Michael Jordan’s theatrics on the basketball court have been well documented by this point. Over the course of his storied career, he broke records and earned numerous accolades, including five league MVP titles and 14 NBA All-Star appearances. He also led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, with the final two wins coming against the Utah Jazz. Those losses took place decades ago, though it still seems fans have bad memories of what went down. Apparently, for that reason, one of Jordan’s “Jumpman” shirts is no longer being sold by the Jazz’s team store. Now, fans are weighing in with their opinions on the decision.
A spokesperson for the NBA club confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune that the shirt would no longer be sold by the organization. The controversy was initiated this past weekend by a fan of the team named Laird Doman. He took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and shared a photo of the item in question. He also dropped a message that – while brief – bluntly summed up his feelings about the product being available for purchase at the Delta Center. You can see his post for yourself:
Fire whoever allowed this design. pic.twitter.com/do05OVagtdOctober 15, 2023
It should be pointed out that the National Basketball Association has a long-standing partnership with Jordan Brand. At present, its famous emblem appears on various team jerseys across the league as well as franchise-specific merchandise like the article of clothing shown above. Nevertheless, Laird Dorman’s fellow Jazz devotees agreed with his sentiments, and that buzz was enough to spark change. This situation may pertain mostly to Utah’s fanbase, but it’s not shocking at all that others who have no skin in the game chose to comment. A user by the name of @tadashiroll weighed in with a particularly shady post:
Jordan jumping over the Jazz seems accurate though 👌
Those who watched ESPN’s The Last Dance (which is streamable for Netflix subscribers) were able to see footage from the Bulls’ championship bouts with Utah in 1997 and 1998. While the latter team’s key stars – Karl Malone and John Stockton – put up valiant efforts, they were ultimately no match for the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and co. Jordan, in particular, had his way in those games. He even scored the winning shot during the sixth game of the ‘98 series (and some still contend that he pushed off on Byron Russell in the process). That very moment was brought up by @sylabdul when they weighed in on the t-shirt controversy:
I mean....MJ does own Utah tho 🤷🏿♂️ pic.twitter.com/LlkXItEywaOctober 18, 2023
There’s a lot that can be said about this consumer-based decision. If you were to ask @STLBluesFan98, they’d say this speaks more to the mindsets of Utah fans than Air Jordan:
25 years later, Michael Jordan still lives rent free in the minds of Utah Jazz fans.
Unsurprisingly, His Airness has not publicly commented on the matter, as of this writing. All the while, @itsjwills believes the highly competitive former athlete – who’s been known to trash-talk fellow NBA vets and others – should do something very petty. The user shared a photo of the shirt and implied that the Bulls legend should roll up to a Jazz game while wearing it:
Michael Jordan has the chance to do the funniest thing at a Jazz game this year.
It can be difficult to put certain business to bend when it comes to basketball, as echoes of the past can linger. For example, Charles Barkley (who’s yet to repair his friendship with Michael Jordan) admitted that The Last Dance reminded him of a “bad memory.” And upon seeing herself in the docuseries, an Indiana Pacers fan that screamed at Jordan back in the day defended her outburst. Loyalties run deep within the sports world, and it seems the Utah Jazz is sticking to its guns by not reminding its own fans of the past.
