“They charged James Jordan with stealing about $7,000”: When Michael Jordan’s Father Stole From General Electrics to Attend Bulls’ Games

Michael Jordan’s parents were the backbone of his successful career. James Jordan and Deloris ensured that their son excelled as an athlete. Though by quitting baseball, Jordan had, in a way, disappointed his father, James was still the biggest supporter of his son. He was always in his corner and always attending MJ’s games with his entire family right from the North Carolina days.

However, being so supportive ended up putting too much pressure on James. Roland Lazenby, the author of Michael Jordan: The Life, wrote of the lengths James was ready to go to any lengths just to make enough money to visit his son’s games. However, the desire to watch his son play for North Carolina ended up pushing James into stealing from his employers.

James Jordan stole electronics to take his family to MJ’s games

James and Deloris were survivalists while raising their kids. With resources hard to come by, raising a family with 5 children was tough. So, naturally, one would assume that when Michael Jordan became an NBA star, things would become far more comfortable for the Jordans. However, it wasn’t as dreamy.

Instead, the pressures of attending Michael’s games frequently increased the monetary burdens on James. But instead of seeking his son for help, MJ’s father turned to stealing. James worked with General Electrics and handled their inventory. In his book, Roland Lazenby wrote:

“Neher, also a supervisor at the plant, said the situation was much more involved than authorities revealed. “He was in charge of our company store,” Neher explained. The company store served as a club for employees, where they could purchase refrigerators, TVs, toasters, tools, and various items at discount. As manager, James Jordan would reroute merchandise meant for the store, Neher said. “He’d check it in and it would never make it to the store. He was stealing it. I assume he was selling it. They charged him with stealing about $7,000. It was much more widespread. Other people were doing it, too.” Obviously the family’s determination to attend each of Michael’s games around the country, even internationally, had put pressure on the father to pay for it all.”

James paid just $7000 in fines and avoided what could have been felony charges. If further pursued, the case could have led to a possible 10-year jail time. Fortunately, James survived this and came out relatively unscathed.

Michael Jordan had to face the consequence of James’ knack for questionable business practices

Years later, after the Air Jordan brand took off, Michael Jordan and Nike started a project that they wanted James to head. James Jordan would oversee Flight 23 stores. However, this eventually led to an even bigger conflict for MJ’s father. The store was a front to allow MJ’s family to have employment.

However, James ended up ruining even the Flight 23 stores. Roland Lazenby wrote how James was not paying the suppliers. Instead, he would just ignore them. The venture, unsurprisingly, eventually failed and left a deep impact on MJ.