Michael B. Jordan has certainly made a name for himself as a bonafide Hollywood star. However, it’s still hard not to take note of the fact that he also shares that name with one of the most famous athletes to ever exist – Michael Jordan. It goes without saying that the basketball hall-of-famer has accomplished quite a lot – both on and off the court – throughout his life. So it’s possible that some people who share that name could feel pressure to achieve greatness. Well, Michael B. has a fresh take on that shared name.
As awards season ramps up, Michael B. Jordan has been promoting his 2025 movie schedule release, vampire drama Sinners, for which he’s received praise. With that, he recently took part in Variety’s Actors on Actors segment, during which he chatted with his former Friday Night Lights co-star, Jesse Plemons. Jordan talked a lot about his formative years and how they molded him. Within that, Jordan talked about having to realize the significance of his name:
I always feel bad, because I didn’t look up to a lot of people as a kid. My parents was my bar of how to do things. And I think having the name Michael Jordan as a kid affected things in a way that, in hindsight, I can talk about. But in the moment, I didn’t really understand.
As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, what’s in a name? Well, someone’s moniker can mean a lot, and Jordan seems to be cognizant of that fact. The significance of Jordan’s name eventually became clear to him and, instead of giving into any kind of pressure about sharing a name with the Chicago Bulls legend. Jordan actually decided to own it and embraced the “healthy” chip on his shoulder, and it seems that helped him in a few ways:
Your name is important. It’s how you introduce yourself and how the world responds to you. But when there’s another guy out there who’s the guy, I think it created a healthy chip [on my shoulder]. Wanting to be competitive. Wanting your own identity in a way. I wanted to be great at something, and I didn’t know what it was going to be. I just wanted to be great at it.
One of the reasons Michael Jordan is arguably the basketball GOAT is that he has a competitive nature that few others can match. He didn’t back down from anyone on the court, and he wasn’t shy about his pursuit of greatness. It sounds like the Creed star was seeking out that kind of greatness as well and, thus far, I’d say it’s served him well. During Michael B.’s interview, Jesse Plemons asked him about the origins of his name, and what resulted was a funny back-and-forth:
- Jesse Plemons: Did you ever ask your parents why?
- Michael B. Jordan: My dad’s name is Michael Jordan.
- Plemons: He was probably around the same age?
- Jordan: My dad’s older than Mike. So I had no shot.
- Plemons: So it was not their fault. It’s just the way the stars aligned.
- Jordan: It was all meant to be, real talk.
- Plemons: It’s funny that you’re talking about this chip. The other Michael Jordan is notorious for using that chip as well. It’s working for both of y’all.
- Jordan: He’s Michael A. I’m Michael B.
At this point, Michael B. Jordan is a well-known public figure in his own right, having starred in high-profile movies and taken his talents behind the camera as a director as well. Sinners (which is streamable with an HBO Max subscription) is definitely the latest feather in his proverbial cap, and it’s emerging as a major contender amid this awards season. On that note, Jordan just landed his first Golden Globe nomination for his performances as twins Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s vampire drama.
Unsurprisingly, the always-booked-and-busy Chronicle star has a few projects on the docket now. He directed and starred in a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, and he’s reportedly circling the Miami Vice movie from Joseph Kosinski. Those certainly aren’t small productions. All in all, Michael B. Jordan’s done quite well for himself so, when someone says they want to be like Mike, we may not want to automatically assume they’re talking about Air Jordan.
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