Michel B. Jordan once got star struck upon seeing Michael Jordan. (Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images/Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
Michael B. Jordan has always had fame tied to his name. Without the B, he’s easily confused for NBA great Michael Jordan. Though the two have never met, the “Black Panther” star currently has no interest in changing that anytime soon.
“I never met Michael Jordan,” the actor said in the May issue of Men’s Health. “I never want to officially meet him until I’m at a point where he knows who I am and I know who he is. And it would be our mutual respect thing. Until then it would just be a ‘this guy has your name, ha ha.’ I don’t want that. So that pushes me to keep working too. These things motivate me.”
Still, it’s not like Jordan hasn’t been close to having an official meeting with the sports icon. He told The Wall Street Journal in January that he saw the baller at NBA All-Star Weekend once and got star struck. And the person who had that effect on Jordan is part of something else that motivated the actor growing up.
“I’m competitive. I want to compete in anything I do. That came from my name,” the star of the upcoming big screen adaptation of “Fahrenheit 451” said. “Growing up in sports and having a name like Michael Jordan and being teased, I had to compete. I couldn’t be the guy with the name and not be good at it. That carried over to everything. I’m like, I’ve got to be just as great if not greater than he was in his field.”
While Jordan’s reasoning for not wanting to meet MJ just yet may be compelling to some, several Twitter users remained largely unimpressed.
“Surprising considering they both chase after White Women,🙄” a user said.
“M’kay,” someone else simply tweeted.
“Weird,” another said.
“What?!?” someone more enthused exclaimed.
