Michael Jordan is one of the most influential athletes of all time, he is a hero to a lot of people that don’t even play basketball or any sport for that matter. Very few people have dominated a sport like MJ dominated basketball, and it made him a household name across the world. So it’s not surprising when today’s athletes from other sports idolize him, even in this day and age.
One of the young guns in motor racing, specifically Formula 1 is Pierre Gasly, the 26-year-old who competes for the Scuderia AlphaTauri under the French flag. Although opportunities with top teams have been limited for Gasly so far, he has shown his mettle by finishing several races quite high, including winning a Grand Prix and finishing on the podium thrice.
With the Miami Grand Prix scheduled to take place this weekend, Formula 1 is in the United States, and they have been participating in several events among the sports and celebrity elite of the country. And Gasly had the unique and rare experience of dining with Michael Jordan, something that he was thrilled with and spoke about to the media (via New York Post) while also posting about it on Instagram.
“It was the most inspiring dinner I’ve ever had … I’ll remember [it] all my life. Everyone says you should never meet your idols because you can only be disappointed and to me it’s been the complete opposite.”
“The guy’s a genius … the way he’s thinking intellectually. I was very, very impressed. He almost knows the sport better than I do. It was very impressive and just great to discuss with such a legend. I didn’t know he wakes up every single Sunday morning to watch all our races. Everyone can imagine it’s not easy to be Michael Jordan and to show up to events … So even though we don’t see him, he follows everything.”
MJ is a huge fan of racing, he also happens to own his NASCAR team. Even ahead of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team celebration earlier in the year, Jordan was at one of the races and flew in from there. Talking to Jordan one-on-one would be an incredible experience for any athlete and Gasly will be hoping to channel some of that elite mentality into a great result in his race on Sunday.
