Michael Jordan cemented his legacy in the NBA as one of, if not, the greatest players to have touched its hardwood. His time with the Chicago Bulls saw a series of runs that the league had seen in the 60s, when there were half as many teams as there were during MJ’s era. However, according to Jordan, having a legacy in the NBA wasn’t enough. He wanted to explore his options upon his retirement and see what a different continent’s level of basketball was like.
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NBA players going to play overseas is nothing new. Magic Johnson played for a team he purchased in Sweden, Dennis Rodman played in England, Finland, and the Philippines, and even Scottie Pippen suited up for a Finnish basketball squad.
MJ wanted to indulge in something that his contemporaries had indulged in. a lot of players who still had an itch to play professional basketball after their bodies couldn’t handle the NBA usually went to play overseas, with the most prominent in today’s league being Dwight Howard in Taiwan.
Michael Jordan on wanting to play in Europe
Michael Jordan retired on 3 separate occasions during his illustrious NBA career, each for a different reason. His 3rd and final time was simply because at the age of 40, the Wizards guard didn’t have anything else to offer the game of basketball in the United States.
During an interview with Playboy in 1992, 11 years before he had actually decided to hang up the Jordans for good, MJ expressed a keen interest in playing in Europe: “I’d love to play in Europe”.
“I’ve thought about it. I would love to go to Europe and play for 1 year. I could play once a week. It would be like a field trip,” said ‘His Airness’ during the interview.
If Michael felt good enough about his game to go overseas and play professionally, he certainly could’ve at the very least tried to stay in the NBA. The contracts are larger in the league but at the same time, by the time MJ had reached the point of retirement, money wasn’t an issue for him any longer. So, playing for comfortability over larger contracts was where his head was at.
Of course, this never ended up happening as after he retired from the NBA, he enjoyed his life in retirement, even getting married once again and purchasing the Charlotte Hornets.
Michael was eager to retire
In this same interview, Jordan repeatedly confessed that he did not like the spotlight that was placed on him. He challenged anybody to try to be him for even a day and claimed they wouldn’t be able to. When asked what he wouldn’t miss after retiring, he said:
“I won’t miss the glare. I won’t miss the aggravations of people wanting autographs at all times of the night. The hotels. I won’t miss all that.”
