Michael Jordan is known in the NBA world by his initials. Most people refer to him as MJ, after all, there is no greater basketball player in the game’s history. But while he may be the NBA’s primary MJ, there’s another iconic celebrity that holds an equal claim to the initials. His Airness will always be the GOAT of basketball, but the King of Pop Michael Jackson was just as, if not more, popular during his lifetime.
Jordan had the free-throw line dunks, and Jackson had his moonwalk. Jordan had game-winning shots and championships, and Jackson had chart-topping hits and sold-out concerts across the world. During the 90s, it would be really difficult to say which of the Michaels was more popular or more well-known across the world. And while the two of them led very different lives, they did relate to each other in terms of being popular beyond belief.
Michael Jordan And Michael Jackson Showed One Another Their Moves On The Set Of Jackson’s Song Jam
Michael Jackson released the single Jam in 1992, making a music video for it as well. And it was on the set of that music video that he had a legendary interaction with Michael Jordan, then MVP and champion. Jordan and Jackson played a game of 1-on-1, which wasn’t fair to the music icon, but then he tried to teach Jordan his dance moves, which left the GOAT a little flummoxed. A video clip of this interaction narrated by Jackson was on Twitter, and it makes for a really interesting watch.
🎤🏀 Making Of de "JAM" (1992). Michael Jackson & Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/Nc01CuEtoz
— Sphera Sports (@SpheraSports) August 29, 2018
Michael Jackson: “He signs all these autographs, then we had a real game. People crowded around and they’re watching me play one-on-one. Like, ‘Who’s gonna win this game?’ I wonder who. Look at this, this is cheating like crazy. He takes this and goes up and slams it.”
“Actually, this was my favorite part of the whole short film because it’s candid, it’s fun (talking about Jordan dancing with him). He was really embarrassed, he said. I really wanted to just move his legs in the right place.”
The whole exercise seemed to make it quite apparent that neither one of them was very good at doing what the other did so well. Both dealt with a lot of fame in different ways, and both lived lives filled with extraordinary stories and events. And not everyone may like them very much, but no one can dispute that during the 90s, both the MJs ruled their respective domains.
