Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen. He is a serial winner, and he has become a larger than life figure due to his historic run with the Chicago Bulls. But his post-NBA career has been a mixed bag, with more negative than positive.
He did not draft well during his time as an executive with the Washington Wizards. During the time he was the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets franchise, they only made the playoffs twice.
However, Jordan is putting that in the rearview mirror. He is deep into his endeavor in NASCAR, being a co-owner of the flourishing 23XI racing team alongside future NASCAR Hall of Famer Denny Hamlin. And it looks like he's enjoying himself more than ever now that he's distancing himself more from the NBA in his retirement.
“When I say I wanted to retire and get to a quieter life, I wanted to get away from basketball in terms of what I represented in that arena and how big I’d gotten. It was such a huge burden on me. Here I’m not in that same realm. It’s still not the same as me playing in Chicago, those type of things. But there’s something that keeps me alive,” Jordan said in an interview with CBS.
Michael Jordan's on his way to achieving NASCAR greatness
2026 marks Jordan's sixth year competing as an owner in the NASCAR Cup Series, and to start the season, star driver Tyler Reddick has been flourishing. Bubba Wallace has been brilliant as well. And it doesn't look like it would take him much longer to achieve NASCAR greatness as an owner.
Be that as it may, Jordan is tired of living up to legend and simply wants to breathe a little easier in his retirement.
“The burden of me living a certain way, trying to maintain whatever everybody’s perspective if for you. That is a burden. And at some point, you say, I’m tired of doing that,” Jordan added.
