MJ said his overly positive image made people forget he was a human being.
In 1991, Michael Jordan faced scrutiny for the first time in his NBA career.
At that point, he still didn’t deal with off-the-court issues that followed him later in his career—he described it as a competition problem, others said it was a gambling problem—but the lack of postseason success started to overshadow Mike’s individual greatness.
“His Airness” also noticed this, saying that “Signs are starting to show that people are tired of hearing about Michael Jordan’s positive image and Michael Jordan’s positive influence.”
Facing criticism, the Chicago Bulls superstar wished he had done things differently.
“I’ve always tried to project everything positive. People say you need role models in the world, and people were asking for them, and I never thought a role model should be negative.
If you wanted negativity, then you wouldn’t have asked for Michael Jordan. You might’ve asked for Mike Tyson or somebody else.
In retrospect, maybe I should’ve shown some negativity, so people had a sense of me as a human being,” he said.
The honeymoon phase ended
Jordan went through a typical life cycle for a young NBA superstar.
After vowing everyone during his rookie season with the Bulls, he spent years showcasing his greatness without the burden of winning pressuring his shoulders.
At one point, however, people wanted MJ’s numbers to translate into playoff success.
Even though he continued to lead the Bulls to deep postseason runs—Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1988 and Eastern Conference Finals in 1989 and 1990—titles kept eluding Michael.
As a result, he was called a “ball hog” and “solo artist,” with many questioning his ability to carry the team all the way.
The release of “The Jordan Rules” also didn’t help MJ’s image, as people, for the first time, got an inside scoop on No. 23. as a teammate.
“I could’ve been more honest, I guess, about some of the mistakes I made. I did hit [teammate] Will Perdue in the face.
That was a mistake, and I could’ve talked about it [as Smith did in The Jordan Rules],” Jordan said.
“I’ve made some bad endorsements, like Time Jordan [a watch deal Jordan signed with a Canadian company, Excelsior, that never got ticking].
But what do you know when you’re 21 and 22 going through all this?
You mature as you go through it all, but you’re not mature when it starts,” he added.
MJ started winning, but…
Chicago finally got over the Detroit Pistons hump in 1991 and went on to win the championship after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
All doubts regarding MJ’s abilities as a player were gone at that point.
What followed was arguably the greatest run in NBA history, with the Bulls winning five of the next seven championships.
The two years they missed out on a title, Jordan was playing baseball.
Even though no one questioned Mike’s on-court greatness anymore, his gambling habits, incidents with teammates, retirement, and conflicts with the Bulls’ higher-ups (most notably Jerry Krause) tarnished what was once perceived as a perfect, positive image.
But perhaps that was by design.
The tragic death of his father in 1993 influenced Michael’s decision to retire.
But more than that, it changed him as a person. Even before these events, Jordan felt people had lost a sense of him as a human being.
The damage was already done, and after he proved himself on the court, perhaps the Bulls superstar didn’t care anymore.
Mike felt people wanted more negativity from a role model, so perhaps he made a decision to give them what they wanted.