This has been discussed a dozen times over the last several decades, but watching the Clutch City Documentary got me thinking about it again. His retirement had to have been forced, right? There is no way he retires at 30 years old. This would be like Lebron saying he was done after this season, also at 30 years old. Then more than that Jordan came back after 2 years. Who retires for only 2 years?
His father was murdered in July/August of 1993. He retired in October 1993. I'm not sure what you mean by forced...emotionally forced?
Jordan's father was murdered over gambling money he owed, and "retired" to save face when he was going to be suspended or banned from the NBA for his sports gambling. The "retirement" had the NBA "drop" its investigation.
He was emotionally spent after his father was murdered. He'd been talking about retirement before that. If you go back and watch Costas interview him after Game 6 when they three-peated, he even asked MJ if he was planning to come back. At the time, Jordan did say yes, but obviously his dad dying changed things.
i can see why people think there was a secret deal with him and Stern..makes sense...but it also makes sense that his father's death left him thinking about life and he came to the conclusion that baseball was a much bigger challenge than basketball.
Did MJ really lose that much money gambling? I know his gambling problems have been well documented but it's hard for me to believe that someone with as much money as him could actually be in debt and his father be murdered for it...
Yeah, two ****-kickers from the sticks put a mickey in Jordan's father's drink at the wedding he was attending, forcing him to get sleepy on his long drive home and pull over on an exit ramp to nap. James Jordan, who routinely slept on the side of the road despite having money and over his family's wishes, was then murdered for Michael Jordan's (a man who lights cigars with $100 bills) gambling debts. If you were around in 1992-93, you'll know that the retirement was no surprise. Jordan hinted at it endlessly during the season, as three straight Finals plus a Team USA performance was relatively new at the time, and he was tired. Even the SI cover story following the 1993 Finals win talked about his possible retirement some four months before he retired, and two months before this dork up here says James Jordan was murdered by lowlifes -- not because he had the first car phone any of them had ever seen -- but because of gambling debts. As to the Finals? I don't pay attention to regular season records. The Rox destroyed the Bulls routinely, but even with Dallas stinking up the Texas Triangle back then it was always under tough circumstances. I think the Bulls would have taken it in 1994, but they would have been destroyed (without Horace Grant) in 1995. Grant's ascension and the emergence of B.J. Armstrong as a corner-three guy (alongside two 7-footer additions in 1993-94) probably would have been enough for Chicago. Hakeem was the rightful MVP and perhaps the most underrated legend this game has ever seen, but you have to remember that Jordan was still the guy dropping 55 in a Finals game right before he retired. That said, these are all implausible because no athlete (save for LeBron, right now, which is amazing even if you can't stand the dude) had worked through what MJ had at that point. Had his father not passed, he definitely would have retired in the summer of 1994, win or lose. Not for good, obviously, but for long enough to recharge the batteries.
Dude retired because he knew Hakeem and MadMax were coming for him, so he decided to leave while on top. How is that not hard to understand?!
Loved it, wish it was longer, loved NBA TV showing the old Rox championship videos from 1994 and 1995 during the week, love that group, love that era. Looking forward to the summer when I can get a chance to watch it again. What a team. What a team.
It is possible MJ was "hinting" retirement because the league was " hinting" suspension. Perhaps Jordan saw his potential fate and was planting a seed.
MJ is allowed to gamble as long as it is not on the Bulls. Why would he get suspended for gambling? And if he did gamble on the Bulls, why would they let him back, because he said I'm sorry? I don't buy the suspension conspiracy theory. He wanted to leave on top as the best player on the planet, which is rare to see. He said that. But no, let's not listen to his reason, let's invent a conspiracy. And he has a big enough ego to think he could actually play MLB like Bo Jackson. Didn't he also say baseball was what his dad first wanted him to play?
For whatever it is, Jordan's personality traits clearly took a que from the gambling industry. Charging that amount for a pair of sneakers as well as what could have be charity signings, greetings, and speakings... He turned into an cutthroat business man with a horrid personality on the side.
Please tell me then, 'Houstunna,' what gambling misdeed was Michael Jordan suspended for in 1993? Please use specifics. The idea that Michael Jordan, who moved hundreds of millions back then for Coca Cola, Nike, McDonalds and the NBA could be shoved away for a 147-game suspension based on "gambling," which is legal, is an opinion only shared by dullards and people that think Bill Simmons is the smartest basketball mind alive. The same people, now that I think about it. It's early in the morning. But, sure, of course he was dropping hints in training camp after coming back from Barcelona because the NBA, Nike, McDonalds, Coke and a half-dozen other billion dollar corporate partners got together and told him to start making piecemeal comments to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald about how tired he was. Because that's how these massive global entities work. So says 'Houstunna.'
