There will never be an end to Michael Jordan‘s stories from celebrities and personalities who worked in the sports world. Even 20 years after his retirement, fans and members of the media still share new stories of meeting Jordan when he was in the league. The 62-year-old radio host shares his experience of meeting Michael Jordan, which happened because of pure luck.
The meeting didn’t go as well as he expected. His attempts to relate to Jordan put him in an awkward position before they eventually took the stage together.
First face-to-face experience with Michael Jordan
On a recent episode of Barguments, hosted by Dan Levy, he was joined by Chicago sports radio host Dan McNeil. McNeil. was asked to share his story with Michael Jordan. Dan McNeil talked about the time he and Michael Jordan made an appearance together at the Chevy Autoshow display.
This was in 1991, before the Bulls won their first championship. Chet W. Coppock was an American radio broadcaster based in Chicago. He was supposed to be there with Jordan that day. Coppock missed some time at work because of health reasons and couldn’t take a Friday off. And since Coppock couldn’t make it, Dan McNeil was asked to take his place.
Jordan was endorsed by Chevrolet at the time. It was planned as a surprise appearance. Since it was a Friday night, all the people showed up at the show. They planned to surprise all the Chevrolet customers. Jordan was going to make an appearance on an elevated stage. While McNeil was sitting in the green room, His Airness came in with an entourage.
He then said it was one of the coolest experiences ever. They both went on stage, surrounded by security. He went on stage and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan”.
McNeil said it was like introducing the Rolling Stones or the Beatles to the people. He said that as soon as he introduced MJ, 500 people gathered around the stage. The radio host went on to say that it was unfathomable to compare the reactions. This was even before he won his first championship with the Chicago Bulls.
Things didn’t go smoothly during the first interaction
This was near the trade deadline at the time. Even though McNeil didn’t know much about the happenings in the NBA world, he shared with Jordan a trade that was happening at the time. But this didn’t go as planned, as Jordan snapped upon hearing this.
Dan McNeil told him about the Bucks trading Ricky Pierce. Ricky Pierce was traded from the $2.3 billion worth Milwaukee Bucks to the Seattle SuperSonics for Dale Ellis. Pierce was the best player on the Bucks at the time and was averaging 23 PPG.
Jordan replied to McNeil, “What the f*** is Milwaukee thinking? “. Jordan looked at the now 62-year-old seriously and was waiting for an answer. However, the awkward situation soon eased and McNeil was treated to one of the best experiences of his life.
