The NBA’s financial exuberance was at full display during this year’s free agency as max contract extensions were being thrown around the league like candy during Halloween. However, the NBA was in a very different financial position in the 90s. Despite the sheer dominance of the Chicago Bulls throughout the decade, there were always rumblings within the team regarding payment and other management issues. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the two top players on the roster, were at the epicenter of all the drama. However, 15 years after the internal rift within the organization unfolded in Chicago, Jordan claimed in an interview that he is not the kind of person to walk back on a deal.
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Michael Jordan is the richest athlete in the history of sports. His $2 billion net worth is a direct outcome of his lucrative 1984 deal with Nike, which led to the formation of the Jordan brand in the late 90s. However, MJ’s NBA salaries were pretty underwhelming for the majority of his career despite the immense value the Bulls superstar brought to the organization and the league as well. This would prompt the disgruntled legend to express his dissatisfaction with the Bulls management’s decision to hire the Croatian sensation Toni Kukoč in 1990.
Michael Jordan claimed that he never walked back on a signed deal
Jordan had signed a eight-year, $25,700,000 million contract extension with the Chicago Bulls in 1988, which promised him an average yearly salary of a little over $3,000,000. The deal seemed attractive to the Bulls superstar at the time. However, His Airness soon realized his true worth in the market after he led the Chicago side to their first NBA Championship in 1991.
Even before winning the chip in 1991, Jordan had started to express his frustrations with his pay. In 1990, he started fuming after learning that the Bulls were set to offer Kukoč a lucrative deal. Quite clearly agitated by the fact that the Bulls won’t pay him more, the 1988 NBA MVP vetoed the Kukoč signing by threatening to leave the organization, as per Sam Smith’s The Jordan Rules.
However, Jordan claimed during his 2005 sit-down with Cigar Aficionado’s Marvin R. Shanken, that his integrity would never allow him to backtrack on a signed contract simply for more money. “I have no problem speaking out publicly about issues. But for personal things, and for things about personal selfishness, or wanting more money, I don’t do that. Once I give my word, that’s it. I don’t go back to renegotiate. I don’t renegotiate my contracts,” MJ told Shanken.
Marcus Jordan confirmed MJ’s claim about backtracking on contracts
During an argument with his partner Larsa Pippen about modifying pre-nuptial agreements after marriage, Marcus Jordan cited his father’s wisdom confidently. During a recent episode of the couple’s podcast Separation Anxiety, Marcus told Larsa that his father would always advise him to never walk away from a mutually agreed deal even if the terms and conditions turn out to be unfruitful later on.
In response, Larsa Pippen argued that a marital contract is very different from an NBA contract. So the people in the relationship should have the right to renegotiate pre-nups further down the line.
