June 5, 1998; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan in game two of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY

Michael Jordan for all his success and fame never made too much money in the NBA. Sure at the twilight of his championship years, he scooped in a stunning $33 million a year. But that was just one year.

Advertisement

Throughout his career, MJ was never the man getting paid. In fact, the billionaire throughout his career never crossed the $100 million threshold.

Players like Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen, and Gary Payton, all made more than him during their NBA Careers. And to give it the boot, the Chicago Bulls gloated over Jordan.

Yes, the very organization that owes its success to one player neglected its superstar.

Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago Bulls neglected and overlooked the value of Michael Jordan

In an excerpt from Michael Jordan The Life, Jerry Krause explains that they “paid Michael a lot of money to play basketball”. A callous statement at best. Jordan made over a third of his career earnings in only his final contract year with the Bulls.

The fact that billionaire owners like Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t want to shell out the money for a player of Jordan’s caliber shows how business-oriented teams can be.

Despite all of this, Michael Jordan never lamented this fact. In fact, he has often said multiple times that his success was simply built upon the generation before him. And that the generations after would earn more than him.

But the fact that he earned less than his compatriots, many of whom he regularly beat in the NBA Finals seems like a lack of gratitude from the Chicago Bulls organization.

MJ is now a billionaire and earned $256 million in 2022

For his forlorn story about earning less than $100 million, Michael has a comfortable life now. He is a billionaire. He owns an NBA team. His shoe brand is perhaps the most sought-after name in the sneaker world.

And to top it all off, just last year, he made a cool $256 million through royalties. Yes, the Jordan Brand revenue was so high, MJ scooped in nearly 3 times his NBA career earnings.

Talk about a success story. As for Jerry Reinsdorf, he still owns a major share of the Chicago Bulls, however, Michael Jordan is now richer than him.