Michael Jordan had an incredible aura around him. People will wait for hours just to get a glimpse of ‘His Airness’. Jordan is perhaps the biggest superstar in the history of the NBA, and his crossover appeal is truly difficult to comprehend. But sometimes, the people who get to meet Michael Jordan didn’t have the best experience and even found themselves to be upset with him.
This is what happened to former WWE superstar Mark Henry. Henry once shared the story of meeting Michael Jordan at the 1996 Olympics. Henry was representing Team USA in weight lifting. Henry noted that he stuck out, as most of Team USA’s athletes were basketball players.
Jordan asked about Henry in a way that he found disrespectful. But Henry made sure to confront him about it right there. Understanding his mistake, Jordan apologized on the spot and even invited Henry to his birthday party the next year at the 1997 NBA All-Star game. Henry accepted the invitation, wished Jordan a happy birthday, and left the party (2:21 mark).
“Got to meet the great Michael Jordan. Not at first. The way the story goes is, Michael asked ‘who are you?’ Because I didn’t fit in. I was in an environment where it was all basketball players. And he’s like who is this big guy. And I understand that. But my mother used to say, ‘be careful what you say, but even more careful of how you say it’. And the way that he said it to me was very disrespectful, I thought. And I checked him about it, and he apologized. Hell, he even invited me to his birthday party at the All-Star game. And I went to his birthday party, said happy birthday and thanks for the invite and had a good time, and took my a** home.”
Clearly, Jordan’s disrespect was unintentional. And when called out on it, he instantly apologized. MJ was not trying to be disrespectful to his fellow Olympian but was just confused as to which sport he belonged to, as his build was not that of a basketball player or any other Olympic sport that MJ knew of.
Jordan was extremely graceful in his apology. And he made sure to make it up to Henry by inviting him to his birthday party.
Not everyone is so lucky to get an apology from Jordan after being disrespected by him. MJ was a ruthless trash talker, and players in the NBA were constantly on the receiving end of disrespect from MJ. Surely, MJ did not apologize for that at all, nor should he, as it was the way things went in the NBA at the time.
