Michael Jordan not only set the benchmarks on the court with his skills but also set standards on the business side having earned a total of $3.3 billion in his entire career. Following the remarkable achievement, Kevin Garnett gave the 6x champion his flowers on KG Certified of ALL THE SMOKE. The 47-year-old acknowledged Jordan for taking the business of basketball to another level while candidly expressing his thoughts.
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Towards the middle of last year, Sportico published the list of the highest-earning athletes of all time. Interestingly, MJ spearheaded the rankings after accumulating over $3 billion since entering the NBA in 1984. Despite adjusting for inflation, the 60-year-old left the legendary golfers such as Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus behind.
KG thus showcased his respect toward this off-court impact of the 5x MVP as his impact created a ripple effect.
“Michael Jordan is the GOATs of GOATs, he is the king of kings to me. All the luxuries we have today, all the structure we have, and a lot of businesses, to be able to do a lot of these, he initiated all that. He broke that boundary for us.”
Delving into the specifics, the 2008 champion shed light on Jordan’s influence on the basketball business. “Michael Jordan took us universal. We were not only household names universal but licensing went to another level. The business of basketball went to another level because of Mike. Mike made the league a trillion and he made Nike a trillion,” he highlighted.
Throughout MJ’s journey, his endorsement deals with Gatorade, Chevrolet, and McDonald’s spurred him into superstardom. Yet, his partnership with Nike for the Air Jordan series remains one of a kind to this day. Following his breakthrough on that deal, the rest of the NBA players also started to incentivize their contracts, causing a revolution in the market. Thus, KG’s words captured the accurate picture as Jordan indeed brought forth a new era to the game.
Who inspired Michael Jordan?
After inspiring uncountable NBA stars, the Black Jesus once shed light on his role model in the basketball business world. The 6x Finals MVP credited Julius Erving as his idol in the market, revealing, “I knew of his basketball and his creativity but the business acumen that he had was unbelievable”.
“Dr. J was one of the guys that I idolize from a business side of things and I wanted to take that same path and show that I was more than just a basketball player. I had a personality and I had a business mindset. I can coordinate and I can cross all the things,” he further added to highlight the impact of Dr. J.
It showcased how Jordan has been able to carry forward the baton perfectly from the previous generation. At the same time, the New York-born added his touch to it, transforming the mindset of the players irreversibly. Thus, the NBA certainly owes a lot to Michael Jordan.
