Supporting Charlotte’s First Black Mayor, Billionaire Michael Jordan Once Addressed His Four-Word Political Comment That Shook the NBA World: “It Was Thrown Off the Cuff”

Back in the day, Michael Jordan was one of the most influential people ever. Yet, he rarely indulged in politics and activism, or made his thoughts known on a subject. However, he once supported the first Black mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina and addressed his famous four-word political comment, which shook the NBA world at the time.

When Jordan was playing in Chicago, he was one of the most popular people in the country. He had arguably the biggest influence in the country. However, the criticism that Jordan has faced over the years is that he hasn’t spoken up enough about politics or rather taken a stance on any societal issue. His sporting peers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali were some of the greatest activists of their time, but Jordan chose not to go down that path.

And yet, there was one statement by His Airness which hurt some communities deeply.

Michael Jordan told that infamous statement to his teammates on a bus

The critics of Jordan have been on him for a long time about not taking a stance. And they often point out a time in 1990 when Harvey Gantt asked Michael Jordan for help against Jesse Helms. Gantt was the first African American mayor of Charlotte and he held office from 1983-87.  He contested against Helms who held the seat since 1973.

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It was reported that Gantt approached Jordan to help him fight Gantt in his home state of North Carolina. He hoped to get Jordan’s endorsement against Helms. However, Jordan said no as he was not into politics and did not fully know the issues.

But this wasn’t the problem. Several reports suggest that Jordan said,” Republicans buy shoes, too”, and this enraged many people. He reportedly said this to a few of his teammates and it went viral back in the day. When asked about it, Jordan then came clean on the ‘The Last Dance’ docu-series.

He said, “I don’t think that statement needs to be corrected. Because I said it in jest on a bus with Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen — it was thrown off the cuff.”

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Since then, Barack Obama and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have both asked Jordan to speak up more and use his voice. But Jordan said that at the time, he was more focused on his basketball. He agreed it was selfish, but he also said that he was just playing the sport and focusing on his craft.

What did you make of Jordan’s response to his infamous quote? Let us know in the comments below.