{"id":149539,"date":"2017-09-28T12:54:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T19:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilcomprd.wpengine.com\/?p=149539"},"modified":"2023-06-15T05:56:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T12:56:49","slug":"michael-jordans-1992-playboy-magazine-interview-jealously-racism-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ballislife.com\/michael-jordans-1992-playboy-magazine-interview-jealously-racism-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jordan's 1992 Playboy Magazine Interview: Jealously, Racism & Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bil-playboy-mj2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Growing up as a kid in the 80s and early 90s -- before even the days of slow loading Tyra Banks pics on a 56k dial-up modem\u00a0-- the only accessible nudity for a young boy was usually via Cinemax (aka Skinamax back then) after 11 PM or a Dad with a hidden stash of Playboy<\/em> magazines...or Penthouse<\/em>...or Hustler<\/em> if they were really freaky. One of my best friends had a Dad with a stash (no Hustler<\/em>) and I'll never forget the first time I unfolded one of those Playboy<\/em> centerfolds in the middle of the magazine and I'll never forget coming across a Playboy All-American Basketball team spread in the magazine. Basketball and boobs! The 11-year old me was in heaven and realized there's more to life than beating Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson's Punch Out<\/em> for Nintendo and watching Michael Jordan play on station WGN.<\/p>\n

Michael Jordan made his Playboy debut in one of those All-American Basketball spreads (top left); standing in short-shorts, wearing a Converse shirt and Adidas shoes, next to Sam Perkins and his even shorter shorts. A year later, he made his second appearance (top right) and this time he had Converse shoes on his feet and a gold chain around his neck. Most of the other players in the photo -- taken around the time Run D.M.C released their debut album -- also were sporting a gold chain. No surprise, Chris Mullin was not.<\/p>\n

Eight years, a couple of NBA championships<\/a> and a bunch of individual accolades later, Jordan reappeared in a 1992 issue of the magazine, participating in what I consider his most interesting and shocking interview ever. \u00a0Here's a transcript of the interview, which touches on everything from his early beef with Magic Johnson, the Bad Boy Pistons, jealousy among NBA players, racism, politics and death of a friend that caused his phobia of the water.<\/p>\n

And if you make it to the end of the interview, there's a nice Jordan shoes commercial parody with playmate Francesca Frigo.<\/p>\n

\"bil-jordan-playboy92\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From the May of 1992 issue of Playboy Magazine by Mark Vancil
\nReprinted by\u00a0LONGFORM.COM<\/a><\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How did you get the news about Magic?
\nJordan:<\/strong> His agent, Lon Rosen, left me a message at practice and he said it\u2019s an emergency, he\u2019s got to talk to me. When I called him back, he told me, \u201cMagic\u2019s having a press conference today. He\u2019s going to retire. He tested positive for HIV.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Where were you when he told you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was driving home. I almost drove off the road. I said, \u201cThis has to be some kind of sick joke.\u201d He said, \u201cWell, Earvin wants to talk to you.\u201d So he gave me Earvin\u2019s number and I called him at home. He was as calm as you and I. I said to him, \u201cDamn, you\u2019re calmer than I am. I\u2019m about to drive off the road.\u201d He said, \u201cI just want you to continue on with your life. I\u2019m going to be fine, my baby\u2019s going to be fine, my wife is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Before Magic\u2019s announcement, did players ever talk about AIDS?
\nJordan:<\/strong> We were aware of it, but most guys never thought of it happening to heterosexuals. It was always gays, drug users and people who got it from transfusions. But it slapped me right in the face. From all angles, it slapped me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Have you been tested?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been tested for the last two years.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Because I\u2019ve had insurance policies that demanded it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Would it surprise you if there were other sports figures who tested positive?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Would it have surprised you before Magic\u2019s announcement?
\nJordan:<\/strong> One of your prime personalities has gone public and said he got it through promiscuity. He wasn\u2019t the only promiscuous athlete. I\u2019m pretty sure he won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Tell us about life on the road in the N.B.A.
\nJordan:<\/strong> There are a lot of things being said about the opportunities you have on the road. Sure, you have opportunities, you have opportunities everywhere. After the game, you see different women. Players have always been knowledgeable about that, to say who\u2019s who and what\u2019s what. If you don\u2019t listen, then you\u2019re putting yourself at risk.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> And there are guys who don\u2019t think or listen.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Magic said it himself: You never think it can happen to you. Next thing you know, you\u2019re stung by a bee.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Are guys really going to learn this lesson, or is it just a passing concern?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It\u2019s going to cut down some of the playing around. But I also think it\u2019s going to allow for both men and women to be more open-minded about safe sex. I think Magic is going to make players say, Hey, don\u2019t be afraid to ask this person. Now it\u2019s a given: You have to talk about it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> It used to be that a player\u2019s primary concern was not getting someone pregnant\u2014
\nJordan:<\/strong> Or getting V.D. or herpes. Now you pray for that.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What was your relationship with Magic early on in your career?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I liked him when I was in high school. They used to call me Magic Jordan. My first car had a license plate with Magic Jordan on it. It was a 1976 Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Things were pretty strained between you when you first got into the league, weren\u2019t they?
\nJordan:<\/strong> There was a little bit of envy because of the way I came into the league. Magic came in with even more flair and even more success. And he should have been even bigger than I was in terms of endorsements and business opportunities. But he wasn\u2019t marketed that way. And I was fortunate to have good people. So there was some envy.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How did the two of you get over it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> During my third year, he invited me out to play in his summer charity game. We ironed out our differences in private in the locker room and we began a relationship.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> There are some differences you haven\u2019t ironed out. What\u2019s the story with you and Isiah Thomas and the alleged Jordan freeze-out at the 1985 N.B.A. All-Star game? Do you think they were really denying you the ball?
\nJordan:<\/strong> If you go back and look at the film, you can see that Isiah was actually doing that. Once it started getting around that he was freezing me out, that\u2019s when the ill feelings started to grow between us.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> There were some problems even before the game, weren\u2019t there?
\nJordan:<\/strong> That was my first All-Star game. I stayed in my room most of the time because I didn\u2019t know what to do. None of my teammates were there. I didn\u2019t want to be out in a situation that I wasn\u2019t comfortable with. The one time I did go out, I got on an elevator with Isiah Thomas to go downstairs for a league meeting. That was the first time I met him. And I said, \u201cHello, how ya doin\u2019?\u201d That\u2019s all I said. I was really intimidated because I didn\u2019t know him and I didn\u2019t want to get on his nerves. I didn\u2019t want to seem like a rookie. You know, to just be so stupid. So I was quiet. I stayed in the corner. When I went down in the room for the meeting, I still didn\u2019t say anything. After the weekend was over, it got back to me that I was arrogant and cocky and I wouldn\u2019t even speak to Isiah on the elevator, that I gave him the cold shoulder. And I\u2019m saying Isiah Thomas initiated it all.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How did that make you feel?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was really disappointed and upset because I never wanted to step on anybody\u2019s toes. When I came into the league, I considered myself the lowest on the totem pole. I\u2019m a rookie, now let me work my way up. When I started with the Bulls, they wanted me to be a vocal leader, but I told coach Kevin Loughery that I didn\u2019t feel comfortable doing that. We had all these guys with six or seven years in the league and I was in my first year. How could I tell these guys this and that? The best way I could do it was just to go out and play hard. And that\u2019s the way I\u2019ve always treated it. They took that as disrespect and misinterpreted that whole weekend.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> The next game after the All-Star break was at home against Detroit. How did you react?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Normally, I would smile and enjoy myself, but I was serious the whole game. It was a grudge game from my standpoint. And the next day, the headlines read \u201cJordan Gets His Revenge, Scores 49.\u201d That\u2019s all Isiah needed to see. It was a competition from that point. I always tried to respect him and be kind, but I always would hear talk that he was saying things about me behind my back. I just said, Well, I\u2019m gonna stop trying to be nice. Screw it. Just play basketball. We don\u2019t have to be best of friends.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Was that experience ultimately good for you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Well, it taught me about the jealousy that you deal with on this level. But at the same time, this is a business. I\u2019m going to take advantage of all the opportunities. If they were in my shoes, they would do the exact same thing.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Other players were jealous of your success in endorsements and business dealings?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Right. But why must I squander my opportunities because those guys never got that opportunity? They don\u2019t want me to have it and they\u2019re going to be pissed at me if I do it? Screw that. And some people may view that as wrong. I see people writing letters to the editor: \u201cI\u2019m tired of seeing Michael Jordan\u2019s face everywhere.\u201d Who are you? Because if you were where I am, you\u2019d be doing the same thing. I\u2019m not going to let that bother me. This is a business. I want to take advantage of my opportunities and walk away from the game financially set. I\u2019m not doing anything that anybody else in my position wouldn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When did you adjust to being a celebrity?
\nJordan:<\/strong> My fourth year.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Not until then?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was really liking it up until about my fourth year. But that\u2019s when you start getting tired. Your moods start to change. People start taking advantage of your niceness. And you want more time for yourself. You change your whole attitude. I\u2019m starting to be more open about everything. Before I was hesitant about saying how I feel.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What do you mean?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I\u2019ll tell you if I don\u2019t like something. Before I would just keep it to myself. Now I\u2019m becoming a little more opinionated because people have become more opinionated about me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk a little about your public image. Why didn\u2019t you go to the White House when President Bush invited the team?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t want to go. I had something else to do. Before I would have said, \u201cWell, I had my reasons.\u201d I\u2019d do it in a very respectful way. But that\u2019s none of your business. The Bulls knew I wasn\u2019t going, so why must I tell you? Go ask them why I didn\u2019t go. They knew. I make my stand now because it\u2019s easy for people to take advantage of me and become more opinionated about things that I choose to do. I may not be in agreement with what people want me to do. Who gives a damn? They don\u2019t live the life that I try to live. Do I ask them why they go to the bathroom?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> They don\u2019t have to deal with what you deal with.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Right, they don\u2019t. People say they wish they were Michael Jordan. OK, do it for a year. Do it for two years. Do it for five years. When you get past the fun part, then go do the part where you get into cities at three a.m. and you have fifteen people waiting for autographs when you\u2019re as tired as hell. Your knees are sore, back\u2019s sore, your body\u2019s sore, and yet you have to sign fifteen autographs at three in the morning.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What happens if you don\u2019t?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Somebody will take a shot, saying, \u201cOh, look at him.\u201d On one road trip, we got into Denver at three in the morning and there were people sitting in the hotel lobby. I was tired. I said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, please, I\u2019m tired.\u201d Then I heard, \u201cI guess that\u2019s the Jordan rules.\u201d I just kept on walking. One of these days I\u2019m going to say, \u201cGo screw yourself.\u201d Maybe when I\u2019m walking out of the league.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Tell us about your championship season. Was it as turbulent as it was described in The Jordan Rules?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I haven\u2019t read it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> In the book, Sam Smith remarked on all the tickets you got to a sold-out game in last year\u2019s finals. The implication was that you were being afforded preferential treatment. Are your Bulls tickets free?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I buy every damn ticket. Ain\u2019t nobody giving me tickets. I pay for all those fifty-dollar box-seat tickets I give to little kids. For all the loose tickets that I may have after a game that I do not use and I give to [Bulls forward] Scottie Pippen, give to [Bulls forward] Horace Grant, give to people, I pay for them all. I don\u2019t ask them to pay me back. I spent one hundred thousand dollars on tickets last year that I didn\u2019t get back. That\u2019s money that I paid the Bulls and other teams. So don\u2019t bitch at me about all the tickets I spread around.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Another anecdote, which presumably shows you as a selfish scorer, had Bulls center Bill Cartwright talking about a game against New Jersey. According to Cartwright, you were complaining that coach Phil Jackson took you out of the game to keep you from scoring more.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Sam Smith says Cartwright said I was bitching about not getting fifty points and that everyone could have scored twenty instead. That\u2019s the biggest lie in America. The whole offense is set for Cartwright to score as many points as he can. If he can\u2019t score, that\u2019s his damn problem. All I can do is throw him the ball. I can\u2019t make him move.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What about the charge that you want only to score?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I don\u2019t go out and just try to score. I score because there is an opportunity to score. It doesn\u2019t matter who scores. If you have an opportunity to score, you score. And we win. Smith made it seem like I was selfish in that sense, that all I thought about was getting my points when actually I wasn\u2019t worried about that. I was worried about winning. Who cares what happens with the points?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> The scoring title doesn\u2019t mean anything to you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t even faze me anymore. If I win the scoring title this year, I win it. If I don\u2019t, I don\u2019t. I know I could win it if I wanted to. But I just don\u2019t try to chase it anymore. I let whatever happens happen.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What was your contact with the author?
\nJordan:<\/strong> [Bulls vice president of operations Jerry] Krause and I are the most criticized people in the book, but we\u2019re the only two that didn\u2019t go to lunch with this dude. It\u2019s like he was planning to kill us anyway, so why take us to lunch?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did you expect that this sort of thing would happen to you one day?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I knew people were going to start taking shots at me. You get to a point where people are going to get tired of seeing you on a pedestal, all clean and polished. They say, Let\u2019s see if there\u2019s any dirt around this person. But I never expected it to come from inside. Sam tried to make it seem like he was a friend of the family for eight months. But the family talked about all this hatred they have for me. I mean, if they had so much hatred for me, how could they play with me? Why didn\u2019t they go to [Bulls owner] Jerry Reinsdorf and ask him to trade me? I don\u2019t know how we won if there was so much hatred among all of us. It looked like we all got along so well.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you look at your teammates and wonder to yourself if they really said that stuff?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I can imagine some of the things being said from anger or jealousy or disappointment. But I could see Sam Smith actually manipulating, putting words in their mouths, to get his meaning from the situation. Let\u2019s say Horace Grant was upset for one game about not getting enough shots and maybe I had a lot more shots than anybody else. Sam can sense that anger, get over there and ask him all kinds of questions. In the book, Sam makes it appear to be a problem all season long. Actually, it\u2019s just one game.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Anything else bug you about it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> He really exploits certain things. I\u2019ve heard there was a story about how Pippen, Grant and I were talking about our sons\u2019 penises. He said we spent thirty minutes debating whose son had the biggest penis. What\u2019s the purpose of that being in the book? You know it\u2019s kidding, so what?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Let\u2019s get back to the championship drive. You seem to feel that it wasn\u2019t enough to win the N.B.A. title, you had to do it the right way.
\nJordan:<\/strong> When we were beating Philly in the play-offs last year and Detroit was going against Boston, everyone was saying, \u201cI hope Boston wins.\u201d I said, No way. If we\u2019re going to go, we have to go the hardest route, or else as a team, we\u2019re going to get criticized for it. First of all, Scottie Pippen would never redeem himself from having those three headaches, or whatever he had, in the final 1990 conference championship game against the Pistons. As a team we would never live it down because we always faltered under Detroit\u2019s pressure. No one really gained respect from Detroit players.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> It would have reflected badly on you, too.
\nJordan:<\/strong> All of that would have been right on my shoulders. Yeah, you won a championship, people would have said, but you didn\u2019t go through Detroit to do it. I didn\u2019t want that crap to happen. I wanted to go the hardest route.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> There was also the matter of how you compared to Magic and Larry Bird.
\nJordan:<\/strong> When it came to comparisons, this is what always knocked me out of the top two players: People would always say, \u201cAll these great plays and he\u2019s never taken his team to a championship.\u201d So I wanted to go through one of those two. It worked out perfect.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Magic made his teammates better. That\u2019s something you\u2019ve been accused of failing to do.
\nJordan:<\/strong> The championship was my opportunity to show I\u2019m not just a scorer. That was the challenge when everyone tried to make it a one-on-one situation, Magic versus Michael. I realized that. But you know, I told people that if we got to the Finals, we were going to win, if I have anything to do with it. I might never get this opportunity again. And when I got to the Finals, all I tried to do was plug holes\u2014scoring, passing, rebounding, whatever\u2014just as they had portrayed Magic as doing.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Was there a particular moment in the year when you thought, Maybe we can go all the way?
\nJordan:<\/strong> When we beat Detroit before the All-Star game.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> That early?
\nJordan:<\/strong> We beat them in Detroit. We hadn\u2019t beaten them in Detroit for about ten games, and once we did, it gave us confidence. We needed to know that we could beat them on their court. In the conference championship series the year before, we had defended our home court well. But we went up there and got stomped in game seven.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about the Detroit series in last year\u2019s play-offs. You blew through New York and Philadelphia, and then came the Pistons.
\nJordan:<\/strong> We were waiting for this. We had the home-court advantage. And we defended our home court the last six or seven times. The first game was a key because you knew they were going to throw shit at us. Pippen knew what Dennis Rodman was going to do. He couldn\u2019t let him get into his head. Just play, turn your face and keep going. We won both games in Chicago, so we went up to Detroit and said, Let\u2019s sweep them.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Could you see the fear in their eyes?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah. They couldn\u2019t rattle us. They tried everything to rattle our confidence.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Such as?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Throwing punches, throwing guys at you, talking shit. So I\u2019m saying, Well, these guys talk trash all the damn time to everybody. Let\u2019s see if they can handle some trash-talking back to them. So I started talking it to \u2019em. With Mark Aguirre, I said, \u201cThis is not your home. You\u2019re not in Chicago anymore. You live in Detroit. This is our home.\u201d Rodman, I said, \u201cRodman, best defensive player? Jump your ass over here if you think you\u2019re the best defensive player in the league.\u201d And that irritated the hell out of him. Every time he\u2019d go past me, boom, knee me in the corner, knee me in the back. He was trying to frustrate me. And I was trying to do exactly what he would do. I\u2019m trying to knock the hell out of Rodman. I\u2019m telling Scottie to bring him off the screen\u2014boom, I knock him. Rodman got pissed off because we were doing the same shit that he would do. I knew I was getting to him.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How about Isiah?
\nJordan:<\/strong> He was really passive. I think that he was so confident that they had something on us that, in a sense, he wasn\u2019t needed to win. He was just going to be the director instead of being the aggressor. Once he tried to be aggressive, it was too late.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Have Pistons players tried to hurt you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Laimbeer has. The first time it happened, I thought it was just an initiation into the league. And then the crap started happening every time on the break, he and I angling off at the break. He doesn\u2019t even try to block the shot. His whole body is coming at me. And I\u2019m going up in the air, I can lose control, anything can happen. I\u2019m irritated by it but I handle it. I\u2019m waiting for my last year.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Is Laimbeer worse than the rest of them, even Rodman?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, I think Rodman and Laimbeer are just alike. They try to live up to their image of being assholes.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> The Detroit series was a remarkably thorough beating.
\nJordan:<\/strong> That\u2019s why they walked off the court. We embarrassed them. To sweep them four zip, it was embarrassing. Defending champions, embarrassing. It was like good overriding evil.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What do you mean by \u201cevil\u201d?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It was their style of basketball. If you knock a person down on a hard foul, you pick that man up and say, \u201cAre you all right?\u201d The Pistons will knock you down, then, if possible, kick you. They try to use that crap as an intimidator. The evil came out of their attitude, the unsportsmanlike actions. That bad-boy image brought them some gold, but it also brought them a lot of shame.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> It drives Detroit nuts to hear you say things like that. They feel you don\u2019t give them any respect.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Respect for what?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> All their success.
\nJordan:<\/strong> It\u2019s true. Everybody knows it. They were smart enough to utilize their image and win. They didn\u2019t win just off brute force. They had talent enough to win. But they could still have that talent without the brutality.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did it surprise you during the last game when they walked off the floor before time had expired?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, it really did. Isiah Thomas is the president of our players association and yet he is going to orchestrate that unsportsmanlike conduct? Three years in a row, I pushed myself to shake their hands and wish them luck and told them to bring the championship back to the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> That had to be hard to swallow.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Hard to swallow, but out of sportsmanship, this is what you\u2019re supposed to do.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When did you realize that the N.B.A. title was within your grasp?
\nJordan:<\/strong> In the first game against the Lakers. They played their asses off, we played terrible, but we still had a chance to win down the stretch. That\u2019s all we needed from that point on. That gave us our confidence. It was a moral victory for us in the first game. Then in the second game, we went right back and pounded them. Gave us that confidence back that we lost.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Most people looked at it from the standpoint that the Lakers got a game in Chicago.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, but the momentum changed. It\u2019s not like it just changed hands, we grabbed it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What were the emotions like before game five against the Lakers?
\nJordan:<\/strong> We were just determined.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Were you scared?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Nope, I wasn\u2019t scared. We had three chances to win one, right? I wasn\u2019t nervous. We went in there relaxed.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When did it hit you that the championship was yours?
\nJordan:<\/strong> When [guard] John Paxson started knocking down shots. He was measuring them, boom, he was just knocking them down. I missed some of the excitement by not doing it in Chicago. If we had done it in Chicago, we probably wouldn\u2019t have lived, because the fans would have killed us. But it was nearly as bad in L.A.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What happened in the locker room after the final game? It looked like you were overwhelmed with emotion.
\nJordan:<\/strong> I tried to fight it, but I couldn\u2019t. I suppressed a lot of disappointment over the years. When we won it all, I became more emotional than I have ever been. I don\u2019t regret it. It was something I had to let out.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Is there going to be any challenge to the Olympics?
\nJordan:<\/strong> You know, it\u2019s one of those situations where the challenge is going to be playing together as a team. When you look at the talent and the teams we\u2019re supposed to play against, it\u2019s a massacre. It should never be close. We taught them the game of basketball. We\u2019ve got people who have the ability and the height. We\u2019re talking about the greatest players that play the game now and the team is the best team that\u2019s ever been put together. Who\u2019s going to beat us? The Japanese? The Chinese? They can\u2019t match up to the athleticism we\u2019re going to have on this team. Not to mention the mental advantage we\u2019re going to have here with Magic, or whoever\u2019s gonna play the point. You have Stockton, Barkley, me, Robinson, Bird\u2026come on. These are the people that the Europeans look up to, so how can they beat us? If any game is even close, it will be a moral victory for Europe.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What will you do if Bill Laimbeer or Isiah Thomas makes the Olympic team?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I would respect them as teammates and we would play as a team.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You still would do it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> If I walk off now, you think there\u2019s not going to be a controversy? I would do it to avoid all the publicity and feelings between us. Americans shouldn\u2019t be that way when they\u2019re representing the country. You just have to do it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why do you think Magic wants to play in the Olympics? What does it matter, given what he\u2019s accomplished?
\nJordan:<\/strong> He has accomplished everything possible in terms of basketball except for one thing: He\u2019s never played in an Olympic game. Never had that gold medal. And that can be eating at him. He probably would take that risk knowing that he might give up a day or two of his life. You know what? If I were in his position, I probably would do it, too. I\u2019m going to be in his corner all the way. It adds something to your life when you win a gold medal. You hear the whole world cheering for you. That\u2019s far greater than any other cheering you\u2019re going to hear in basketball.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Even greater than the N.B.A. title?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah. The title is for Chicago and the Bulls fans around the United States, but the Olympics are for everybody in the United States and then some.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> For all the credit, respect, celebrity and money that have come to you in your career, you remain a black man in a country dominated by white corporate structures. Recently, you have even taken shots from black writers who suggest you\u2019re not black enough.
\nJordan:<\/strong> I realize that I\u2019m black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and that\u2019s everybody\u2019s wish. That\u2019s what Martin Luther King fought for, that everybody could be treated equal and be viewed as a person. In some ways I can\u2019t understand it, because here we are striving for equality and yet people are going to say I\u2019m not black enough? At a time when actually I thought I was trying to be equal? I try to be a role model for black kids, white kids, yellow kids, green kids. This is what I felt was good about my personality. Don\u2019t knock me off the pedestal that you wanted me to get onto. I get criticized about not giving back to the community\u2014well, that\u2019s not true. I do. I just don\u2019t go out and try to seek publicity from it. I could hold a press conference on everything that I do for the black community. But I don\u2019t choose to do that, so people are not aware of it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Does the accusation sting?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, it\u2019s really unfair. Because they ask for more black role models, yet they\u2019re stabbing me when I\u2019m up here trying to be a very positive black role model.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You don\u2019t seem like a very political person.
\nJordan:<\/strong> I always keep my political views to myself.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> But there are others who want you to be more up-front.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Look at what happened in North Carolina. I got criticized for not endorsing Harvey Gantt, the black guy who was running for the Senate against Jesse Helms in North Carolina. I chose not to because I didn\u2019t know of his achievements, I didn\u2019t know if he had some negative things against him. Before I put myself on the line, at least I wanted to know who this guy was. And I didn\u2019t, but I knew of Jesse Helms and I wasn\u2019t in favor of him. So I sent Gantt some money as a contribution. But that was never publicized. It was just that I didn\u2019t come out publicly and do an endorsement.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How do you handle pressure from Jesse Jackson and other activists?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I never bow to that pressure because I always keep my opinions to myself. I avoid those types of endorsements from a political standpoint. That\u2019s just me. That\u2019s my prerogative to do so. If you don\u2019t like it, lump it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How did you react when Operation PUSH called for a boycott of Nike?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It was a valid point. But if you\u2019re going to take that stand about having blacks in more controlling or executive positions, do it with every shoe company. Don\u2019t pick the one on top and say, Hey, there aren\u2019t enough blacks involved. Because you\u2019re targeting Nike while Reebok and all these others are going to gain from us being attacked. That\u2019s not fair. Say the whole shoe industry does not have enough blacks in powerful executive positions. OK, I\u2019m with you. Maybe we have to change that. I\u2019m saying, come to the black people involved and ask us, Well, are blacks being promoted in higher positions? We could have said yes. John Thompson is on the Nike board of directors. I hope I can be put on the advisory board, and we\u2019re starting to move up. Naturally, you still want to have more. I think PUSH helped get more blacks involved in the business side. But they approached it from a bad angle.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You like to play golf, but there\u2019s no sport with a richer history of exclusion. Do you think that has irritated some in the black community, that you play at exclusive clubs in spite of their policies?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I think I\u2019m opening the door for blacks to be involved. I was getting more opportunities to go to these clubs. Sam Smith wrote in his book that I would have been declined membership at a Jewish golf course, but that\u2019s not true. I never applied. The only golf courses that I applied to, I got accepted. He had me saying that if I won the lottery, I\u2019d go out and buy a golf course and keep out all the Jews. Well, why would I have to win the lottery? I could go buy one now.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Where are you a member?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I\u2019m a member in Chicago at Wynstone, at Wexford in Hilton Head, and in Rancho Sante Fe at a place called the Farms. I\u2019m a member at the Governor\u2019s Club in Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you pay the regular members\u2019 dues and fees?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, I pay. I went through the normal procedures of getting in. I never want it to be a privilege. I don\u2019t want to be a token.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When was the first time you ever had to deal with racism?
\nJordan:<\/strong> When I threw a soda at a girl for calling me a nigger. It was when Roots was on television.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How old were you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was fifteen. It was a very tough year. I was really rebelling. I considered myself a racist at that time. Basically, I was against all white people.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It was hundreds of years of pain that they put us through, and for the first time, I saw it from watching Roots. I was very ignorant about it initially, but I really opened my eyes about my ancestors and the things that they had to deal with.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How long did it take you to get over that?
\nJordan:<\/strong> A whole year. The education came from my parents. You have to be able to say, OK, that happened back then. Now let\u2019s take it from here and see what happens. It would be very easy to hate people for the rest of your life, and some people have done that. You\u2019ve got to deal with what\u2019s happening now and try to make things better.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What did you think you\u2019d be when you grew up?
\nJordan:<\/strong> A professional athlete.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How early did you begin thinking that?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I always thought I would be a professional athlete. I always loved sports. I knew one thing I didn\u2019t want was a job. Me and working were never best friends. I enjoyed playing.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Your dad once said that you were the laziest kid he had.
\nJordan:<\/strong> He doesn\u2019t lie. He tried to change me, but it never worked. He couldn\u2019t keep me from playing sports. I think my first job was in the eleventh grade and I quit after a week.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What was it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was a hotel maintenance man. I was cleaning out pools, painting rails, changing air-conditioner filters and sweeping out the back room. I said, never again. I may be a wino first, but I will not have a nine-to-five job.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You had a bad experience with swimming when you were a kid, didn\u2019t you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I went swimming with a close friend one day, and we were out wading and riding the waves coming in. The current was so strong it took him under and he locked up on me. It\u2019s called the death lock, when they know they\u2019re in trouble and about to die. I almost had to break his hand. He was gonna take me with him.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did you save him?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, he died. I don\u2019t go into the water anymore.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How old were you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I was really young. About seven or eight years old. Now I ain\u2019t going near the water. I can\u2019t swim and I ain\u2019t messing with the water.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Even when you go on a boat?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Not without a life jacket, I won\u2019t. Not a little boat, either. It has to be a big boat for me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t bother you to say that, does it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No. I don\u2019t give a damn. Everybody\u2019s got a phobia for something. I do not mess with water.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Were you always a star in sports?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, but I had ambitions of being one. All I wanted to do was play all the time. I used to give up whatever allowance I had to my brothers, for them to wash dishes for me and clean the house.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did it bother your father?
\nJordan:<\/strong> My father is a mechanical person. He always tried to save money by working on everybody\u2019s cars. And my older brothers would go out and work with him. He would tell them to hand him a nine-sixteenths wrench and they\u2019d do it. I\u2019d get out there and he\u2019d say give me a nine-sixteenths wrench and I didn\u2019t know what the hell he was talking about. He used to get irritated with me and say, \u201cYou don\u2019t know what the hell you\u2019re doing, go on in there with the women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Were you popular with girls in high school?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I always thought I would be a bachelor. I couldn\u2019t get a date.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Come on.
\nJordan:<\/strong> I kidded around too much. I always used to play around with women. I was a clown. I picked at people a lot. That was my way of breaking the ice with people who were very serious. I was good in school. I\u2019d get A\u2019s and B\u2019s in my classes but I\u2019d get N\u2019s and U\u2019s in conduct because I was kidding around, talking all the time.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> We\u2019ve heard you did some serious preparation for bachelor life.
\nJordan:<\/strong> I took home economics from seventh through ninth grade. They were easy classes, we got to eat and I was always a greedy person with food. And you got to do things. I always thought I\u2019d be doing my own sewing and cooking and cleaning.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What can you do?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Oh, I can sew shirts, I can make clothes.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Still?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I could hem pants right now. I can cook and clean and all that stuff. But do I do it? No. I don\u2019t want to. But I could if I had to.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did you watch basketball much as a kid?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I used to watch a little A.C.C. college basketball because we never got professional basketball on TV where I lived. I didn\u2019t know anybody in the N.B.A. I only knew David Thompson, Walter Davis, guys from my area.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When you were a high school senior, did North Carolina recruit you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> They were recruiting me when I was in the eleventh grade. My high school coach wrote to them, so they sent a scout down. I went to North Carolina with the Five-Star camp, even though Dean Smith didn\u2019t want me to go.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why not?
\nJordan:<\/strong> He tried to keep me hidden. If I was at Five-Star, they would open up the doors of the schools and everybody would notice. I won about ten trophies in two weeks. I was an all-star and the M.V.P. for two weeks in a row and my team won the championship both weeks. I was racking it up. Then everybody started recruiting me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Was North Carolina your first choice?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I always wanted to go to UCLA. That was my dream school.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Because when I was growing up, they were a great team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, John Wooden. But I never got recruited by UCLA.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Even after your success in the Five-Star camp?
\nJordan:<\/strong> By the time they wanted to recruit me, they had heard that I was going to stay close to home, which was not necessarily true. I also wanted to go to Virginia because I wanted to play with Ralph Sampson for his last two years there. He was going into his junior year. I wrote to Virginia, but they just sent me back an admission form. No one came and watched me. Then I visited North Carolina and I was happy with the atmosphere, so I committed early.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Weren\u2019t you planning to play baseball in college, too?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I wanted to, but I got talked out of it. I still want to play baseball. I may play Triple-A ball this summer. I keep trying to talk to the people in Charlotte. You know George Shinn, the guy who owns the Charlotte Hornets? [Hornets players] Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry played for his minor-league baseball team last summer. I told them I want to go play baseball. They don\u2019t believe me. I\u2019m serious. I may think about football, too. I ain\u2019t going across the middle, though. I\u2019ll do down and out.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> If you made a run at baseball, what position would you play?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Well, I used to be a pitcher. But I\u2019d probably throw my arm out just learning all the different things. I\u2019d much rather try to start out in the outfield or first base. I\u2019m going to do it. But I would never want just to step right into the majors. Players would get pissed at me. I don\u2019t want that animosity. I want to start off low and work my way up.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You have had four pro coaches. Whom did you like to play for the most?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Who was best for me? Kevin Loughery.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> He gave me the confidence to play on his level. My first year, he threw me the ball and said, \u201cHey, kid, I know you can play. Go play.\u201d I don\u2019t think that would have been the case going through another coach\u2019s system. Look what Loughery\u2019s doing right now with Miami. He\u2019s doing exactly what he did to me. He\u2019s giving those guys so much confidence, he\u2019s giving them an opportunity to create their own identity as players. With other coaches, you have to fit into their systems.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Even Doug Collins?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, I just felt Doug would have tried to manipulate me. For that sense of control, power. I saw that with the way he dealt with Pippen and Grant. I would have been able to deal with it because I respect all my coaches. But Loughery never tried to do that. I could relate with him as a friend.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What about Phil Jackson as a coach?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Phil\u2019s a good coach. He has some Dean Smith credentials out there. He\u2019s relaxed, he\u2019s knowledgeable. He\u2019s a philosopher about everything. He believes in sharing the wealth among everyone, yet he believes in not trying to overshadow his team.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> The Portland Trail Blazers had a shot at drafting you. How would that have changed your life?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I wouldn\u2019t have had all this opportunity from a business and financial standpoint.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Would your life have been any easier?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, this has gone exactly the way I wanted it to. Portland already had Clyde Drexler, so it would have been dumb for me to go there.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did your success with Nike surprise you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, that was something. First I thought it was a fad. But it\u2019s far greater now than it used to be. The numbers are just outrageous.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When did you really start getting into the business end of it?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Four years ago.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Not until then?
\nJordan:<\/strong> In my first four years, I just loved playing basketball and didn\u2019t worry about the money part of it. But I was being tutored and educated by ProServ.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What do you mean tutored?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Tutored about financial things, you know, monthly ledgers, where your money comes from and where it goes. My parents did a good job, too. They, as well as ProServ, helped educate me when I really didn\u2019t have the interest in it. But it\u2019s getting closer to the point where I will step away from the game, so I better have a good handle on it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you want to have a certain number of millions in the bank when you retire?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I\u2019ve provided for when I walk away from the game, from Nike and all the other outlets.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> I heard about a Canadian company that wanted to pay you a ridiculous amount of money to fly up for one day.
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, they wanted me to sign autographs for a quarter of a million dollars. The autograph stuff drives me crazy. People are dangerous.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Didn\u2019t you almost get stampeded in Houston once?
\nJordan:<\/strong> There were four or five security guards, five thousand people had me circled, and I was only supposed to be signing for one hour. We got to ten minutes before I had to leave, and people were wanting more autographs, so they started closing in on me. The tables were breaking and little kids were getting pressed up front because the bigger people were pushing from behind. The security guards couldn\u2019t do anything. I finally got the security guards around me and started pushing my way through the crowd. I almost got killed getting out of there. I haven\u2019t done any autograph sessions since. Never again.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you have other limits about what you will and won\u2019t do for money?
\nJordan:<\/strong> My time is very important to me, as well as being credible about what I endorse. If I endorse McDonald\u2019s, I go to McDonald\u2019s. If I endorse Wheaties, I eat Wheaties. If I endorse Gatorade, I drink Gatorade. I have cases of Gatorade, I love drinking Gatorade. I don\u2019t endorse anything that I don\u2019t actually use.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What have you turned down?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Two or three years ago Quaker Oats came to me to endorse Van Kamp\u2019s pork and beans\u2014Beanee Weenees, I think it was called. You ever heard of Beanee Weenees pork and beans? It was close to a million bucks a year. I\u2019m saying, Beanee Weenees? How can I stand in front of a camera and say I\u2019ll eat Beanee Weenees? If I wanted to be a hardnosed businessman, I could have been in a lot of deals, like the one with Johnson Products. I had a deal with them for their hair-care products. I had two or three more years on that deal when I started losing my hair. So I forfeited the deal. But if I had wanted to be greedy, I could\u2019ve said, Screw you, you didn\u2019t know my hair was falling out so you owe me money. But I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Your Gatorade ad raises a question\u2014what do you like to be called?
\nJordan:<\/strong> They used to call me Mike in grammar school, in high school. When I got to college, everyone called me Michael. It was like a maturity thing. When you\u2019re a little kid, they call you Mike. Mike quit this, Mike quit that. As you get older, it\u2019s Michael this and Michael that. Now in the pros, it\u2019s Air this, Air that. Things change.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Once and for all, which is it: Mike or Michael?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Mike.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Which individual games stand out in your memory?
\nJordan:<\/strong> The sixty-nine-point game against Cleveland stands out. The sixty-three-point game at Boston stands out.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you ever watch any of them on tape?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Not anymore. I used to. I really don\u2019t watch myself play as much. I used to about three or four years ago, just for motivation. When I\u2019d get home and I didn\u2019t have anything to do, I\u2019d watch a game, get myself ready and sometimes even watch one before a game. If we\u2019re gonna play Detroit, I\u2019ll watch a Detroit game. One we won. I don\u2019t want to watch a game we lost.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Did you watch that Boston game a lot?
\nJordan:<\/strong> The sixty-three-point game? No, I didn\u2019t. Because I always knew we\u2019d lose. Every time I\u2019d watch it, we\u2019d lose. We should win. I don\u2019t watch that one.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> When you get in the zone, like you do in those games where you get fifty or sixty, do you feel it coming on that day, in the locker room, on the bench?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No, I feel it when the game starts. You just start getting on a roll. Everything that you do is working. You get steals, your offensive game is working. You just take control of it. You\u2019re in tune with everything that\u2019s going on. You control the tempo, you control everything. It\u2019s like you can do anything, you can take your time, you say anything to people, you seem to be just like you\u2019re on a playground all by yourself.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Can you dictate it now? Can you get yourself in the zone?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I get into it in pressure situations. Somehow you feel the pressure. Either you do it now or you don\u2019t do it at all and it starts to kick in. But to explain it you\u2019d have to be a psychologist.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Is basketball a refuge for you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> When I step onto the court, I don\u2019t have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It\u2019s like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> One constant in your career is that when you are sick or hurt, you often unload on somebody. Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I have an uncanny way of focusing when I get hurt. I concentrate on playing and not worrying about the injury. I don\u2019t try to be aggressive or to let the injury take me out of my game. I relax and let the game come to me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you have any superstitions?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I go through the same routine before every game. I lace up my shoes in a certain way. I wear my Carolina shorts all the time. I wear new socks every game, new shoes every game. And I always notice where my wife or my parents are so I don\u2019t have to worry if they got in an accident or didn\u2019t get the tickets or whatever.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Where do you think you fit in the game? Are you the best?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I can\u2019t ever say that I\u2019m the best. I think I play both ends and do more than people perceive. I\u2019m not just an offensive player. I play both ends. I can pass, I think I can play defensively as well as offensively. I don\u2019t think most stars can say that they try to do that. You can\u2019t say that I\u2019m a one-dimensional player or a two-dimensional player.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> If you had to put a team around you, what\u2019s the one quality you\u2019d want?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Heart. That would be the biggest thing. I think heart means a lot. It separates the great from the good players.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Aside from the shots, what else do the great players have?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Mental toughness. When you need a basket, you have to have the confidence in yourself to go out there and hit three great shots. You know you have to do it. That drives me.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What\u2019s your all-time starting five?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Me and Magic, Bird, Worthy, McHale or Malone, David Robinson or Abdul-Jabbar.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> And you can beat anyone ever?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I did this with Jerry Krause once. He chose Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Jerry West. At small forward he had Dr. J. The power forward was Gus Johnson. I told him I\u2019d kill him. Of all players, the all-time greats, he left off Magic and he left off Bird. He was excluding me. He put West at two [shooting] guard.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What if you couldn\u2019t pick yourself?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I would put West at two, too.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You\u2019ve never been the highest-paid basketball player and probably never will be. Do you resent that?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Since I came into the league, I\u2019ve never griped about my contracts. I\u2019ve signed them and I\u2019ve honored them every year. If anybody stepped up and wanted to give me a raise, I\u2019d accept it. But I\u2019m not going to bitch about it, because I signed the contract. When Patrick Ewing renegotiated his contract last year, he had leverage. He had an option to get out of his contract. And he was going to get the money no matter what. If I play out my contract, I won\u2019t be able to get another contract until five years down the road. Who knew this was going to happen three years ago when we did my deal? No one could tell that salaries were going to jump out of the deck. Hot Rod Williams created a whole salary outburst. When I signed my deal for three-and-a-quarter million or whatever I make this year, I was in the top three. Now three years later, you have rookies coming out making two-and-a-half or three million, so they\u2019re pushing the salaries up. How can I get a new deal? Do I start bitching? Do I go and gripe to the press saying I deserve more? Everybody knows I deserve more money, but I actually signed the contract. If my boss decides to give me a raise, great. But bitching is not fair. I\u2019ve always considered myself a fair person. You guys in the press can put the pressure on him. I won\u2019t. I hope Reinsdorf is thinking about it. If it happens, great. If it doesn\u2019t, then I was screwed again. Am I upset about it? No.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Is there anything you do on the basketball court that still surprises you?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I basically expect anything. Isn\u2019t that wild? I used to surprise myself a lot: certain moves, how I\u2019d get out of trouble. But at some point, you accept the talent that you have, you accept your creativity.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Are you going to need some other creative outlet when you retire?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Golf could do that for me. Because you\u2019ve got to create shots in certain situations. And the competition is always going to be there. I think it\u2019s even greater in golf because you know your opponent is always consistent: You know the course is going to shoot par every day. You always wonder, especially in my profession, what it would be like if I had to play against myself in a one-on-one game. Well, golf is that way because you compete against yourself in a mental way. That\u2019s the challenge.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How close are you to the end of your basketball career?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I\u2019d say four years. If I make it, I make it. If I get tired of basketball sooner, I won\u2019t make it. All this negative crap that has happened. Who needs it?<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What if Reinsdorf wanted to make it worth your while to play longer, to keep the stadium full?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I would never play an extra year for money. I play the game because I love it. I just so happen to get paid. If I don\u2019t feel I still enjoy the game, I can care less what a year is worth. I\u2019m not going to play the game just because of money.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Somehow, it\u2019s hard to imagine you just walking away.
\nJordan:<\/strong> People keep saying, Well, you\u2019re never going to be able to walk away, you\u2019re always going to want that spotlight. All these old boxers come back, but not me. Once I walk away, I\u2019m walking away. I\u2019m not going to embarrass myself coming back, like I really need that roar of the crowd to live. It was good while it lasted. I\u2019ve got memories of it. I don\u2019t need it again to continue to live. That\u2019s what my family is for.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What\u2019s it like to be a married superstar? Does it take pressure off, or put more on?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Why?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It was a well-timed decision to settle down and get married. And it\u2019s been a more laid-back environment for me with a wife and two kids. If I were seeing a person, I might be more nervous about infection than I am now. It would have been magnified even more for me if I were single. But I made a choice to get married and to have kids and to settle down with the family, and I\u2019m glad I made it.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You grew up in a pretty stable family environment. Did it seem natural to get married?
\nJordan:<\/strong> It was like walking into another unknown situation. But I was ready to learn what marriage was all about. Every day you learn something. To live with another person for the rest of your life, that\u2019s something you have to work at. You\u2019re going to have some good times, some bad times. As a couple, as a unit, as a family, you gotta fight your way through it. But having kids always overrides any problems. And you know, it\u2019s sad to say, but especially considering Magic Johnson\u2019s situation, I look at my kids and think, I\u2019m very fortunate.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Do you want a bunch more?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Not a bunch more. Maybe a couple more.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> How does Juanita feel about that?
\nJordan:<\/strong> She\u2019s with me. But she wants all boys; I want two girls. I had two brothers and two sisters, so I want a combination of both.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Are you worried about your boys, in terms of being Michael Jordan\u2019s sons?
\nJordan:<\/strong> No. I just want them to have their own lives. I\u2019m not going to try to guide them anywhere. I just want to teach them right from wrong, then let them make their own decisions. I know Jeffrey loves basketball. He has a basketball hoop in every room.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Does he understand the game?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah. He travels a lot. He knows how to shoot a free throw. I tell him to shoot a free throw, and he backs up, dribbles, concentrates, boom. When he goes in for a dunk, he holds his form. And when he\u2019s really excited about things, he starts shooting and saying Yes! He\u2019s a show-off, man.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Whom do you look to for guidance?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Most of my guidance has come from my parents. My mom told me to deal with life as it comes, enjoy it as it comes, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing. Good, bad or ugly. Whatever good that happens, I\u2019m grateful. I give all my respect and tribute to whoever has a hand in it. But when all the bad stuff comes, I try to deal with it in a positive manner.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Are you looking at other players to see how they handled the transition from the N.B.A. back to private life?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Julius Erving is doing exactly what I want to do. Do you ever see Julius? Do you ever hear from Julius? But I know Julius is doing something he wants to do, and he\u2019s kind of taken a step back from public life. That\u2019s exactly what I want to do. When his time was up and he walked away from the game, he walked away proud, respected. Exactly what I want to do. When I feel that I\u2019ve reached my peak and I can feel my skills diminishing, or if other players that I used to dominate have caught up with me and are on the same level, I want to step away.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> You know there\u2019s going to be a long line of guys eager to take you apart, too.
\nJordan:<\/strong> And there\u2019d be a long line of articles saying so-and-so killed Jordan tonight. I\u2019d rather step away from the game before I subject myself to that, without a doubt.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Very few people have ever been able to walk away.
\nJordan:<\/strong> You know what I think? Very few people play because they love the game. Most of them play because they make good money. They keep playing because of the money. I could care less about it. In five years, I would probably stand to make six to seven million dollars, maybe even more than that. But if I don\u2019t love the game, no check is going to keep me playing.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> Would you ever consider going to play in Europe after you retire from the N.B.A.?
\nJordan:<\/strong> Yeah, I\u2019ve thought about it. I would love to go to Europe to play for one year. I could play once a week. It would be like a field trip.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What won\u2019t you miss when you quit the game?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I won\u2019t miss the glare, I won\u2019t miss the aggravations of people waiting for autographs at all times of the night. The hotels, I won\u2019t miss all that.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What about the screams?
\nJordan:<\/strong> I won\u2019t miss that, either. Screaming for another human being is sort of a waste. What\u2019s the purpose of screaming? You\u2019re not hurt, are you? I don\u2019t need the screams and the cheers and I\u2019m not going to wake up in the middle of the night and say, \u201cWhy did the screaming stop?\u201d Because I really didn\u2019t need it to keep me going, anyway. It was that inner determination to prove to people that, hey, whatever you think I can\u2019t do, I can do. Even last year after we won it all\u2014and I showed people that I could pass, I showed people I can play defense, I showed people I could shoot\u2014they said, Let\u2019s see him do it a whole year.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What\u2019s left? What\u2019s the challenge now?
\nJordan:<\/strong> The challenge is to keep winning and get more rings. People don\u2019t consider you great until you have three, four, maybe five rings. They consider you the greatest if your team is winning. I want to continue to win and make sure I\u2019m an important factor in winning.<\/p>\n

Playboy:<\/strong> What do you think you\u2019ll miss the most about basketball when you retire?
\nJordan:<\/strong> The competition, the pre-season. I get a kick out of that, coming back for the next year and going through training camp and seeing all the new players. You go at them and challenge them every day. When someone asks, \u201cWhat\u2019s Michael Jordan like to play with?\u201d I want them to say he busts his ass at practice. He plays at practice like he plays in the game. When I play against someone that\u2019s new in the league, I make him respect me. They may have heard about me, but now you get to see me actually in front of you. That drives me. Like playing out West. They don\u2019t get to see us that much. I want to come in and say, This is what you\u2019re missing.<\/p>\n

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