about what I did 30 years before, so their expectation is what I did 30 years prior.”
He swished the shot. “Absolutely! I got the most gratifying (moment), that I was able to please that kid,” he said.
Jordan is here to fine-tune the sport’s awareness. Since he left the NBA in 2003, we’ve seen dunkers and logo bombers and airbrush artists. LeBron James showed up, claimed he was the all-time king when he won four times in 22 years, forgetting Jordan won six championships in 13 Chicago seasons while claiming five MVP trophies, six MVP Finals awards, 10 scoring titles and nine top defensive placements. Kobe Bryant attempted what he accomplished, but after his death in a helicopter crash, the game has been ruled by Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama.
What happened to the Americans? Where is the league going? Will it remain relevant as James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are rubbing silver from their hair while $77 billion in new media fees are pocketed? ESPN is thrilled to snare Barkley and “Inside the NBA” from Turner, which is deleted in a dizzying broadcast formula including networks and streamers. In truth, the world needs Jordan, who must be tired of hearing Barkley torch every player, every team, every broadcast network and every large woman in San Antonio.
NBC will feature him in filmed conversations called “MJ: Insights to Excellence.” When he spoke to us in the media, few players ever have been more candid, such as when he told me why he left the Bulls in 1998 — Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause. If he is that forceful in a recurring role, Barkley can retire. “What the game needs is education,” former star Caron Butler said. “Enough of the comical nonsense and false teachings. Kobe has been missed. The GOAT to the rescue.”
Said NBC partner Cris Collinsworth, revealing tidbits: “I’m gonna get shot for some of this. It will be a deep dive into the brain of Michael Jordan. The things that you would really want to know from Michael Jordan, if you got a chance to sit down and have a conversation. Just enjoy a great conversation about all the things that you knew about him or thought you knew about him ... you’re gonna get that.”
And he will fire. Why take tens of millions if he has nothing robust to spew? Jordan will be seen on occasion. Unlike Barkley, who has been around seemingly every night for 24 years, Jordan will speak when necessary. He’ll tell us why James, who is battling sciatica, might want to retire. He will continue his scrutiny of Curry, who has won four titles and won’t win another, and Durant, who is playing for his fifth team and hasn’t won a title since leaving Golden State in 2019. He will tell us why he loves the Euro players. He will tell us why Gilgeous-Alexander could win two straight championships.
The league is undergoing rampant turnover, yet the same three dudes are featured again on Christmas Day telecasts. Why not blast out the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, who should meet in the Finals? Is Mike Brown the right coach for the Knicks? Is a thinner Doncic able to handle pressures with the Lakers without James? Is Wembanyama as tall as 7-6, now that 7-4 Boban Marjanovich says he looks up to him? Is it time for Kawhi Leonard, regardless of his wacko circumvention investigation, to stay healthy and win? Maybe Jordan will answer if the Bulls should be heading to the G League.
He is worth $3.8 billion thanks to his mammoth sneaker deal. He doesn’t appear on TV for ego. He wants to correct the misinformed and help the game evolve. “When Michael wants to be, he’s a very thoughtful observer of the game, and he expresses himself very well,” Bob Costas told Front Office Sports. “He’s Michael Jordan. If in 1995, Ted Williams said, ‘I’d like to go on-air and talk about hitting.’ Only an idiot would say, ‘No, thank you.’ It’s hard to imagine, but let’s say Tiger Woods doesn’t play in the Masters or doesn’t make the cut, and then he says, ‘I want to do something on CBS during the Masters.’ Who wouldn’t listen? … His mere presence is a reason to stop and put down the remote.”
We’ve done that, on Oct. 21.
Next, watch him take on Kawhi Leonard.
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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.