Michael Jordan is widely considered the king of basketball, the GOAT of the NBA, and Michael Jackson was known as the ‘King of Pop.’ So, what happened when their paths crossed?
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Jordan ruled the 1990s, winning six NBA titles which included two three-peats while carrying the Bulls to the top of the NBA world alongside superstar teammates Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman with legendary head coach Phil Jackson.
Much like Jordan, Michael Jackson had his rise to superstardom in the 1980s. Jordan was drafted in 1984 by the Chicago Bulls and that same year, Jackson would release his landmark album ‘Thriller’ which became the first album to showcase seven Top 10 Hits on Billboard Hot 100. It can’t be a coincidence that these two decided to team up once.
Remembering The Time Michael Jackson And Michael Jordan Showed Each Other Their Arts
Michael Jordan? Great at basketball. Michael Jackson? Great at dancing and pop. What would happen if the two decided to crossover once?
Fans got to see that in the summer of 1992 when Jackson was gearing up for the launch of his album ‘Dangerous.’ He wanted the song ‘Jam’ to feature a basketball theme, and so who else would Jackson turn to besides the best player in the league at the time?
Phil Rose, the video producer of the song spoke to ESPN about the plans to get Jordan on board for the video of the song. “Michael (Jackson) was a huge fan of Michael Jordan,” Rose said. “When you’re at that level, if you want to work with someone that you’re a fan of, I’m sure it’s quite easy to work out.”
Jordan wasn’t on board right from the start because he knew he was going to be on set with the best of the best at the time, and so he was worried his dancing skills wouldn’t be up to the mark.
“First I said, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this, because this guy’s going to try to get me out there to dance, and that’s going to be really embarrassing,'” Jordan said to ESPN. “But then I said: ‘Well, shoot, it’s Michael Jackson. When would you ever get an opportunity to get to know him socially for a little bit, and yet at the same time, get to do his video?’ So I changed my mind and went on and did it.”
Eventually Jordan agreed and in return for Jackson teaching him how to dance, Jordan decided to give Jackson a lesson in basketball, squaring up with the pop superstar in one on ones.
“I got to work with the greatest sports legend of all time, Michael Jordan,” Jackson recalled. “We had to play one-on-one; it was so embarrassing. He never missed, that was the object, for him to teach me to play basketball and for me to teach him to dance.”
Now, for the juicy part. If you’ve never had the chance to see Jordan try to copy Jackson’s patened moves or the ‘King of Pop’ shoot some hoops, here’s your chance.
As for the official song and video you can watch here:
