Is Michael Jordan trying to catch LeBron James in charitable giving?

The debate will rage perhaps as long as basketballs bounce, who is the greatest player of all time, MJ or LBJ? But more because of their respective eras of super stardom, Jordan is seen as running a distant second to James in supporting social issues and donations to needy causes.

In light of Jordan’s $2 million pledge to the destruction of his home state by Hurricane Florence, the comparison with James needs further study and explanation. A 2015 story in ESPN the Magazine painted Jordan as a greedy capitalist compared to James, the outspoken activist.

It is true that Jordan began growing his wealth in the decades of “the most comprehensive wave of conservatism in the 20th century, a political retrenchment that followed the sweeping social ambition of Lyndon Johnson,” according to the ESPN story. Closer to home, MJ was criticized for not publicly supporting African-American Charlotte mayor Harvey Gannt in his two runs against Jesse Helms for the U.S. Senate.

The first sports star to ever have an athletic shoe named after him, the heir to the Air Jordan empire infamously said, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” He has been criticized for staying away from social issues that were becoming blacker and whiter, like the stat that once every nine days an unarmed black man is gunned down by police, also quoted by ESPN.

James, in contrast, came up when protests were regaining steam in America. He supported Black Lives Matter and lobbied the NBA to make the Clippers owner sell the team after abusing several minority girlfriends. LeBron once wore an “I can’t breathe” warm-up before a game to support the perception that his black brothers who weren’t celebrities had no chance.

Jordan did sue the Safeway supermarket chain for using his likeness in an ad that reportedly netted out little profit, but MJ pledged to donate the $9 million settlement to Chicago-based charities. Right after the ESPN article, he began more public charitable giving that continued steadily through his latest gift to those hurt most by Florence. Included was $7 million to children’s healthcare in Charlotte.

So billionaire MJ is plenty generous with his wealth, though perhaps less out front with it than LBJ.

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