Michael Jordan has appeared a record amount of times on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. It has been 50 times, to be exact.
Jordan once had a great relationship with the company, but this would all change on March 14, 1994, with three words: Bag it, Michael.
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After winning his third consecutive championship with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan shocked the world by retiring in 1993. This made the Bulls a different team heading into the 1993-94 NBA season.
While retired, Jordan started a new professional sports career: baseball. Jordan joined the Chicago White Sox’s minor league team the Birmingham Barons.
This was when his relationship with Sports Illustrated would sour. As Jordan was struggling to get adjusted to his new profession, Sports Illustrated put out their March issue in 1994, showing Jordan missing a pitch by a mile.
The words next to this famous photo read: Bag it, Michael! This angered Jordan so much that he stopped doing interviews for the company, something that continues on to this day.
The article, which was written by Steve Wolf, states how Jordan was taking the place of a minor leaguer who paid their dues, which was true. Still, for not playing baseball since high school, Jordan played well on the diamond, recording 88 hits, 17 doubles, one triple and 51 RBI.
Jordan also stole 30 bases and he hit three home runs in his short career which lasted just 127 games. Not bad for a basketball player.
