For a long after he retired, Michael Jordan seemingly enjoyed a quiet retirement of golf and no media appearances. He was attending Hornets games but rarely speaking to the press. He’d inaugurate clinics in his hometown with minimal fanfare. His famous friends would talk about his tequila brand, Cincoro, or playing golf with him at Grove XIII. But as it turns out, it wasn’t golf that the basketball world lost His Airness to. It was a different kind of sport. Thanks to NASCAR, the former media-shy Michael Jordan gets to happily enjoy his ‘curse.’

As a new motorsports mogul, Jordan told CBS that the competitive drive that defined the Bulls dynasty was a double-edged sword. “I think I’m cursed,” Jordan admitted when discussing his inability to turn off his internal engine. “I’m cursed with this competitive gene that anything that I do — if it’s getting dressed, I got to get dressed before my wife gets dressed. I’m cursed.”

That oft-romanticized ‘killer instinct’ of the Black Cat became a burden in retirement. MJ admitted that it became exhausting to keep up the image during his playing career under the pressure to win. “The burden of living a certain way, trying to maintain whatever everybody’s perspective is for you, that is a burden,” Jordan explained. “Then at some point in time, you say, I’m tired of doing that.”

While that explains why he became reclusive in retirement, there was still this “huge beast” of competition inside him that needed to breathe. He found a way to handle that without the blinding lights of an NBA arena.

NASCAR got Michael Jordan’s ‘curse’ under control

Most NBA players don’t transition from a high-energy playing career to a quiet retirement that well. Because of his competitive DNA, Michael Jordan admitted that the void left by basketball was too hard to ignore. When asked if a part of him misses the game, he was emphatic: “Oh, yeah. Oh, 100%. It’s not just a teeny tiny part. It’s a huge beast.”

Being the owner of the Charlotte Hornets (till he sold his stake in 2023 for over $3 billion) was seemingly not cutting it. He wanted similar glory as when he led the Chicago Bulls to six championships. So he channeled the ‘cursed’ genes from the hardwood to the asphalt.

As the co-owner of 23XI Racing alongside Denny Hamlin, Jordan has successfully translated his winning culture to NASCAR. He admitted that he has “compensated that feeling through NASCAR.” Indeed the high-stakes world of stock car racing satisfied the competitive urges he can’t seem to shake off.

This pivot is not just a hobby for a quiet investor. 23XI Racing has recently emerged as a powerhouse in the Cup Series. Following a landmark win in the NASCAR lawsuit, 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick has dominated with four wins in the last six races, including victories at Daytona, Atlanta, COTA, and Darlington. The team has made history for the first three-peat in an opening series, marking the third three-peat in Jordan’s lifetime.

Jordan took slight credit for providing the energy to 23XI that he still carries since his NBA career. But while the curse is tamed through NASCAR, his original drive hasn’t fizzled out.

“I wish I can still pick up a basketball. I would love to do that. Believe me, my competitive juices… I would definitely love to do that,” he said what the basketball world still wishes. But now basketball fans live vicariously through the motorsports world.