“I wore number 23 for Michael Jordan!”: David Beckham speaks on how 6’6″ Bulls legend inspired him

David Beckham is a sports icon who transcends Football – even he cannot stop gushing about Michael Jordan.

A global superstar like David Beckham rarely has the chance to feel stymied in the presence of celebrities. He’s married to Posh Spice and is the brand ambassador for high-value brands. Few people don’t recognize him, be it from ads, or “Bend it like Beckham”. Such a person has an idol too – and that is Michael Jordan.

When DB7 moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid, his number was already taken. So he naturally gravitated to MJ’s number 23. He modelled his professional career around Jordan and tried to emulate his career with the same level of professionalism. Unlike Jordan, he did a lot of club hopping, but he was respected the same in all these places.

He even had a great meeting story, which he shared on Sneaker Shopping with Complex. He told Joe La Puma about the time when he was out in London for dinner with his wife and kid, and someone sent him a bottle of champagne. It was common for him to receive bottles, but this one was special. Once he found out MJ had sent it over, he rushed over immediately to thank him.

Beckham took a lot of inspiration from the Bulls legend and brought some of it over to his boots as well.

Also Read: LeBron James had two scoring titles stolen at 21 and 35 by Kevin Durant and Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan spans across sports – his collaboration with Paris Saint Germain speaks volumes

A lot of fans throng outside stores to get their hands on Jordan x PSG – a football-centric fan base lining up to buy basketball-backed merchandise. The Jordan brand jerseys and shoe collaborations go well together, no wonder they sell out. A lot of fashion influencers sport them in their Instagram posts, which sell them even more.

Beckham himself used to endorse these jerseys – until he went and bought a team of his own. If there is a collaboration with Inter Miami and JB in the future, only time will tell. More athletes are starting to support other sports openly, like how Josh Hart and Joel Embiid do. The European football players have also done a lot of trips to the States to watch games.

NBA is a growing sport – transcendental players like David Beckham are necessary to bring the sport to other countries across the globe.

Also Read: Michael Jordan releases statement on passing away of Celtics legend Bill Russell