Michael Jordan has addressed his infamous "Republicans buy sneakers, too" comment, defending his lack of political action throughout his NBA career.
On the latest episode of the hit documentary series "The Last Dance" on ESPN, Jordan said he never viewed himself as an activist when asked why he steered clear of political issues and explained the story behind the controversial comment that left many in the African-American community aghast.
The comments came amid the 1990 US Senate race in North Carolina between Republican Jesse Helms and African-American Democrat Harvey Gantt, and caused many to point the finger at the former NBA star for not supporting fellow Africa-Americans.
Gantt was trying to unseat Helms,who had been accused of racism throughout his career and was not a supporter of civil rights. He also opposed to the establishment of Martin Luther King day as a US federal holiday.
"I don't think that statement needs to be corrected because I said it in jest on a bus with Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen," Jordan said.
"It was thrown off the cuff. My mother asked to do a PSA (public service announcement) for Harvey Gantt, and I said, 'Look, Mom, I'm not speaking out of pocket about someone that I don't know. But I will send a contribution to support him.' Which is what I did."
While Jordan said he respected the nobility of someone like Ali, he never signed up to push political agendas and understood why some labeled him selfish for not speaking up.
"I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in," Jordan said.
"But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player."
"I wasn't a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft," Jordan said.
"Was that selfish? Probably. But that was my energy. That's where my energy was."
The NBA legend said his preference was to build his influence through his athletic achievements and set a positive example through the prism of sport.
"It's never going to be enough for everybody, and I know that," he said. "Because everybody has a preconceived idea for what I should do and what I shouldn't do.
"The way I go about my life is I set examples. If it inspires you? Great, I will continue to do that. If it doesn't? Then maybe I'm not the person you should be following."
In the same documentary, former US President Barack Obama said he believed Jordan could have spoken out more.
"I'll be honest, when it was reported that Michael said, 'Republicans buy sneakers, too' -- for somebody who was at that time preparing for a career in civil rights law and knowing what Jesse Helms stood for, you would've wanted to see Michael push harder on that," Obama said.
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/basketball/last-dance-michael-jordan-addresses-republicans-buy-sneakers-comments/7a03a6d0-ca57-4ae2-a781-ff576971db16
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