Marcus Jordan was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons until only a few months ago. In February, he was arrested for a DUI charge, and things didn’t get any better when the officers found illegal drugs in his possession. The body cam footage, which went viral across the hoops world, had him saying, “I’m Michael Jordan’s son.” It wasn’t looking good at all. The family’s high-profile name attracted more eyeballs. So, why are we talking about this incident now?

Marcus Jordan recently confirmed he is 180 days sober on Instagram. “6 Months Sober🚱🚯🚮 & Still The Life of The Party🥳 #180Days 🫡” he wrote under a carousel of images from the last six months. Some of them involved His Airness in his element, a rare sighting to see MJ with his son, as it is.

The news was shared multiple times across various social media feeds. Under one such post, Spencer Haywood chimed in with heartfelt support. “That’s so great @heirmj523 much respect ❤️🙏🏾💯 (ONE DAY AT A TIME),” he wrote.

The message coming from Haywood is poignant; despite their vastly different journeys, he speaks from experience. His career didn’t overlap with Michael Jordan‘s (though he holds the younger legend in very high regard). He last played in the NBA in 1980, four years before MJ came to the league.

The 1x NBA Champ was a prolific athlete, but is remembered mainly for changing the league’s culture, especially for creating the circumstances that allowed players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to enter the draft straight out of high school.

But an off-court incident marred his fame. Towards the end of his career, Haywood battled substance addiction. He once fell asleep in practice because of it, prompting the Lakers’ HC Paul Westhead to dismiss him from the team. That incident spurred him to get sober. As Haywood told Marcus, he took one day at a time, and he’s been sober for decades.

Marcus Jordan has come a long, long way

Things with Michael Jordan’s younger son were looking iffy for a couple of years. During his relationship with Larsa Pippen, rumors of him cheating on her (which Larsa recently addressed on RHOM S7) were rampant. After Season 6’s RHOM reunion, Marcus and Larsa broke up, made up, and broke up for good.

Things weren’t as neat as they appeared. Pictures of Jordan apparently using substances surfaced on the internet. Pippen also revealed that he had sent her threatening messages after their breakup.

The headlines surrounding Jordan didn’t improve after his arrest early in 2025. He had driven his Lamborghini into the train tracks. Officers responding to the scene took him into custody. The subsequent bodycam footage showed him leveraging his father’s name to plead his case.

The NBA legend’s son was released the next day pending DUI charges. In September 2025, it was reported that Marcus Jordan had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which would result in the charges being dismissed. Some of the conditions were 50 hours of community service, random drug testing, a charitable donation, and a formal apology to the arresting officer.

Marcus Jordan had been working on his sobriety for months. He posted several milestones on social media. However, the dual loss of his childhood idols, Hulk Hogan and Ozzy Osbourne, in July deeply affected him. He made a concerning post about almost derailing his sobriety, but managed to stay on track.

In August, Marcus and MJ were seen in public together for the first time since his arrest when they joined the Catch 23 crew for the White Marlin Open in Maryland.

Marcus Jordan could always find some inspiration in how far Spencer Haywood came. Today, Haywood is a prominent health advocate helping retired ABA and NBA players obtain health benefits from the NBA. Jordan’s 6-month sobriety story probably struck a chord with him.