Everyone who has ever met Michael Jordan most likely remembers their first encounter with him, either fondly or how badly he torched their teams on the court. But Ice Cube, the iconic rapper, had a hilarious recollection of meeting Michael Jordan for the first time.
In his recent interview with NFL veteran Julian Edelman, Ice Cube pointed out how soft Michael Jordan’s hands are, from the first time he shook his hand in 1997.
“I met him, probably, in ’97, it was a Nike town event, He was in there and I said, ‘What’s up, MJ!’ and he said, ‘What’s up!” He said, ‘You know I told people Friday was my favorite movie and that sh** got me in trouble.’ ‘How did it get you in trouble?’ ‘You know how much weed you’re smoking in that damn movie.’ I was like ‘is sh** funny?’, [and he said] ‘sh** funny’…”
“I remember he shook my hand, and that sh-t felt like a baby foot or something, it was soft as fu**, like you ain’t never did an inch of work in your goddamn life. My daddy’s hands feel like a cheese grater. Your f***ing hands feel like a baby wipe.”
“At 6’6, his sh*t was big, felt like a pillow grabbed my hand. I thought to myself, ‘Damn, you did nothing but bounce a basketball your whole f***ing life’… can shoot that mo****fu***er so good, got them soft paws.”
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Usually, people talk about Jordan’s personality and aura from the first time they met him. But Ice Cube’s story seems to humanize the greatness of Michael Jordan. By the time the 1997 season ended, Jordan had already won five NBA championships with the Bulls and multiple individual accolades.
Ice Cube has skipped Jordan’s name from his All-time starting five in the past and also refused to give a concrete answer on his GOAT debate with LeBron James. This shows that while he supports Michael Jordan, he doesn’t revere him like most of his fans do.
Ice Cube founded the Big3 basketball league in 2017 to pursue his love for basketball as a business opportunity. He even hinted in the past that he would encourage an investment from Jordan into a team in his league. Now, nearly a decade after it was founded, former NBA players have joined the league to add more fan following and prestige to his league.
If we are anticipating a return of Michael Jordan to the NBA, what is stopping him from even dipping his toes into the Big3 league? If not a team owner, maybe a media figure who promotes the game? While it is unlikely that Jordan will commit to something like that but one can only hope he changes his mind someday.
