After Kevin Durant passed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list, the Houston Rockets star conceded that no matter who passes Jordan, Jordan will remain “bigger” than basketball. That became clear during his playing career, and at one point, the noise became too much for Jordan to bear. 

When MJ retired, he quickly distanced himself from the spotlight. He made a few occasional appearances, given his ownership of the Charlotte Hornets. Jordan made a choice for his life.

“It's a quieter life where I'm not really the show,” he said during an interview with Gayle King, explaining why he chose life away from basketball. 

“When I say I wanted to retire and get to a quieter life, I wanted to get away from basketball in terms of what I represented in that arena and how big I've gotten, and it was such a huge burden for me in that sport.”

The Bulls legend definitely led a divisive life, with numerous controversies surrounding his interest in casinos and high-stakes golf. He didn’t like having to customize his life to fit a certain image. It was too much for the NBA great. 

"The burden of living a certain way, living up to trying to maintain what everybody's perspective is for you or was for you,” he said. “That is a burden, and it's a lot of people that hesitate in doing that, and it's a certain period of time that you can go through it, and then at some point in time, you say, I'm tired of doing that.”

After years of a quieter life, Jordan has started to reemerge in sports news, but in basketball. Jordan is the owner of 23XI Racing, a team in NASCAR. Since he won a lawsuit against NASCAR, he is back in the limelight again. 

Michael Jordan speaks on his new life in NASCAR

Being Jordan comes with a price. Even when he remained absolutely non-existent in the media, the media still talked about him. No matter what he did, remaining a phantom was never an option for MJ, and NASCAR was the final straw. 

However, for the NBA legend, it wasn’t just a fair, but a necessary price he was ready to pay. 

“As of late, you know, I've been in the forefront a lot more than I probably anticipated,” he added. “But I think the sport needs it to some degree, and my team needs it, and I want them to see the passion that I have for winning and for being a part of the team.”

But for the six-time NBA champion, the current burden is not the same. His presence in NASCAR isn’t the same as it was in the NBA decades ago.

“Here, the burden's not quite the same, and I'm not in that same realm, even though it has evolved to be that now because of the lawsuit, obviously, because of the awareness that I'm bringing to NASCAR. It's still not the same as me playing in Chicago and those types of things, but it's something that I think keeps me alive.”

As an owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan didn't find much success in the NBA. Could we finally see him again back in the NBA in light of the expansion? Maybe. But NBA fans would certainly want it.

Read more at the Air Jordan Chronicles!

Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Siddharth Rawat