Michael Jordan is the richest basketball player by a long way. In fact, he is probably one of the richest athletes in the world. At $2.2 billion dollars, MJ’s net worth is on par with some incredibly successful businessmen. However, when he began playing for the Bulls. He wasn’t paid much by the team. But with his loyalty to the team and his inhibition to portray himself as a greedy player, Michael refused to ask for a raise.
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By 1987, Jordan had established himself as a once-in-a-lifetime talent. His charisma only accented his skill. If it was difficult to peel your eyes off of him on the court, it was impossible to do so in public. He was the best possible package for any brand. And Nike recognized that.
While he was making a ton of money from his brand deal, Michael Jordan was making not as much as he should have from the Bulls. As per Roland Lazenby, Michael realized he was underpaid but did not want to do anything about it.
Michael Jordan avoided asking for a pay hike from Jerry Reinsdorf
In the book, Lazenby interviewed a journalist who spent a lot of time with MJ. Lacy Banks, who worked with The Sun-Times, was covering Chicago in 1987. He grew close to Michael as the season progressed.
The two even began playing cards together. In his first four years with the Bulls, he made about $2.76 million. Not a lot for a player of his talent.
Lacy revealed to Lazenby how the Black Jesus had a complicated relationship with money. Lacy claimed that though Michael Jordan had not received a big contract yet, he was hoping Jerry Reinsdorf would break the contract and offer him more money.
Lacy: “When I started covering Michael, he was still evolving. He hadn’t even gotten a big contract yet. He
had this principle that he signed his contract with Reinsdorf and he felt duty bound. If Reinsdorf wanted to break it and give him some money, he wouldn’t turn it down. But he didn’t feel it was his place to say, ‘I think I’m worth more money now. I think you ought to pay me”
Michael never had to focus on his NBA salary
Lazenby detailed how another reason Jordan not asking for more money was his pride. Michael was literally making a lot more from his Air Jordan shoe deal than anyone else in the entire league.
Because his talent and charisma were so incredible, his endorsements and brand deals were groundbreaking. He was one of the first few to truly not care about his NBA paycheck.
