“Michael and His Mom and Dad Made the Decision”: When Isiah Thomas’ Agent Was Confused by Rookie MJ’s $6 Million Contract

Michael Jordan achieved demi-God status in NBA, but he was a star long before that. In the course of his three seasons at the University of North Carolina, he had become a household name among fans of collegiate sports.

In his freshman season itself, he had stamped himself among the Tarheel greats. In the 1982 National Championship game against Georgetown, Jordan knocked down the game-winning shot to win the title. He went on to represent Team USA in the 1984 Summer Olympics, leading the team in scoring with 17.1 points and securing the gold medal.

Which is why MJ’s very first professional contract — as the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft — set a record for the time. His seven-year, $6 million contract with the Chicago Bulls was the largest offered to a guard till then in NBA history. But many agents in the franchise thought it wasn’t the best that MJ could have made.

Like George Andrews, Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson’s agent, who confessed to being baffled by it. Roland Lazenby shed more light on the reactions in his 2015 biography, Michael Jordan: The Life.

“‘It doesn’t make sense,’ George Andrews, the agent for Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas, told the Southtown Economist,” Lazenby wrote.

“Agent Lee Fentress said such a deal would seemingly guarantee trouble down the road as the value of player contracts had already begun to increase dramatically.”

It wasn’t the money value of the deal these agents were questioning — it was the number of years the deal was for. The NBA had been experiencing a boom in popularity and business. There seemed to be a trend of player contracts increasing in value due to the salary cap revisions. George Andrews advised his clients to sign short-term deals so they could negotiate larger contracts going forward.

The difference in Jordan’s situation is that his agent didn’t decide for him, nor did he want to. David Falk spoke on the matter saying, “I don’t want to play God.” 

Of course, he provided his input, but he let Michael and his family have the final say. “Michael and his mom and dad made the decision themselves,” Falk said.

In 1988, Jordan received the payday he deserved when he agreed to an eight-year $25.7 million contract with Chicago. That marked the start of his journey to mega-stardom and mega-riches. Today, he is a billionaire in his own right and has little reason to regret the choice his parents made for him all those years ago.