Just after 11 a.m. on Sunday, Michael Jordan eagerly strode into the Road America facility, Thermos and cigar in hand, a glint in his eye as he waited for a day of racing to begin.
A foreboding, gray sky draped over the distant hilltops. Jordan hardly noticed. The former Bulls great took a perch on the deck, offering an enthusiastic wave to his Jordan Suzuki team prepping across the track.
In 2004 — a few months after a late-night encounter with other riders at a downtown Chicago gas station — Jordan formed his own motorcycle racing team, Michael Jordan Motorsports, fielding racers in the AMA Superbike and Superstock series.
He made the drive up Sunday — traveling along Wisconsin Highway 23 en route to the track, appropriately enough — to absorb the action. His interest was soon evident. During a sidecar race early on, Jordan crowed at an old-school entrant that featured the sidecar passenger’s legs literally scraping the asphalt behind the cycle.
“My man!” Jordan bellowed. “He’s dragging!”
But before the main races, Jordan kicked up his blindingly white Nikes for a one-on-one interview with the Tribune, discussing his racing interest and a wide range of topics, perhaps most notably, the transfer of his youngest son, Marcus, from Loyola to Young High School.
On that late-night meeting with riders in Chicago: They noticed I didn’t have a jacket on — had a helmet on, didn’t have boots on. They said, well, if you’re going to be riding, you better at least put on some protection — knowing that the law says you don’t have to wear a helmet, you just have to wear eyewear. I was just out riding. I wasn’t out there trying to do anything crazy. Sure enough, I went the next day, got all my equipment. From that point on, I started hanging out with them.
We started having a good time riding late at night, probably ride at 1 o’clock, 1:30, up and down the freeway. Once I started coming out, everybody seemed to migrate to where I was riding. Instead of riding with eight or nine guys, we started riding with 30 or 40 guys, which is just an accident waiting to happen. So we started trying to secretly get out. But obviously once they saw I was out, everybody started looking for me.
One of the guys I met later that summer, Montez [Stewart], they told me how fast he was on the street. Then we went to the track, and I saw he still had ambitions for riding, and I said, “You know what, let’s see if we can put together a team and go out and see what can happen.” They introduced me to the sport, and once I got introduced, I’ve been hooked ever since.
On what hooked him: It’s skillful. I grew up in NASCAR, so I’ve been a big race fan. But the thing about motorcycles is the instinct, the reactions — you see the riders working the bike. It takes a lot of skill to be in position on the bike, to be able to downshift and upshift and all that stuff, which is a little bit different than NASCAR. NASCAR is always left-hand turns, and circles the whole time. There’s an art to what they do, I’m not diminishing that. I just felt from coming from a sport where it’s a reaction sport, to see how they react much quicker — their decision-making has to be really quick. I was intrigued by that.
On the business side of Jordan Suzuki: It’s more brand recognition than anything. It’s not like I sell that many more basketball shoes, or T-shirts, or whatever. To me, it’s a hobby. I don’t look at it from the business standpoint. The Hondas, the Yamahas, the Suzukis, they’re selling motorcycles. Me, I’m selling tennis shoes.
On how hands-on he gets: I am financially involved more than hands-on. I just want to put together the best team that can win. I’m competitive in that way. Yeah, I put a lot of my money in it, and I don’t get anything back other than the enjoyment of the sport, and some brand recognition.
On having a low-budget team: I like being the underdog. When you least expect it, you go out and find ways to beat the favorites. It’s tough, because the factory teams are well-equipped. But what’s starting to happen is they’re seeing no matter what, my interest and my passion is strong enough that, sooner or later, I’m going to find the right things that make it work, and get us up in front and get us winning.
On how long he’ll stay in racing: It’s hard to put a time frame on something that you love and enjoy. I want to be in it for a long time. I want the team to move up the ladder.
On what has changed for him as an executive with the Bobcats: Final say-so, making more of the decisions, putting together my team to understand the game the way I understand the game. I didn’t think I had enough time in Washington [with the Wizards]. I felt like we turned the corner financially, but we never really got the chance to take it further. This way, I think I’m going to be able to prove to people that [Washington] was a good experience for me. I felt we were successful — most people didn’t because we didn’t make the playoffs. But the business of basketball was strong there in Washington, and a lot of it had to do with my team and the people I brought in. There’s some retribution I want to pay back for that. That’s the competitive nature I have.
On Bulls GM John Paxson: I think Pax is doing a great job. Always loved Pax, always thought he was a great leader. I think he’s going to progress this Chicago franchise to get them back on top. This year was a great year for them, and I think he’s going to build on it once again.
More Top Picks Best Rowing Machines
On what the Bulls need: They got some young players just getting better and better, and their perimeter game is real strong. But they don’t have that inside player I think they need to give the team a more well-balanced offensive attack. Defensively, they play very hard. I like the way they come out each and every game. [Coach Scott] Skiles has done a great job with the team, and Pax has done a great job putting together the team.
On the ascendance of Cleveland and LeBron James: You see some growth. Expectations have been there, the signs have been there. What just transpired was something I felt was needed for the league, was needed for Cleveland, was needed for LeBron. Now the test comes in being consistent and continuing that elevation, and not getting complacent.
On whether James made ‘The Leap’: He showed signs. Making “The Leap” is where you do it every single night. It’s expected of you, and you do it. That, to me, is “The Leap.” Not one game, not two games. It’s consistent. Every defense comes in and they focus on you and you still impact the game. I think he’s shown signs of that. He took a big step in that right direction in this last series. This next series is going to say, “How far do you want to take it?”
On Kobe Bryant and his frustration: Frustration is a part of the game, especially with a competitor. You want to win so bad, and you’ve been there, and you want to get back there — and you feel it hasn’t really happened that way, and you look for reasons why. He’s watching these young kids continue to play, and he’s not. It gets at him. And he starts looking for reasons.
That’s understandable, but I think he’s got a good scenario [with the Lakers] — a good GM, a good coach. … Who wants to be home watching basketball? Then you sit down and you get frustrated and you start pointing fingers or looking for reasons why. He’ll get out of that, as basketball gets away, and summer comes. I think he’ll mellow back and understand the organization is still trying to make the right moves.
On the league and the game: For so long, the league was at this high pinnacle, because of so many great stars, mature stars. Now the league is a lot younger, and it’s going to take time for them to get themselves back up to that pinnacle, if they can get back up to that point. I’m not guaranteeing that it will. I think it’s going to take a different direction, but it’s going to sustain.
On Scottie Pippen’s comments that teams would rather have a ‘Scottie’ than a ‘Michael’: There’s some truth to that. The one thing I’m never going to do is demean or diminish the importance of Scottie Pippen as a wingman, or as my teammate. Everybody needs a Scottie Pippen. Most of the successful teams are going to need a Michael Jordan. Can you win with one and not the other? I don’t know. I have yet to see that, in some respects.
I think you’re always going to have a leader, and you’re going to have someone to support that leader. I take [his comments] in a positive way. Everybody needs someone who’s willing to take that step below, just for the sake of not competing on the same level, because sometimes it doesn’t benefit the team. As long as you can have certain roles, and people fill those roles, the team is going to prosper from that. So I didn’t take anything negative away. I felt like, OK — that’s his opinion. I still think you need a Michael Jordan, you need that guy who’s going to take that big shot, that’s going to give the team confidence. And you need a guy like Scottie Pippen, who is not on the high end of that vocal leader, but he’s not that far off of it.
On son Jeff going to Illinois: I’m happy for Jeff. It’s easy for a parent to come in and say, “I think you should go to North Carolina, because that’s where I went and I’d like to see you follow in my footsteps.” No. That, to me, would’ve been a tough move for him because of the expectations. His name is not Michael. He’s not Michael Jordan Jr. He’s Jeffrey. He’s his own self. I didn’t want to name him Michael, I didn’t want a Junior. I knew the pressure he had to deal with. He’s a very mature kid. I think he wanted to go off and enjoy college and give himself something to work toward. He could have easily gone to another school and gotten a scholarship. But he wanted to enjoy college life and, at the same time, have a challenge in front of him.
On son Marcus’ future: I think he’s going to go to Whitney Young. That’s what we’ve agreed to. That’s something he wanted to do. It’s his choice — whatever he wanted to do. As long as the school is strong academically — academics are what we really try to drive home for our kids — the basketball is going to be there. I think that’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to end up going to Whitney Young. He’s got a lot of potential ahead of him as well. It’s good to have a big brother, to take some of the pressure off. But he’s going to be OK.
On family life after the divorce from Juanita: We’re fine. Things happen. She and I, we’re the best of friends. We talk every day. It’s very positive. A lot of people may try to throw some negatives on it, but we’re a very positive family, and we do everything we can to make sure our kids are making the right choices. We’re connected when it comes to the kids. She’s still one of my best friends.
———