Michael Jordan Talks NASCAR, His Competitive Spirit & More

Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the best basketball player ever, and his body of work supports the argument. Now in his second act, Michael Jordan is a co-founder of a NASCAR racing team and discussed his new venture and more in a recent interview.

Michael Jordan sat down with CBS Sunday Morning with Gayle King at the Phoenix Raceway to discuss his role as co-founder of the 23XI Racing team for NASCAR. Jordan shared with King that his interest in cars and racing dates back to watching his father serve as their neighborhood’s mechanic.

“He used to work on all the neighborhood cars… he would fix our cars. We would never send our car to the service. He would figure out a way to fix it. So I think it gravitated into his love for cars. And he likes driving fast. My mom likes driving fast,” Jordan shared.

A fascinating reveal in the chat was Jordan telling King that a rumor actually sparked the founding of 23XI Racing with Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin.

“I’ll never forget. I saw an article that wasn’t true. Says, ‘Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan are lookin’ to purchase a NASCAR team,'” Jordan said. “I saw the article, sent it to him. He says, ‘Not real, but if you want to make it real let me know.'”

23XI Racing was founded in 2000.

It appears that NASCAR has given Jordan another goal to chase and sparked his well-publicized drive for success. And he also pushed back on the assertion that he’s the greatest of all time concerning basketball during the chat.

“There’s no such thing as G.O.A.T., you know, to me,” Jordan said. “It’s not to me. You know, it’s only because I think, you know, we are transcended from other people, other athletes. We learn from other athletes. We progress the game as we move further. To say that one is better than the other is not really right.”

Check out Michael Jordan’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning below.

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Photo: Getty