Michael Jordan, a man with an unmatched desire to win, entered NASCAR to conquer motorsports as an owner. In 2021, he launched 23XI Racing and chose Bubba Wallace as its first driver. Wallace recently revealed a valuable lesson the six-time NBA champion taught him, which also explained why Jordan stays away from the very cars he owns.
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In an interview with Katie Nolan on YouTube, Wallace described Jordan as a great boss. He used words like “laid back,” a description few would ever associate with the man they watched dominate at his basketball peak. Back then, Jordan was relentless, with a competitive spirit matched by perhaps only one man in NBA history: Kobe Bryant.
The businessman in Jordan appears to be more level-headed, which is a necessity. He avoids rash decisions and steers clear of unnecessary risks. Perhaps that is why he will never join Wallace for a drive in a racing car.
Nolan asked the 31-year-old driver whether Jordan ever drove with him, and he immediately replied no. “He won’t,” Wallace revealed. “He taught me that if you know you’re gonna go into something and lose, don’t participate.”
Oddly, it made sense. Nolan agreed, and she admitted to not realizing how simple, but genius that advice was. But in reality, it seems like good advice only for ordinary people, and not a phenom like MJ, who hardly backed down from any challenge during his Hall of Fame career.
Jordan didn’t know whether he would succeed in baseball, but that didn’t stop him from retiring from the NBA in 1993 to pursue a career in MLB. He returned to basketball a year later, yet he can still look back on that decision with pride and say, “I tried.” He cannot do the same with NASCAR, at least not right now. And to be fair, swinging a bat in a ballpark is one thing, but driving cars at nearly 200 mph around a circuit is another entirely.
For now, the Chicago Bulls icon is living his passion in motorsports through 23XI‘s Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and Co. Recently, he also registered his 9th NASCAR Cup Series win as an owner when Wallace won the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis.
It was a complete justification of the $2.2 million salary Wallace draws from 23XI. Jordan had said in an interview that he only pays the big bucks to winners. Well, Wallace just won, and now he demands MJ pay up!
