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Darren Rovell: If Michael Jordan Lived In Today’s Media Environment, “I Almost Guarantee He’d Have More Slips”

Michael Jordan, besides being one of the NBA’s greatest players, was also one of the most controlling when it came to his public image.

Throughout his 15-year NBA career, and all of those years after that that Jordan has been known as the world’s greatest living basketball player, he was the teflon Don of preposterously-talented shooting guards. Sure, there was the gambling controversy, and rumblings of infidelity when his marriage ended. But both of these things were never serious threats to his popularity, or his status as the best corporate pitchman who ever balled.

But how much of that was due to Jordan himself, and how much of it was merely a byproduct of the time he lived in? MJ never had to deal with cell phone photos, or had his voicemails released to the public. By today’s standards, his media existence was serene.

This is a point made today by CNBC’s Darren Rovell on Outside the Lines. Rovell said that, had Jordan lived in today’s media environment, he would have had more “slips” in his relatively squeaky-clean public relations record, by virtue of the fact that there are currently more ways for athletes to get caught in compromising positions than ever before.

It’s a good point. Although informed fans know how deliriously competitive Jordan is, the average fan was probably not aware that he once punched Steve Kerr in the face during a practice. And if they are, they probably aware of it while he was playing.

Had that happened today? What if Jordan had punched his much smaller, fan favorite of a teammate? It would be tweeted an hour later, posted on a blog a half-hour after that, and it would lead tonight’s SportsCenter. So, yes, MJ had it quite good.