When Michael Jordan first entered the NBA, he was not a man who considered weight training to be important. In fact, the then-young man didn’t even look in its general direction. As per the book, ‘The Jordan Rules’, ‘MJ’ also had an ‘addiction’ to junk food, with the two habits being the very opposite of conducive to his life in the NBA. However, in his defense, given how athletically gifted he was, Jordan was still arguably among the best. As the book reveals, he started to feel his body was lacking something beyond important. And so, to defeat the Pistons, despite feeling he deserved more than his $25,000,000 deal, Michael made a big change during the 1990-91 NBA season.
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Jordan’s time with the Bulls wasn’t perfect. The player, along with many of his teammates, had a heavy dislike for team General Manager Jerry Krause. Unfortunately, the timing of Krause’s choice to scout Toni Kukoc didn’t help things either.
During the 1990-91 NBA season, the Bulls legend believed that he deserved to earn more than his $25,000,000 deal. So, when he saw Jerry go after another player, he was worried that the money he deserved would be going to someone else. In fact, Michael even told his agent, David Falk that he’d demand a trade the second he saw the money that could have been his, go to the Croatian.
Michael Jordan was addicted to junk food and did not touch weights until the 1990-91 season
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls lost to the Pistons in three consecutive postseasons, which told Michael Jordan that something was missing in the way he did things. So, he decided that changes were necessary if he wanted to be an NBA champion. Here is an excerpt from ‘Jordan Rules‘ to explain what happened next.
“He had long been a junk food addict who probably took in more grease a year than a squeaky joint, although in recent years he’d stopped eating fast foods. Jordan is just a natural, says the Bulls’ team doctor, John Hefferon, and that allowed him to ignore most of the prescribed regimens for athletes. But Jordan was finding himself getting worn down in the latter stages of the playoffs, and he wanted to work more on a post-up move, so he decided he’d need to get stronger to battle for position. He started lifting weights and got his weight over 210 during the 1990–91 season.”
Especially considering the era he played in, Jordan always seemed like he needed a bit more on his bones, early on in his NBA career. After he finally addressed it, not only was he not getting thrown around as much anymore, but the Bulls also won their first NBA title.
Refining his diet and living in the weight room didn’t just help against the Detroit Pistons. Chicago would go on to face teams with similar levels of physicality in future seasons too, an obstacle that his strict regimen helped him overcome.
Jordan was still the spokesperson for McDonald’s
MJ may have refined his diet ahead of his first championship, however, he didn’t let it get in the way of his paycheck. Despite being an elite athlete, the man became arguably the most popular spokesperson of all time for McDonald’s. To this day, considering how averse he grew to fast food during his career, it sticks out as strange.
The Bulls legend also had his very own meal with the fast food chain, called the McJordan special. The meal included a drink, and fries, along with a burger containing a quarter-pound patty with bacon, barbecue sauce, mustard, onions, and pickles, as per McDonald’s Wiki.
