NBA legend Michael Jordan is one of the greatest players ever in the league. With his demeanor and the reputation he had, there were a lot of nicknames for Jordan. One very interesting nickname was “Black Jesus”. A lot of former players have talked about the nickname.

Another NBA great, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, is always in the “GOAT” debate with Michael Jordan. During a podcast, Kareem said that he knew only one player who was nicknamed the “Black Jesus”, and it wasn’t Jordan.

Michael Jordan is not the “Black Jesus” to Kareem

During their illustrious careers, Michal Jordan and Kareem faced each other in 8 regular-season games. Jordan and the Bulls won 5 and Kareem and the Lakers won the remaining 3. During a podcast, the host asked Kareem, who was the best player he has ever played against. Kareem said, “Jeez, umm, Earl Monroe…” 

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He said that before joining UCLA; he played for the Rucker league All-Star team against the Baker League All-Star team. And Earl was playing in the Baker All-Star team while he was at the Winston college, Salem. 

The Lakers legend said, “I didn’t know who he was. And he had his own cheering section. He came up and there were people around talking about ‘Jesus! Jesus!’ And I’m like, ‘Wait a minute!’”

And the host asked whether Earl was the first “Black Jesus.” Kareem said, “That I know of!… The game starts, and I didn’t start the game. The game starts, and he is doing all this weird stuff with the ball. He hasn’t even crossed half court. And then he jumps up in the air and throws a pass with a topspin. It goes three-quarters of the court, hits the ground, and catches somebody in stride who catches it and lays it up. I was like ‘Oh, we are gonna have a game today!’”

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It is a major prop coming from an All-Time great like Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Earl Monroe: “Black Jesus,”, “Black Pearl,”

Vernon Earl Monroe was born on November 21, 1944. He played point or shooting guard for the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks during his career. He helped the New York Knicks win their last NBA championship in 1973. 

At the time, a lot of coaches felt that Earl’s style of play was very street-like. But his style paved the way for how the game is played right now. 

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He won the  Rookie of the Year award in 1968. He has made 4 All-Star appearances. During his career, he had multiple nicknames like “Black Jesus”, “Black Pearl”, and “Earl The Pearl”. Both the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks have retired his number.