Michael Jordans sad NBA confession after not | NBA News

Basketball legend Michael Jordan made a uncommon tv look on Tuesday night and confessed he still yearns for the competitiveness that once drove his illustrious profession, while also revealing the “obligation” that introduced him back to our screens. During his first look on NBC’s ‘MJ: Insights to Excellence,’ broadcast at half-time during the Thunder-Rockets season opener, the six-time NBA champion revealed he needs he might “take a magic pill” to expertise his taking part in days once more.

The 62-year-old sporting icon hung up his boots for the third and closing time in 2003 following a exceptional 15-season profession that noticed him clinch six championships with the Chicago Bulls, declare 5 MVP awards, and secure two Olympic gold medals. He reached another financial landmark in August 2023 after offloading his stake in the Charlotte Hornets.

“In all honesty, I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts and go out and play the game of basketball today,” Jordan revealed during his chat with NBC presenter Mike Tirico. “That type of competition, that type of competitiveness is what I live for. And I miss it.”

Throughout the programme, the basketball icon acknowledged he hasn’t touched a basketball “in a long time,” yet insisted his ardour for the game burns as fiercely as ever. “I love it like you wouldn’t believe,” he declared.

“I miss that aspect of playing basketball – being able to challenge myself against what people see as great basketball. But it’s better for me to be sitting here talking to you, as opposed to popping my Achilles and ending up in a wheelchair for a while.”

Basketball legend Michael Jordan made his NBC debut in the first episode of ‘MJ: Insights to Excellence,’ a new phase set to function throughout the 2025-26 season as half of NBC’s return to NBA coverage.

NBC, which broadcasted some of the league’s most iconic moments during the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, is back as an official associate for the first time in over twenty years.

When requested about his determination to step back into the limelight, Jordan insisted it wasn’t about money but quite a sense of obligation.

“We have an obligation to pay it forward,” he said. “I have the obligation to the game of basketball – not financially, I’m okay. But as a basketball player, it’s about passing on messages of success and dedication to the game.”

The Hall of Famer also opened up about his low-key life post-retirement, revealing that he has deliberately stored a low profile to spend more high quality time with his household.

“You never really know – when you’re in the prime of your career – how much time you don’t have for family,” Jordan admitted. “The most valuable asset I have is time.

“That’s most likely why you do not see enough of me. Because that time, I’m making an attempt to spend with household and issues I missed out on for such a long time.”