Michael Jordan was a global icon during his playing days – heck, he’s remained a global icon since his retirement almost 20 years ago – but one must wonder how he would have fared in the social media age had Facebook and Twitter existed during his heyday.
Would he have been even more of an icon, or would his image have taken a hit due to some of his off-court hobbies?
“I don’t think that MJ would have been on social media, but I do think he wouldn’t have been able to do as much stuff as he did,” Chicago’s 670 The Score host Laurence Holmes said on After Hours with Amy Lawrence. “There wouldn’t have been the trip to Atlantic City or the golf games. People would have had pictures and videos of that stuff out there – and I’m not sure that Nike or Gatorade or the Bulls would have wanted that type of heat if we take ’80s and ’90s Jordan and transport him into 2020. That would be a real struggle for the brand itself, the Jordan brand itself.”
Holmes teaches a class at DePaul, and he has enjoyed getting his students’ perspective on The Last Dance.
“It’s been interesting,” he said. “My students, they weren’t born when this was going on. Getting their perspective on it is interesting. What’s been interesting for the 35-and-under crew is seeing them go, ‘Oh, so that’s where Kobe got it from.’ Yes, that’s exactly where Kobe got it from. But I think MJ would be a star on social media without having a social media account.”