Michael Jordan is quite literally the definition of what a cultural icon is. The Chicago Bulls legend entered the league as one of its most exciting draws and established himself as being a part of the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird realm of superstars rather quickly.
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Adam Silver himself said during the ‘Last Dance’ docuseries that attaching a handsome man like Jordan to marketing schemes, combined with his talents and influence was bound to bring about the success for the NBA.
This formula was also used by not just the league, but also a bevy of companies that wanted to attach MJ’s likeness to their own products and services. Gatorade, McDonald’s, Nike, are just a few names that had Jordan at their hip during the 1980s and 90s in order to gain cache with the general public.
Michael Jordan earned more off the court than on it in 1989
Michael Jordan was underpaid for a majority of his career. Only in the 1997 and 1998 NBA seasons did he sign one-year deals that were considered magnanimous at the time, earning over 30 million in each year. Even then, this was considered to be an underpay given just how valuable he was the league.
During an interview with GQ in 1989, a season after winning both the MVP and the DPOY, it was revealed that Jordan had actually earned a total of $5 million off the court that year. This was through a variety of endorsements and advertisements.
What makes this interesting is the fact that after the 19987-88 seasons, ‘His Airness’ signed a $26 million deal with the Chicago Bulls that ran for a total of 8 years. This would put his yearly income from the Bulls, pre-tax, at around $3-3.3 million.
1988: Michael Jordan signs 8 year, $25 million contract.
“For 7.5 years, MJ won 4 titles, 4 finals MVP’s, 3 regular season MVP’s & 6 scoring titles. And you think Scottie was underpaid? Michael is the most underpaid athlete ever.” — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/4R7SzwZDfq
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 20, 2020
Essentially, the real income came from using his on-court brilliance as a way to market himself off the court to bring in as much passive income as he could.
Michael Jordan laid down the path for the athletes of today in this regard
Guys like Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant have all built up an incredible amount of wealth during their NBA careers. While they were blessed with contracts much better than Jordan’s due to an ever-evolving CBA, it was their actions off the court that led to them establishing their monetary status.
LeBron doesn’t come close to reaching billionaire status without his endorsements and investments. Shaq has a reported net worth of $400 million despite having retired close to 12 years ago. Jordan’s net worth is at the $2 billion mark despite retiring 2 decades ago.
