Michael Jordan
I Don’t Play Basketball Anymore
… But ‘I Miss It’
Published
His Airness has apparently been grounded for good.
Michael Jordan revealed on Tuesday night just before the start of the 2025-26 NBA season that he no longer plays basketball — not even occasionally in a random gym or driveway.
The iconic hooper, working in his new “MJ: Insights to Excellence” role at NBC for the first time, told Mike Tirico he actually hasn’t picked up a ball “in years” — outside of one free throw attempt during last month’s Ryder Cup.
Jordan said even during that moment, he didn’t want to touch a basketball … but he was pressured into it by a home owner who was letting him stay in his place for the big golf weekend.
“He had a basketball court and he says, ‘I want you to shoot one free throw,'” Jordan told Tirico. “I said, ‘Really?'”
“So,” he continued, “when I stepped up to shoot the free throw, it’s the most nervous I’ve been in years. In years!”
M.J. explained he wanted to impress the guy’s grandchildren after they had no doubt heard about his legacy … and fortunately for the 62-year-old, he said he knocked the shot down.
“That made my whole week was that I was able to please that kid, not knowing if I could,” he said.
Jordan, though, did admit he misses the game … saying he loves it “like you wouldn’t believe.”
But, he added “it’s better for me to be sitting here talking to you as opposed to popping my Achilles and I’m in a wheelchair for a while.”
Nonetheless, Jordan will be around the NBA more than he has in decades this year … as he said he’s ready for his expanded role on NBC because he feels he has “an obligation to pay it forward.”
