Michael Jordan Had a Tough Nickname for Magic Johnson After They Met Again
NBA legend Michael Jordan once had a playful nickname for Magic Johnson during a get-together after their careers. Jordan, 62, is not only one of the greatest NBA players ever but also one of the most famous and influential athletes worldwide. During his amazing career, he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He also earned Olympic gold medals twice, in Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992.
After retiring from basketball, Jordan kept making his mark, especially through his work with Nike in sports fashion. Earlier this year, he was spotted hanging out with his old Team USA teammate Magic Johnson at an event. In a video shared on social media, Jordan jokingly called Johnson “Old Dog,” saying, “That’s Old Dog right there. Where your shoes at? We can go play 1 on 1, me and you, right now.”
Magic has always respected Jordan a lot. When asked who he thinks is the greatest of all time (GOAT), Johnson didn’t hesitate to say Michael. He told Basketball Forever, “I would have to say Michael. We haven’t seen anybody do what Michael could do. He was physically gifted and smart. Then, after him, you’d have two other Lakers—LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
He added, “But Michael, I would say. And you’ve got to include Bill Russell because he won 11 championships, which is amazing. When a player wins that many rings, he’s definitely in the GOAT talk. People debate Michael and LeBron today, and that’s fine.”
Magic also shared a favorite memory: “I still remember that shot he made against us in ’91. He went up with his right hand, tongue out, and we tried to block him. You’re probably too young to remember—go YouTube it! He switched the ball from his right to left hand, tongue went left, spun it off the glass, and scored. It’s still the greatest shot I’ve ever seen.”