Michael Jordan is one of, if not the greatest basketball players of all time. That being said, he has always liked to control the narrative in how he is portrayed by the media dating back to his playing career.
The Last Dance documentary from ESPN was a prime example of that, where the story of the Chicago Bulls was centered around the greatness of Jordan, who also had a large say in the film. It was known that this was likely the only way that it would ever get made.
As if to drive home how protective His Airness is, revered actor Idris Elba recently told Jordan that he was interested in portraying him in a movie role, but the NBA legend turned him down.
“I even said to [Jordan] one time, ‘I want to play you,'” said Elba. “He was like, ‘Hmmm, I’m not ready yet.’ That’s what he said. ‘I’m not ready yet.’ I was dead serious.”
“In my head, playing Jordan wouldn’t be about the basketball player,” Elba added. “It was about the businessman. He is a very astute businessman, really smart … So that’s where I was hinting at. I was like, ‘I wanna play Jordan. I’m doing that.’ He was like, ‘Ah, I’m not ready for that story yet.’”
For most people, getting an actor as prominent as Idris Elba offering to play you in a movie role is considered a high honor, and it may be for Jordan, but it appears that Jordan may want to wait a bit for his story as a businessman to reach the public.
Jordan has acted in the past, playing a role as himself in the original Space Jam.
It appears that if he does want his story as a businessman to be seen by the public one day, he may want it to be done with himself as the star of the show.
