Even in the early stages of his career, before the fanfare and the acclaim, Michael Jordan had his mother, Deloris Jordan, in his corner. In 1981, he wasn’t a North Carolina Tar Heel, he wasn’t on the national radar and had in fact struggled to make his high school varsity team two years prior.
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With the help of a timely growth spurt, and that undeniable Jordan determination, a young Mike averaged a near 27-point triple-double during his senior year at Laney High School, earning a spot on the McDonald’s All-American Team. When the All-American Boys Game took place on April 11, 1981, Jordan was paired with his future NBA competitors, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin.
The North Carolina native would look like the best of them though, erupting for 30 points on the night. It was the highest single-game point total recorded in the McDonald’s game at the time, but somehow it wouldn’t suffice to earn MJ the MVP award. Deloris, Mike’s fiercest proponent, was fuming after the result.
“No one was more furious than Deloris Jordan,” Roland Lazenby wrote in ‘Michael Jordan: The Life’. “She dropped her normal composure and let anyone within earshot know that her son had been robbed.”
The three judges — John Wooden, Sonny Hill, and Morgan Wootten — instead voted for Adrian Branch and Aubrey Sherrod, earning them the MVP honor in Wichita. It was understandably frustrating as Jordan had not only set a record on the night, he had sunk the game-winning free throws for the East.
“”She was very upset,” Howard Garfinkel recalled. “I just explained to her there’s only one list that counts, and that’s the night of the first pick of the NBA draft.””
Nonetheless, Deloris mouthing off at the judges at the Levitt Arena set the tone for Mike’s career. She would continue to play a pivotal role through the following years too.
Michael Jordan’s mother helped him become a billionaire
The 2023 film ‘Air’ highlighted just how important Mrs. Jordan was in the negotiation for MJ’s signature. Three years after the All-American MVP snub, Deloris found her son hesitant to hear out an up-and-coming shoe brand named Nike.
She forced Mike to hear out Sonny Vaccaro, the executive who was ready to gamble Nike’s entire basketball budget on the Tar Heels shooting guard. “My mother said, ‘You’re gonna go listen. You may not like it, but you’re gonna go listen,” the six-time champion revealed on ‘The Last Dance’.
He went and listened, but didn’t sign immediately. MJ gave Adidas an opportunity to counter Nike’s offer but after much contemplation, he would put pen to paper in Oregon.
Four decades later, that partnership has helped Mike become one of the 400 richest people in America. The ‘Jordan’ brand cracked the $7 billion mark in revenue this year, and with 5% of the royalties going to His Airness, he has earned $350 million in 2024; in large part, thanks to Deloris Jordan.
