Gift-giving is hard when you’re a celebrity like Michael Jordan.
What do you give your friends who are just as rich as you are?
Jordan is famous for his impressive car collection, and it’s now emerged that he actually gave one of his most beloved cars away.
In the ’90s Jordan was at the top of his game.
He and his teammate Scottie Pippen were kings of the Chicago Bulls team, winning six NBA championships together.
The Last Dance / Netflix
At the time, Jordan had an enviable fleet that included a Chevrolet Corvette and a Porsche.
His red Ferrari 550 Maranello was one of his most prized possessions and one that Pippen often commented on.
For Christmas in 1997, Pippen gave his teammate a lavish and meaningful gift.
He splashed out on a custom earring that was a diamond-encrusted replica of the NBA championship trophy.
Jordan had planned to give him a box of cigars, but after receiving his blinged-out gift he knew they weren’t going to cut it any more.
For a normal person, the next gift up from a box of cigars isn’t a Ferrari.
But Michael Jordan isn’t a normal person.
He remembered how Pippen had admired his luxury car and decided his fleet could spare it.
El Gráfico / Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
“He wanted it so bad,” Jordan said.
At the time the car was worth $170,000 which is $331,000 in today’s money.
But the most surprising part of this story isn’t that Jordan gave up a whole Ferrari just for a Christmas present.
Rather it’s that these two weren’t even that close.
According to Pippen, they were strictly teammates.
“We never really had that off-the-court relationship,” he said.
If that’s the kind of gift colleagues get each other in the NBA then we need to change career paths.
