Most Michael Jordan stories are about how relentless he was as a competitor. However, it’s a breath of fresh air to come across a Jordan story that involves the Bulls legend rolling on the floor laughing at his teammate’s disastrous decision. Larry Johnson told one such story, which happened when he was working with MJ on the sets of the 1996 classic, Space Jam.
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One day, Johnson showed up with a weird haircut that had Jordan laughing like nobody’s seen before. Johnson detailed how the haircut came into existence and why it was a mistake to begin with.
He said, “I had a blend in fade and they had an Italian barber. I went there the first day…I say [to the barber], ‘Can you do this?’ [He said], ‘Oh, no problem.’”
This continued for at least ten days when Johnson finally decided to trust the barber and get a cut. To his surprise, the barber started to give him a fade with scissors, which was guaranteed to be a disaster.
“He got me turned away from the mirror and it was like, 10 minutes later, he’s talking about, ‘I’m done.’ I turned around and had a bowl cut around my [head]. This was a bowl, bro…I went to my trailer…cuz they was waiting on me…”
“I ain’t never seen Michael Jordan like this. He was on the floor [laughing]. They was giving it to me,” Johnson painfully recalled on All the Smoke podcast.
Larry Johnson,Shawn Bradley,Michael Jordan,Muggsy Bogues,Charles Barkley,and Patrick Ewing on the set of “Space Jam”(1996)#nba#basketball#legends pic.twitter.com/cf69esepx3
— PoloMan (@polo_man404) March 18, 2024
He received similar responses from Muggsy Bogues and Charles Barkley as well. It was a rare sight to witness Jordan in such a jolly mood. In his close circle, he liked having fun and roasting people from time to time.
It was evident that MJ had a lot of fun shooting Space Jam.
As far as haircuts are concerned, Jordan himself rocked the classic bald look, making himself immune to these jokes.
Was Michael Jordan’s bald look influenced by Onyx?
The bald look has become such a trend now that several celebrities, including actors sport that look. However, back when MJ debuted it, it wasn’t as common. During an interaction with DJ Vlad, Fredro Starr, a member of the hip-hop group Onyx, claimed that Jordan’s bald look was inspired by them.
He said, “Michael Jordan cut his hair bald because of Onyx.”
Although the influence of Onyx on popular culture is undeniable, Starr’s claims can’t be true. The reason why MJ decided to go bald was because he had a receding hairline. On top of that, Onyx became popular in the 90s. By that time, Jordan was already a household figure with his bald look.
