“You Just Got to Work”: Despite Initially Following His Mother’s Words, Michael Jordan Quit His First Job

Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. But you might be surprised to learn that there were some things that he wasn’t the greatest at in life. One of those things was keeping a job growing up. Despite initially heeding his mother’s words as a kid, Jordan eventually quit his first job.

Michael’s mother and father pushed their kids to get jobs growing up to teach them how the world works. It also taught them a sense of responsibility and helped provide for a large household. That’s why one summer during high school, his mother arranged a job for him at a hotel.

 “One summer, my mom said, ‘You just got to work,’ and she got me a job as a maintenance man in a hotel,” Jordan told GQ.

It’s a smart thing for a parent to do for their teenage kids. A high school job can teach one responsibility and hard work, to give them a sneak peek into the real world. It can also give one a leg up on future competition, as only 22% of high schoolers have jobs in the US. 

But MJ quickly figured out he wasn’t cut out for work. 

“Man, I quit that job so quick! I just couldn’t do it, I could not keep regular hours. It just wasn’t me. From then on, I never, ever had another job.”

Jordan insisted that he couldn’t keep regular hours. After that, he never had another job until his NBA fame. It’s kind of wild when you think about it. But MJ seemingly wasn’t cut out for the typical 9-5 working world.

Perhaps the most unfortunate part of the entire situation, though, was that Jordan’s mother had begged to get him the job in the first place. All of her hard work ended up for nothing.

His mother begged Michael Jordan to get a job

In his book Michael Jordan: The Life, he detailed how his mother Deloris had begged to get him the job at the hotel. She met the owner while working at the bank as one of her clients, and she used the connection to ensure that Michael could get his first job experience.

Furthermore, Jordan was only paid $3.10 per hour while working the job. A shocking difference from his eventual NBA superstardom, where he was paid as much as $33 million in one season. Although when you adjust for inflation, the total comes out to around $18 an hour. So, it was actually quite a good job for the time. It’s too bad Michael couldn’t make it work.

Today, Jordan has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion. A far cry from what he was making during his first job in high school. Even though he eventually quit, it’s always a good idea to at least try to work in high school to get an idea of what’s to come. But of course, that didn’t end up mattering for MJ. It’s too bad not all of us can be like Mike.