When it came to greatness in the sport of basketball, Michael Jordan came second to none for Nick Young. And when it came to being cheap, Michael Jordan topped that list too. While on DJVlad, Nick Young revisited a tale about ‘His Cheapness’ that left him scarred for life. Jordan punished him for one mistake so harshly, that Young likened him to the time Kobe Bryant confiscated the Lakers locker room of all the Nikes as a punishment. Except, Bryant was taking out a game loss on them. Jordan extorted a $20 damage out of Young.
For that reason, Young dismissed the notion that Kobe was worse than MJ. “I say Michael Jordan was the a*****e too.” The incident that defined this opinion for him was when “Michael Jordan didn’t pay us when we worked at his camp.”
It’s a bit of an infamous tale he’s narrated before. During the time he was still playing at USC, he’d worked out at Jordan’s basketball camp. However, while hanging out with his friends, he accidentally broke an item in a room. In 2019 he said it was a vase. This time he told DJ Vlad it was a lamp.
Jordan took the property damage personally. He decided the dozen or so college kids had to be disciplined harshly. Jordan rescinded their payment as compensation for the vase/lamp they broke. It was no bluff. Young received a check that was void and couldn’t be cashed out. The punchline – “The lamp wasn’t nothing but about $20.”
Young said that he could’ve fixed the lamp himself or paid the $20. But Jordan instead placed a heftier fine which he balanced with a hilarious gesture.
Michael Jordan made it up to Nick Young
His Airness’ notorious cheapskate habits are no secret. More than one of his celebrity friends has brought up what a poor tipper the billionaire is at restaurants. Most recently, Kenny Smith revealed that Jordan directed him to buy Air Jordans for his daughter instead of expecting a freebie from the namesake. Charles Barkley, who once revealed that Jordan wouldn’t let him give money to the homeless, confirmed that this is one of the many proofs of Jordan being cheap.
When he denied SwaggyP’s check, he complimented the stinginess with a consolation gift in the form of a picture of himself. He told Vlad that Jordan gave that away “with a straight face.”
When he recalled the same story in 2019, Young said that MJ told them, “That’s all y’all get is a picture with me.” Note, it doesn’t sound like Jordan signed it for them because he’s infamous for not giving autographs either. So not like Young had a rare collectible either. Even through generations of NBA players, Jordan’s stinginess has not waned.
