60 Interesting Michael Jordan Facts You Should Know

Last updated on March 26th, 2022

10 Interesting facts about Michael Jordan

51. Jordan ate the same meal four hours before every game. He had a 23 ounce New York steak with a side of mashed potatoes or a baked potato with a salad and ginger ale.

52. When Michael Jordan commissioned an artist to create a new dining room table, the artist constructed it from solid metal with many holes in it. There are 32,292 to be exact, one for every point he scored in his total NBA career.

NBA History – Points Leaders

53. The infamous “Flu Game” in the 1997 NBA Finals in which Michael played while obviously very ill was probably not the flu after all. The night before the game, some of the players had ordered pizza delivered after the hotel’s food service ended for the night. When it arrived, five men delivered it. All the others were suspicious of it so only Jordan ate any. Then at two in the morning Jordan’s personal trainer was called to his room where he was doubled over in a fetal position with food poisoning. Bulls guard Ron Harper also claimed that “bad pizza” was to blame.

54. In addition to golf, another of Jordan’s favorite hobbies is gambling. There are many reports of how he goaded all his teammates into betting on everything from card games to rock-paper-scissor contests.

55. In 1993 Dr. Stanford Shulman treated a patient with salmonella. After testing and a check with the CDC, the doctor discovered that the strain of salmonella the patient had was previously undiscovered. The doctor was a huge Jordan fan with a stand-up poster of him in his office. He named the salmonella strain after the athlete: Salmonella mjordan.

56. The late Kim Jong-il of North Korea was a huge Michael Jordan fan in the 1990s. He was given an autographed Michael Jordan basketball by Secretary of State Albright in 2000 that today sits in the Museum of International Understanding with a crocodile handbag from Castro and a rifle from Putin.

57. One of the reasons Jordan was so successful as a product spokesman was that he had no visible tattoos when playing. He does actually have a tattoo, though, and it is the Greek letter Omega on his chest over his heart. It is to honor his commitment to his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the first predominantly African-American one to be established at a historically black university (Howard).

58. In addition to the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat also retired the number 23 out of respect to Michael Jordan. His number was the first jersey the Heat ever retired. The ceremony took place on April 11, 2003 before the game between Jordan and the Washington Wizards, and the Miami Heat. The Wizards won the game.

59. A pair of one of the earliest Jordan sneakers produced by Nike and worn by Michael brought over $71K at auction.

60. Jordan states his most memorable dunk of all time was against his friend Patrick Ewing. He names Lakers player Jerry West as the athlete he most wants to play one-on-one.

The athlete the NBA terms “the greatest basketball player of all time” can be found courtside at the Charlotte Hornets games nowadays but otherwise does not seek the limelight.

Some motivational quotes by Michael Jordan

1. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

2. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

3. “If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

4. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

5. “To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don’t isolate.”

6. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”

7. “My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, ‘You never know what you can accomplish until you try’.”

8. “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.”

9. “Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That’s truly about the game, and in some ways that’s about life too.”

10. “My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes.”

11. “I’ve never been afraid to fail.”

12. “Limits, like fear, is often an illusion.”

13. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”

14. “My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline.”

15. “I realize that I’m black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody’s wish.”

16. “I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot… when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.”

17. “I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges.”

18. “Everybody has talent, but ability takes hard work.”

19. “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

20. “If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.”

21. “The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.”

Michael Jordan – Quick facts