“Now you remember me?”: Michael Jordan Was Spiteful at Senegalese Basketball Player After the Latter’s Arrogance 

Michael Jordan is very nice, he will be good to you, until you piss him off. A story as old as time, provoking Jordan will only have bad consequences. As told by Marc J. Spears, we revisit a tale where a Senegalese basketball player thought he could get the best of MJ.

For UNC, Jordan’s alma mater, recruiting the best basketball players was routine. In a quest to run the best university program in the USA and to regularly compete for NCAA titles, they would get players from all over the world.

Enter Makhtar N’Diaye, a phenom from Senegal. As it happens, when the youngster was part of the UNC team, Michael Jordan had flown down for a visit.

And he shook everyone’s hands and asked for names. So in a bid to be remembered, he stood last and when Michael asked for his name, he replied courteously, except, N’Diaye would ask, “And what’s your name?”.

A stunned Michael replied and asked, “ahh you don’t watch NBA, where are you from?”. To which, N’Diaye replied he’s from Senegal and MJ made a comment about Africa not televising a lot of NBA games.

At this point it was all over, but then Makhtar had something to say.

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Michael Jordan laced up and beat UNC players for being compared to Hakeem

The UNC player goes, “by the way, Hakeem Olajuwon is the greatest basketball player of all time”. Uh-oh. To be fair to the young Senegalese, it was all about representing and showing your pride in Africa.

But Michael took it personally. He rushed out and then 10 minutes later showed up in practice gear, demanded Dean Smith for three walk-ons, and proceeded to beat all the teams.

Jordan even tried to dunk on Makhtar the whole game. Point made. But the real twist in the tale won’t come till years later when Makhtar and Antwan Jamison were outside a club in Miami.

Michael Jordan was a cold-blooded competitor when it came down to it. @MarcJSpears tells one of MJ’s little-known savage tales. #HoopStories 🏀 pic.twitter.com/lCrzsNxjEo

— Andscape (@andscape) December 26, 2022

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Jordan’s pettiness knows no bounds

So, outside the club, the two former UNC players were waiting in line to get in. The story goes that the exclusivity of the club was so great, minor celebrity status was not enough.

Makhtar sees Michael Jordan walk out on the balcony and waves to him, greets him, and asks him if he could get the guys in.

Jordan just looks down, and says “now you remember me?” and walked back in without saying another word. Instant classic.

Of course, MJ was petty, and rightfully so. As for Makhtar, we think he tucked himself rather sadly that night.

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