“I Could Get You Fired”: Young Michael Jordan’s Entourage Knew Not to Embarrass Bulls Superstar Despite the Neverending Banter

Beyond basketball, understanding Michael Jordan can be a bit difficult. However, when we hear from his close friends and aides, we get to know of the fun banter and competitive nature that he also continued off the court. Jordan was well known for having a healthy banter with his buddies when he was drafted into the league in the mid-80s.

Jordan was quite meticulous about the things around him, much like he was on the court. Just as he would expect his teammates to go 82-0 in the league, he also had similar expectations from his social life. In Roland Lazenby’s book Michael Jordan: The Life, MJ’s former Tar Heels teammate, Buzz Peterson, recalled how Jordan would not hesitate to point out a mistake if things weren’t done as he liked.

Jordan continued this competitive spirit even while interacting with his friends. Be it a game of ping-pong or the slightest aspect, MJ would make sure to turn it into a competition and beat the people competing against him. Former Bulls PR manager Tim Hallam described this nature of Jordan and said, “It’s kind of like you have to be competitive with him, too, at whatever, or one, you’re either discarded or two, you’re no fun to compete against.”

On the other hand, if Jordan’s partners ever tried coming back at him during banters, they could experience his anguish and frustration. In fact, Jordan hated being embarrassed by his partners, which is the reason why most of his colleagues liked to play along with his words. Tim Hallam described the nature of Jordan quite vividly, as mentioned in this excerpt below from Lazenby’s biography of Jordan.

“If he’s gonna tease… you gotta volley,” Hallam said. “He likes to volley. But you have to do it in the right way. You can’t be bullshit and it’s gotta be good. Would we yell at each other? No. But, he’d say something like, ‘You know, I could get you fired.’ And I’d say, ‘Hey, don’t do me any favors. You think I’m enjoying this shit right now?’ ”

Jordan’s nature made him an incredible and fierce competitor and enabled him to excel both on the court and in off-court matters such as business and personal branding. Today, His Airness has a net worth of $3 billion, all due to smart and tactful decisions, partly owed to his competitive and overzealous nature of always achieving the best for himself. Love it or hate it, Jordan never once looked to change that about himself.

Michael Jordan used to keep his circle of people small, close, and tight-knit

Many who know Michael Jordan personally may start considering the 6x NBA champion as their close and personal friend. However, that was quite far from the truth and mostly one-sided. For Jordan, only a limited circle of his close acquaintances and valued business associates were the ones who would be part of his daily life. Given his status as a global icon, Jordan only wanted to be surrounded by an entourage of people he could trust the most.

As per the Chicago Tribune, Jordan considered four people, agent David Falk, personal trainer Tim Grover, personal assistant and limousine driver George Koehler, and former bodyguard Gus Lett, as his closest entourage. With Koehler, Jordan had a 14-year-long relationship which Koehler celebrates to this day. Koehler had an incredibly close-knit bond with Jordan, enough for him to even write a book detailing every aspect of their relationship.

It isn’t uncommon for NBA superstars to have an entourage of people that they can trust no matter what. And given the icon Michael Jordan was, perhaps it was more important for him than anyone else to have that.