The year is 1993. The location, Chicago’s second-largest restaurant. And Larry King himself has come to interview the owner, a recently retired Jordan.
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Over the next forty-odd minutes ‘Black Jesus’ would describe in detail his life as a retired player. A question many have asked over the years would be answered. What does a billionaire former basketball player do with all the time on his hands? Turns out even billionaires have to do household chores and they hate it too.
Jordan’s Surprise Retirement
At the time of the interview, Jordan was just a year removed from his legendary years with the Chicago Bulls. He had just completed the first three-peat run with the Bulls, years in which he had played a pivotal role. These were the years when Jordan became a true superstar, the face of the league, and as introduced in the Larry King interview, ‘the most famous athlete in the world’.
Jordan’s retirement would be a huge surprise. A player retiring at the peak of his prowess is one thing, arguably the greatest ever to do it retiring is mind-blowing. Thus in 1993, Jordan must have had a rough transition. Imagine going from a superstar athlete busy all day round to a life of relative domesticity.
Read more: How Does $1.6 Billion Worth Michael Jordan Spend His Money? $15 Million Mansion, Entire Hospitals and So Much More
What did the Retired Jordan say in the interview?
In the interview, he would address it with his trademark candor, confessing that he often found himself wondering what he would do each day. Every day Joes might have chores or bills to pay on their mind but when you have generational wealth, such prosaic concerns don’t trouble you.
Jordan’s wealth enabled him to do what he wanted, and he said that ‘part of the charm is you are able to go out and do it’. He would also see the funny angle in the whole situation. ‘Hanging out with your kids all day, great. Taking over your wife’s activities for a day, that’s not great’ and so on. Even the great Michael Jordan hated doing chores which is probably the most relatable thing about him.
At the end of the day, for the retired player, the silver lining was that ‘whatever I choose to do, I want to do.’ Of course, as history tells us, Air Jordan was soon fed up with being aimless and took flight again.
