Did Michael Jordan achieve insurmountable glory because of his father James Jordan calling out his “manhood”? As James Jordan’s daughter and MJ’s sister Deloris E. Jordan that indeed was the case. In Air Jordan’s 2014 memoir, Michael Jordan: The Life, author Roland Lazenby pointed to Deloris’ statements which hint at the role of James Jordan in shaping her youngest brother’s enviable portfolio. The book touched upon how Jordan’s father would call out Jordan’s manhood repeatedly.
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Unable to keep up with his brothers and father during the tenuous work of car repairing, a teenage MJ got his masculinity questioned at every turn. When his father would ask for equipment, a clueless Michael Jordan wouldn’t know what to do. This usually drew a curt response from his “mechanical” father, who’d deride his son’s cluelessness. He would say, “Go in there with the women”, implying that his son wasn’t “man enough”. For James Jordan, a man oughta know the ins and outs of repairing a car and if not, then he belongs inside the home with his sisters and mother.
This derisive attitude paved the way for what author Lazenby termed a “hormonal surge” in Jordan whose masculinity was wounded. Unable to earn the respect of his father like his brothers, the Guard then started to work as hard as possible. He wanted to prove that he was more than capable of “being a man”. That’s why his sister attested to Jordan’s incredible work ethic as a gateway to prove his father wrong.
“During the early days of his NBA career, he confessed that it was my father’s early treatment of him and Daddy’s declaration of his worthlessness that became the driving force that motivated him. Each accomplishment that he achieved was his battle cry for defeating my father’s negative opinions of him,” Lazenby quoted Deloris E. Jordan in Michael Jordan: The Life.
Upon hearing his father’s mean words, Jordan felt the need to prove a point. He did prove him wrong but he knew that his accomplishments were possible because of those hurtful statements. That’s why when he tasted greatness, Air Jordan gave his father a ton of credit and also started to share his success with him.
Michael Jordan honored his father’s desires
After taking a lot of hits from Eastern Conference physical behemoths like the Bad Boys Pistons and the Celtics for around seven seasons, Jordan finally lifted his first NBA trophy in 1991. During this occasion, James Jordan was there to celebrate with him. The photograph of an emotional Jordan with the trophy with his father beside him is an iconic picture. In the photo, the father and son duo look like the mirror image of each other.
After getting close to his father during his playing days, Jordan wanted to honor his words too. The strict father wanted his child to be a dual-sport athlete ala Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson. This is why he picked up baseball alongside basketball. In that wake, MJ’s final conversation with James Jordan turned to the subject of him pursuing a baseball career.
“We were debating about me playing baseball. ‘Dad, I wanna go play baseball. I’m thinking about retiring and I wanna go play baseball.’ All the things he said, he said, ‘Do it. Do it.’ Because he got me started in baseball,” revealed Jordan in Episode 7 of The Last Dance
While his baseball career was not even a shadow of his NBA career, he did fulfill the wishes of his father. In many ways, he did embody his father on the court. His nasty trash talk coupled with the zeal to prove his worth were perhaps genetic. It is this very character that helped him become basketball’s icon.
