Michael Jordan had already become extremely popular by the time he made it to the NBA. As a North Carolina graduate and NBA rookie, MJ’s dominance on the court had already resulted in a huge fan following, which affected various spheres of his life. Once he proved his worth in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan’s fame skyrocketed making him one of the most famous faces of the NBA. Fed up with the kind of attention that he was receiving, MJ eventually found refuge in movie theaters.
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Jordan had a firm habit of being mobbed by his fans no matter where he went in public. This included malls, restaurants, and even the gas station. However, no one lost their mind when he was at movie theaters, according to Roland Lazenby’s Michael Jordan: The Life.
Michael Jordan would go to movie theaters to escape the public
Jordan’s lifestyle included 5 AM wake-up calls and constant exposure to the public. He was seen as basketball’s newest magician and was basically mobbed everywhere he went.
This was true in most public places, according to Hallam, the chief Bulls staff member who would travel with MJ. Hallam explained that Jordan started going to movie theaters in order to feel like a normal person:
“Teams still flew commercially in those days, which meant that road life began early in the morning with five-o’clock wake-up calls and immediate exposure to a public that recognized him at every turn. People simply felt compelled to approach the sports world’s newest magician, and it usually wouldn’t take long before he was mobbed.
This meant that Jordan effectively could not find peace and be left alone when out in public. His chagrin even led to Hallam advising him to simply ignore people:
Hallam explained. “I would say, ‘You know what, he’s got to just say, the hell with it, and go about what he wants to do.’ But then you find out when you see him come out like that, that he can’t. Because people would go so gaga over him, whether it be an adult or kid or whoever, they couldn’t hold themselves back. They’d lose their fucking minds. That’s how it was for him.”
This eventually led to MJ finding refuge in movie theaters:
The situation sent him looking for refuge. “Michael used to talk about going to a movie theater,” Joe O’Neil explained. “You go sit in a movie theater, you’re just like a regular person. Aside from that, restaurants, malls, the gas station, anywhere you go, people are going to be all over you.”
While Hallam wanted MJ to ignore people in public, he realized quickly that that was not possible. The kind of influence Jordan had meant that he was effectively mobbed wherever he went, which meant that the issue was bound to eventually affect him.
MJ eventually turned to gold and gambling
Jordan’s lifestyle meant that he banked on his family and those around him for mental peace. He had discovered that the kind of winning mentality and adrenaline addiction that he showed on the court, he felt off it as well:
“More and more, golf was becoming his means of escape. His other main discovery about his life was that even when he got away, his competitive urges and the adrenaline rushes they bred were still with him. He had long enjoyed small bets on all sorts of things, but especially golf. As the sanctuary of his personal life evaporated, he turned to golf for relief and to wagering to feed his craving for an adrenaline rush.”
This meant that once he lost the sanctuary of his personal life, especially with respect to his wife, MJ responded by turning to golf and gambling. Despite holding out a firm dislike for drugs and alcohol, MJ instead found his vices in gambling and golf.
