“I was on a date in the Bahamas, he tapped me on the shoulder and he…

By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist

A big fan of nightlife, Michael Jordan has a good time in nightclubs whenever he gets the chance. He had also met Bob Sinclar in these conditions, the French DJ telling the story during a recent interview.

In terms of training ethic, few have reached the heights he did, with the exception of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James perhaps. Legendary competitor, Michael Jordan never lacked resources to improve again and again. We are still talking about a player who managed to come out of retirement twice, in 1995 then 2001. This is not given to everyone…

That being said, this does not mean that the former Bull did not know how to enjoy life outside the court. For example, everyone knows his passion for gambling, he who roamed the casinos during his career in the NBA. Some rumors still say that his first retirement in 1993 was not due to the death of his father, but rather to addiction problems linked to this hobby…

The crazy meeting between Bob Sinclar and Michael Jordan

And then, His Airness likes to enjoy the nightlife, even more since he hung up his sneakers for good. He spends a lot of time on his yacht, particularly in the south of France, as well as in nightclubs. It was also during a trip to a discotheque that he crossed paths with a certain Bob Sinclar, the famous French DJ recounting this anything but ordinary encounter on the Youtube channel LEGEND :

I was doing a date in the Bahamas, I walked into the club super sure of myself, very very sure of myself and I started playing my first three records. And at one point, there's a guy who taps me on the shoulder like that, I turn around… (he looks up, editor's note) The guy was two meters tall, it was Michael Jordan. He whispers in my ear: “Would you mind playing a little rap?” »

So you arrive, people are waiting for me to play, you see, and… I made him happy (laughs). Well yes! So all of a sudden after four or five records, because I still have a lot of stuff on my key, I made him a little series of three, four hip-hop stuff because well… the legend.

A strange request from the six-time champion since he had not hidden his disdain for this musical movement in the past, including in front of some of the greatest American lyricists. Rapper NORE spoke about this in 2016:

Michael Jordan hates hip-hop. He only likes Hov (Jay-Z, editor's note), that's all. I saw him silence Redman at the Def Jam Christmas party. We were all sitting there, ready to talk to Michael Jordan, and someone said “yo, Redman and Method Man are here.” He replied, “Fuck rap.”

We can hardly imagine Bob Sinclar's surprise when Michael Jordan approached him, the DJ finding himself face-to-face with one of the greatest athletes in history. Unsurprisingly, he shook up his musical habits to please Her Majesty.