Michael Jordan Talk

Jordan Home for Sale

" For a little less than $30 million, you too can live like Mike."

With Michael Jordan spending most of his time on the east coast, he's unloading his 56,000 sq. ft. Chicago mega-mansion. Don't expect the anemic real estate market to inspire him sell it at a discount. The Chicago Tribune reports that the mansion is listed at a price of $29 million. No house in Chicago has ever sold for that amount -- or for over $20 million, for that matter.

Yes, it's horribly overpriced in an arrogant, ostentatious, Jordanesque kind of way.

I guess we should remember that the price includes being close to Lake Michigan, living in the swanky Highland Park area, and dodging bullets and drug dealers in the fabulously notorious high-crime city.

The most striking part of the listing is not the price, however. It's that MICHAEL JORDAN's FURNISHINGS WILL BE INCLUDED in the sale! This house will be a must-buy for the rich stalker or fanatic.

Imagine getting to lie of the sofa where Michael Jordan's butt once sat.

Imagine playing basketball on the in-door court he used. Think about dipping your toe into Jordan's pool and then grabbing a beer from his refrigerator.

Just driving up to the mansion and seeing the number "23" stylized on the gate would be surreal.

This is a fan's paradise -- or an eBay seller's dream. I imagine everything he left behind will eventually be stripped and sold to the highest bidder once the new owner redecorates.

That would be such a shame though. I almost feel it should be bought, preserved, and turned into some sort of museum or tourist attraction.

Violent Jordan sneaker buyers are clueless about what he represents.

"Michael is an athlete who has been at times, arrogant, disloyal, adulterous, and a reckless gambler."

Earlier this year, when the newest Michael Jordan gym shoes debuted (the Nike Air Jordan XI Concords), I was struck by two truths during the violence, mayhem and excitement in the aftermath of their release:

Michael Jordan is like Teflon. No matter what he does, people still want to be like him.
Sneaker fans don’t understand the Jordan ethos.

First, regarding his very good Teflon impression, Michael is an athlete who has been at times, arrogant, disloyal, adulterous, and a reckless gambler. None of these things harm his image the way they do other players. I thought surely he'd be derailed by his traitorous behavior during last summer’s NBA lockout, when Jordan reneged on his own beliefs and argued that players deserved less of a percentage than owners when it came to NBA proceeds. That argument was the opposite of his view when he was a player; he proved extremely two-faced. He got considerable backlash on Twitter, including from a few players. I had thought that ruthless, materialistic shift in point of view would take him down. Nope. Players he negotiated against are still sporting his shoes -- and their fans are clearly rabid to acquire them.

On the second point, I can’t forget Michael’s earliest advertising slogan: “Be Like Mike.” In part, people buy his jersey and shoes to have some mirror of him ... to have some connection. Michael Jordan was consumed with superlative achievement. No matter what pressure he put on himself to win, we never saw poor sportsmanship. He was never a player who resorted to flagrant fouls because he took out physical aggression on someone. He never dropped to the level of a savage. For people to stab, beat and steal to grab gym shoes in the pursuit of being like Mike is a preposterous miscalculation. Their idol would surely despise them.

Who's as great as Michael Jordan? Jordan says only one man should be compared to him.

Over the years sports fans have gotten into heated debates over who's the best NBA player ever. Michael Jordan is considered the apex -- the reference point against which all other players must be judged. Analysts and fans spend hours going over statistics, techniques and videos to determine who are the most credible challengers to Jordan's throne. The usual nominees are Lebron James, Derrick Rose, and Kobe Bryant.

This week, however, Jordan, however, said it's time to narrow down the "Who's the Greatest" debate to a field of two: himself and Kobe Bryant.

I'm impressed with Jordan's observation, which is as objective as it is egoistic. With an aging Kobe Bryant currently ranked only #7 in the NBA, Jordan's assertion will aggravate some fans. His words may even conflict with views of his former teammate Scottie Pippen, who last year drew ire for claiming Lebron James was the greatest man to ever play the sport.

Maybe Jordan is isolating rings as the primary factor for measuring excellence. Obviously, James has no orb of gold or diamond on his finger -- although he could by the end of the season. Still, he'll have a long way to go to catch up with Kobe who has already earned five NBA championship rings.

Will Kobe ever be able to equal Michael's success and earn a sixth ring? Will he surpass him for seven? Unless trade talk proves true and Dwight Howard leaves Orlando to fortify Kobe's team in L.A., all this talk is moot and Jordan will remain unrivaled for the foreseeable future.

Jordan Underdog Story Still Compelling, Despite Herring's Revelation.

Sports Illustrated recently did a story debunking one of the most popular fables surrounding the basketball evolution of Michael Jordan: that he didn’t make his high school basketball team and was cut by coaches, namely former Laney High School Coach Clifton “Pop” Herring, after basketball try-outs during his sophomore year.

Herring told the sports magazine that Jordan actually made the junior varsity team that year and was not cut. Excuse me? Junior varsity is for losers. If you didn’t make varsity, you didn’t really make the team. No one cares about runners-up in sports. No one cares about second team talent. No one waits all day with anticipation to see JV athletes play. As far as I'm concerned, Jordan's version of the story still stands.

The whole point of the Jordan fable was to highlight his mythical rise to master status after fighting to have his talents recognized. The essence of Michael’s struggle remains true. He had raw talent that was not rewarded or recognized as genius level when he first attempted to make a name for himself in the high school arena.

Did Jordan himself lie or try to make people think he made no team at all after try-outs? He probably wanted to keep details nebulous for the purpose of carving his identity. All players are motivated by some cosmic identity they assume as they chase their fate.

Great players cast themselves as kings or underdogs or villains. Michael obviously wanted to play the underdog role. He gets motivation from proving people wrong; that’s been his M.O. throughout his career. He sets up an imaginary opponent, hater, obstacle, injustice and surmounts it. The injustice of being initially barred from varsity was just the lever Michael needed to propel himself to his own greatness.

Sports fables always have a bit of truth and a bit of exaggeration. If the end is a winning icon who changed the game forever, what do I care?

Five Things You Didn't Know About Jordan

A man with exhaustive interests, Michael Jordan has found a range of eyebrow-raising ways to consume his passion since leaving basketball. Ask most people what he does with his time these days and they will rattle off his ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats and his upcoming wedding. Even casual observers know those high profile things. But what does M.J. do when he’s not the face of Hanes and Nike or when he leaves the Bobcats’ front office?

Five Things you did not know about Michael Jordan:
1. He owns a motorsports company.
Michael loves motorcycles and rides them when he can. He loves them so much that he owns a company called MJ Motorsports, which partners with various businesses to sponsor cyclists in competitive races.

2. He own a frickin’ chain of steakhouses, called Michael Jordan Steakhouse. Of course, the flagship restaurant is in Chicago, but he also has eateries in states like Connecticut and, of course, New York. On the menu? Filet Mignon at a cost of $50 and $55 rib eye steaks.

3. He owns a car dealership in the state where he grew up. While Michael was born in Brooklyn, he’s more connected to North Carolina than New York, as evidenced by the location of his Nissan dealership.

4. He funds a major social work institute. Located at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, the Jordan Institute helps poor families.

5. He’s a “wish ambassador” for Make –A-Wish Foundation. This means he connects sick children with those who can make their ultimate bucket lists come true. So, despite his reputation for being rather ruthless and selfish in business, at the gambling table and on court, he apparently has a heart. And yes, naysayers, I guess he does actually care about people other than himself.

Now, you know.

(Photo: Michael Jordan with his motorcycle racing team. Credit: U.S. Army/National Guard)

Michael Jordan Proposes to Model Girlfriend

This will be sport star's second marriage.

After dating a man who set a record for divorce settlements, Yvette Prieto probably thought the closest she’d ever get to a ring was gazing at Michael Jordan’s six championship gold pieces. Jordan, however, apparently isn’t afraid to take the matrimonial plunge again. After three years, he's finally putting a ring on it.

For Christmas, the NBA icon and owner of the North Carolina Bobcasts proposed. She, of course, said "yes."

(Photo Credit: Chris Weeks/WireImage)

Prieto will be Jordan’s second wife, succeeding the infamous Juanita Jordan who married Michael in 1989, during his third year with the Chicago Bulls. Over the years, media reports have derided her as manipulative, while Michael was alleged to have cheated with other women on multiple occasions. When the couple divorced after 17 years, Juanita received $168 million, the biggest divorce settlement on record at the time.

There’s little question that 48-year old Jordan, an NBA Hall of Famer, will likely make Prieto sign a prenuptial agreement to better protect his assets this time. The bigger question is can Prieto do what Juanita couldn’t: keep Jordan from straying.

So, just who is Yvette Prieto?

She’s 32 years old.
She’s a former bikini model
She’s Cuban.
She’s co-owns a Miami home with Jordan.
She accompanied Jordan to the ceremony when the Chicago Bulls great was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010.
She formerly dated Julio Iglesias.
She filed for bankruptcy in 2002. (That’s doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a gold digger.)
She’s soon to be step-mom to Jordan’s three adult children: Jasmine (18), Marcus(21), and Jeffrey (23).

While Jordan is embracing marriage his close sports friends are embracing divorce. His good friend Tiger Woods got divorced in 2010 while buddy Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers is set to divorce his wife, Vanessa, in 2012. No date for the nuptials between Jordan and Prieto has been set.