Michael Jordan‘s fixation on winning led to him rubbing some of his teammates the wrong way, with Will Purdue even describing him as an ‘a**hole’ in Netflix’s The Last Dance. Former Los Angeles Lakers star Nick Young also used the same adjective to describe his experience with the Chicago Bulls icon. However, his reason was significantly different and involved a $20 lamp. In an interview with VladTV, the retired guard said,
“Michael Jordan was an a**hole. Michael Jordan didn’t pay us and we worked at his camp… I broke a lamp and his punishment was not paying us. He said we can get a picture. He said,] ‘I’ll give y’all a picture but I’m not paying y’all,’ with a straight face.”
Young claimed that Jordan eventually did send a check but it was void and he couldn’t cash it. He then revealed that the lamp he broke which irked the Hall of Famer enough to withhold their payments cost only $20, only making this whole situation that much more confusing.
Now, while it’s easy to assume that Jordan did not pay them out of spite, the reality of the matter could be very, very different. After all, there is some real evidence to suggest that the billionaire is stingy enough to use an arbitrary reason in order to get out of paying what he owes.
Michael Jordan is a known penny-pincher
Michael Jordan has amassed personal wealth that surpasses any athlete in history. Per Forbes magazine‘s estimations, he has a net worth of $3.2 billion. However, he allegedly isn’t keen on spending his money, even when he’s in Las Vegas. On the Talking Sopranos podcast, actor Steve Schirripa revealed that the six-time NBA champion’s penny-pinching habit has even earned him the unfortunate nickname, ‘Hoarding Michael Jordan.’
The Hall of Famer not only dislikes spending his own money but also stops others when he can. During an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1993, Charles Barkley revealed that Jordan forbade him from giving money to a homeless man on principle. He said,
“I was gonna give a homeless guy some money one night, and [Michael Jordan] slaps my hand. And he says ‘Well if he can say, ‘Do you have any spare change?’, he can say ‘Welcome to McDonald’s, how can I help you?’”
Jordan’s cynicism and reluctance to spend money is surprising, considering his penchant for gambling in casinos and betting on himself during golf games.
Perhaps the Bulls icon doesn’t like spending money unless there’s a possibility of him winning it back. Regardless, it has dampened his reputation in the eyes of his peers like Barkley, and people who looked up to him, like Nick Young.