Courtesy of his illustrious career in the NBA, Michael Jordan became a brand during his playing days. Post-retirement, the legendary basketball player has only gone on to explore new ventures and found success in it. While one of them includes his NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing, he found himself in an awkward situation during the race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It is no secret that Jordan has been frequently seen on the tracks supporting his team. However, on Saturday, he played a key role in avoiding a massive embarrassment involving the celebrity associated with his ‘Air Jordan’ brand.
Michael Jordan makes a sharp gesture to prevent uncalled-for humiliation at Bristol Motor Speedway
Over the years, a number of celebrities across the world have taken pride in being involved with Michael Jordan. After all, the 60-year-old has turned into one of the biggest brands with time. One of his top ventures involves the sale of Nike-made sneakers termed Air Jordan.
As per Forbes, the 60-year-old has a net worth of around $2 billion to date. This comes as no surprise given how his Air Jordan brand has worked so fine. While Jordan’s name has itself been handy in promoting the shoes, his collaboration with a number of celebrities has done wonders for the brand.
Big names like Billie Eilish, Travis Scott, Eminem, and many others have linked up with the NBA legend. One of the recent celebrities to be associated with Air Jordan was J Balvin. For those unaware, the Colombian singer is one of the best-selling Latin artists, having sold over 35 million records.
As per CelebrityNetWorth.com, the 38-year-old has a net worth of around $30 million. It is only likely to be increased given that Balvin is set to launch his Air Jordan 3 collaboration next week. Interestingly, this is the third time he has been associated with the brand, having done so in 2020 and 2022.
As part of his promotion, he was seen attending the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday. However, Balvin was lucky to avoid a massive embarrassment had it not been for Jordan’s presence of mind. Prior to the race, as he approached to meet MJ, the NBA legend’s bodyguard failed to identify and tried to stop him.
Luckily, Jordan proactively approached and greeted Balvin so as to avoid any awkward scenario. However, the fans couldn’t help but see the funny side to it.
J Balvin survives an awkward interaction with Michael Jordan during his NASCAR debut at Bristol
It was the first time ever that J Balvin was attending a NASCAR event. Surely, it would have turned tragic had it not been for Michael Jordan and his awareness. While MJ’s security failed to recognize the Latin artist, NASCAR fans too sided with the bodyguard.
Given his popularity in Latin America, not many were aware of Balvin’s credentials. Naturally, they saw the comical side to the interaction with Jordan and reacted on Twitter.
“Jordan wearing the Balvins & his head of security has no idea who he is”
“Security wasn’t playing”
“Bodyguard was bout to do J Balvin dirty”
“Security Was About To Fold J Balvin Up Like A Cheap Lawn Chair.”
“Mike security team was abt to scrub J Balvin. Mike had to tell him he good”
“His security ain’t know who Balvin was lol”
Well, it was certainly smart of Jordan to react the way he did. However, it is interesting to see how the promotion helps the sale of sneakers with the release set next week.