Michael Jordan helped turn an NBA superstar into something much bigger than a basketball player.
That's what makes his latest comments about today's players so interesting.
Speaking at the SBC Summit in Lisbon last week, Jordan discussed how dramatically the business surrounding professional sports has changed since his days with the Chicago Bulls. He didn't criticize today's players for it, either. If anything, he acknowledged they are dealing with considerably more noise.
"I think there's a little bit more added pressure in sport," Jordan said. "In my day, you either win the game or you don't win the game. Today, you have to build a brand."
Coming from Jordan, that's quite a statement.
Michael Jordan became a brand without making it the goal
There might not be a better example of an athlete becoming a global brand than Jordan.
Air Jordan became an empire. His name and likeness transcended basketball. Decades after his final game with the Bulls, people who weren't alive for either three peat are still walking around Chicago in No. 23 jerseys.
But Jordan says that wasn't where his attention was while he was playing.
"Ultimately, all we cared about was that I wanted to make the Chicago Bulls the best team in the NBA," Jordan said.
That's where his comments become more interesting than another old player complaining about the modern NBA.
Jordan isn't pretending today's stars simply care less about winning.
He's pointing out that the job changed.
Players now have personal brands, social media accounts, business ventures and enormous contracts tied to their individual value. Every statistic is immediately available. Every bad performance gets dissected online before the player has finished showering.
Jordan acknowledged those realities while explaining that his own approach wouldn't change.
"I just play the game," Jordan said when asked how he would handle today's environment. "I can't worry about what people are betting on. I can't worry about what the stats are."
Bulls fans know exactly what Jordan's approach produced
There is some irony here.
Jordan could afford to say the brand wasn't his focus because winning built the brand for him.
The Bulls won six championships in eight seasons. Jordan became the face of basketball around the world. His shoes became cultural icons. The individual empire followed the basketball success, not the other way around.
That's probably the biggest difference Jordan sees today.
Modern players are expected to build both simultaneously.
Jordan wasn't saying today's NBA players are soft, selfish or distracted. In fact, his acknowledgment of the additional pressure suggests nearly the opposite. He understands that being an NBA superstar in 2026 comes with responsibilities he didn't have to consider every time he stepped onto the floor.
Still, Jordan's philosophy remains remarkably simple.
Play basketball. Win games. Let everything else grow from there.
For Bulls fans who watched that philosophy produce six banners, it's difficult to argue with the results.
| More Bulls on DaWindyCity |
Add us as a preferred source on Google