“Hurt My Back Too Bad”: When Michael Jordan Confessed Inability to Crop Tobacco Like His Siblings Before Super Stardom

Michael Jordan‘s family had come a long way from lower to middle class by working their way up. Even though eventually they gained a lot due to a prodigy, the Jordan family had their fair share of struggles. Jordan’s brothers and sisters were once agriculturalists, trying to make a living by cultivating various crops and MJ once revealed an interesting instance related to it.

In a 1989 GQ feature article, MJ revealed that his brothers and sisters used to crop tobacco when he was young. Naturally, Michael was also expected to hop into the family line of business and help his siblings in their endeavors. However, just after one day of trying to cultivate tobacco, the 6x NBA champion realized that was not his cup of tea. Speaking about this experience, MJ said,

“I went out there one day and I swore I wouldn’t do it again. It hurt my back too bad.” 

Though Jordan might not have been suited for tobacco cultivation, his mother made sure he took up jobs early in his life to help sustain his family. Jordan’s brothers and sisters were already taking up odd jobs then. His brothers drove buses while his sisters worked at McDonald’s and local departmental stores.

Seeing Michael not have a job of his own, his mother, Deloris Jordan, suggested he take up the job of a maintenance man in a hotel. However, that didn’t seem to suit MJ either. Recalling the experience, “Man, I quit the job so quick! I just couldn’t do it, I could not keep regular hours. It just wasn’t me. From then on, I never ever had another job.”

MJ might have realized that his true calling had always been the game of basketball. Had Jordan not been as dedicated and devoted to his playing career with the Bulls, perhaps we would have never experienced the greatness of winning two three-peats by arguably the greatest basketball player ever.

Michael Jordan wasn’t meant for anything other than basketball

Michael Jordan realized that he was only meant ever to become the greatest player in basketball as early as when he was five years old. This was evident from his lack of interest and effort in other work that did not intrigue him. In a 1989 interview with David Letterman, the Bulls legend revealed how he had almost cut a part of his toe while chopping wood as a preschooler.

Jordan’s parents warned him not to mess with sharp objects like axes. However, despite their warning, Jordan decided to test things out by trying to chop little pieces of wood barefoot. Admitting his mistake to David Letterman, Jordan said, “I don’t have any shoes on. So I’m chopping little bits and pieces of wood and being hard-headed and I accidentally missed the wood and cut half of my big toe.”

After running to his parents following this mishap, Jordan was taken to a local neighborhood doctor who put kerosene on his toe and helped relieve his pain. If Jordan and his parents had not acted promptly, it could have cost the 6x champion his NBA career. Even when Jordan was an accomplished star, his father would often taunt him with this incident whenever he took a fall on the ground.