Michael Jordan was docked a part of his $2.5 million payment in 1991, thanks to California’s love for Magic Johnson

Michael Jordan was docked a part of his $2.5 million payment in 1991, thanks to California’s love for Magic Johnson

Michael Jordan made a lot of people mad back in the day because of how dominant he was. He even managed to anger the entire state of California.

The Bulls legend has accomplished what NBA players dream of doing in his career. Six championships, six Finals MVP’s, five NBA MVP’s, an obvious Hall of Fame induction, and much more has cemented Jordan’s legacy as the greatest NBA player of all time.

So, why was his career so confusing? Well, he retired thrice in his career, to give you some context. If that sounds weird to you, that’s because it is. His first retirement was by far the most surprising as it came only nine years into his career, and he had just started to win at the highest level, coming off of his first threepeat.

His first championship came against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 1980s, there was no team more dominant than LA. Pairing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic brought the city five titles in the decade. However, after Kareem’s retirement, Magic couldn’t keep the show going on his own.

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California got revenge on Michael Jordan for downing Magic Johnson

Jordan and the Bulls beating Magic in the Finals was a little shocking, even if Magic was a little past his prime. Chicago was celebrating their first title, and Jordan was thrilled to have finally made it over the hump.

However, the state of California had other plans. After the Finals were over, perhaps in attempt to get back at MJ for downing their home-state hero, California notified Jordan that he was due to pay taxes in the state for the time he spent there during the Finals.

This became known as the ‘jock tax.’ The jock tax still applies in many states today, and the rates are different depending on which state you’re in. California has the highest jock tax rate at 13.3%.

Illinois tried to get back at California by imposing their own tax on athletes from the state, but it wasn’t the same as it only applied to Californian athletes. Jordan’s salary in 1991 was $2.5 million, but because of the jock tax, he wasn’t able to receive all of it.

Jock tax is calculated by finding your income earned in a particular state and then applying the rate to it. The state income is calculated by multiplying your yearly salary with the number of dudty days in the state divided by your total duty days.

The jock tax has made it very hard for athletes to file taxes as they need to fill out multiple return forms for different states. California did it to get back at Jordan, but now, it’s a very real thing in sports.

Also Read: 2 times NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry eerily have the exact same resume during their 13th NBA season

Post Edited By: Ashish Priyadarshi
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About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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