Michael Jordan is remembered for a lot of things. He’s revered for his leaping ability, competitiveness, and overall greatness. But he’s also touted as one of the most intense and meanest players to be around. Jordan’s teammates would regularly complain about his meanness, especially during practice, so much so that the complaints made their way into books and documentaries for all to see and hear.
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There’s plenty to say about Jordan, but the way he treated others has always stood out the most. Whether it was his rudeness to teammates or the trash talk he dished out to opponents, MJ has always come across as mean from afar. Even The Last Dance documentary featured a scene where he seemingly bullied General Manager Jerry Krause.
However, for Rene Knott, a former reporter who used to cover the Chicago Bulls, there’s a different side to Jordan that not many know about. As it turns out, he wasn’t rude or mean to everybody.
“Michael Jordan always took time with the media,” Rene shared on The Circuit of Success. “No matter if the game was won or lost, how he played, he would talk.”
Rene went on to talk about a time when he got to follow the team on a trip to New York. He had access to Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the rest of the guys for the entire trip. During that time, he couldn’t believe how many media members wanted to talk to MJ, especially after the game, when a massive crowd surrounded his locker.
But Rene revealed that Jordan talked to every single one. “There’s this big group around them, and as it shrank, guys get their quotes and they move out. Shrink, move out, shrink. It was just me and him. And he didn’t turn away like, ‘I’m done.’ He talked,” he shared.
MJ did have to deal with an ungodly number of journalists and their questions, so hearing this story is certainly heartwarming. However, he too had his share of issues with certain media outlets. For example, there was a time when Sports Illustrated ran a story titled “Bag It, Michael!” criticizing his infamously short baseball career. Reportedly, that cover made Jordan swear never to do any work with them again.
MJ never talked to Sports Illustrated again after this cover: Bag It, Michael! #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/4wE1wIRYad
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) May 11, 2020
It all ties into an idea that former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas once spoke about. He said that people who badmouthed Jordan would never get access to him.
“You did not talk down on Michael Jordan’s name, or your a** was gone. Skip Bayless, what he’s done to LeBron in 22 years, he wouldn’t have had no job past the first motherf**king month. The media we have today didn’t exist then… So, there was no making a career off of Michael Jordan slander,” he once shared on Gil’s Arena.
The media landscape today is much different from what it was in the ’90s when Jordan played. Back then, he had the power to control who spoke to him and when. It may sound unfair, but he used that power, and at times, even abused it.
Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact that he spoke to every single reporter after a tough day. That goes a long way, and soundbites from the great Michael Jordan kept journalists like Rene employed. So maybe we should consider that the next time we call him mean.
