20 Questions: Michael Jordan

Last year Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to their fourth NBA title in six years. (They lost when he played baseball.) He won his eighth scoring title and his fourth MVP award. Earth's most famous jock also starred in "Space Jam," becoming the only human to work with both Bugs Bunny and Dennis Rodman. He did it with ease and antigrav grace, as usual. For Jordan, superhuman feats are no sweat. So why does he need Michael Jordan cologne?

We sent Contributing Editor Kevin Cook to the Rodeo Drive suites of fragrancier Bijan to ask.

"I didn't smell anything, but the air did change when Jordan entered the room. He is regal. Pleasant and sometimes funny, too, but his presence has a bouquet of magnificence. He is in charge of every detail. At one point Bijan barged in; the cologne pooh-bah was worried about a photo of Jordan for an ad campaign.

"'What's missing?' Jordan asked.

"'Your energy, your statement of you,' said Bijan.

"Michael studied the photo for about two seconds. 'It's fine,' he said. End of crisis.

"I couldn't help noticing the official Michael Jordan soap displayed beside his cologne. It was thick as a brick and almost as long."

1.

[Q] Playboy: Why is your soap so big?

[A] Jordan: Look at my hand. It's huge, isn't it? So I need a big bar of soap. And I'm not the only one--my teammates need something big to wash their butts with.

2.

[Q] Playboy: Do you intend to freshen up the NBA's locker rooms?

[A] Jordan: Starting with my team. I think Scottie Pippen wears Dunhill, but I'll change him over. If I can just get Scottie to try Michael Jordan cologne, he'll come around. Dennis Rodman? I'll give him some, but I don't think he'll use it.

3.

[Q] Playboy: Is Dennis Rodman more of a Chanel guy?

[A] Jordan: Dennis is totally different. I never question his attire or his hygiene. I don't infringe on him. He has ways of expressing himself that I don't agree with, but that's Dennis, and we let it go. I would be opposed to seeing him in makeup or a dress on the basketball court. And as far as him playing naked, I just hope I'm not on the court.

4.

[Q] Playboy: Tell us your fragrance history. Did you ever use Hai Karate?

[A] Jordan: Sure. I went through Old Spice, Hai Karate--but what I really remember is the smelly stuff my father used to wear, English Leather. The fatherly cologne, yeah, with that wooden top. Sneaking some of his English Leather, spraying it on myself, I'll never forget that.

5.

[Q] Playboy: Fans love Bugs Bunny, your Space Jam co-star, but we've heard he can be difficult. Did he pay you a common actor's courtesy--showing up to read his lines when he's off camera, so you can react to his delivery?

[A] Jordan: No. He always sent his double. It made it a little tougher for me, but that's the big time, man. You can do that when you've been a star for 60 or 70 years.

6.

[Q] Playboy: What made you laugh on the movie set?

[A] Jordan: Joe Pytka, who directed Space Jam, thinks he's a basketball player. But he can't play. So I played a lot with him and some of the extras. Joe was asking how it really is in the NBA, so I made it physical. Now these extras, they're not just actors, they're basketball players, too, and it got a little rough. Somebody throws an elbow and--boom--breaks an extra's nose. I was laughing because it was so timely. That's how it is, Joe.

7.

[Q] Playboy: Let's talk about trash talk. Is it true that Charles Barkley is the funniest talker and Seattle's Gary Payton is the nastiest?

[A] Jordan: Charles is funny. He kids me about endorsing everything from cologne to underwear. It's a way to get in your head. But if you know Charles, it doesn't bother you. If you've had success over him, you can throw it right back. You can call him a great second place finisher.

Payton is young and brash. He's good. Maybe he talks, but not to me. Still, I could sense the challenge coming off him in the playoffs last year. It's fun when you feel that challenge from a younger player. You have to respond. This is somebody who wants to gain the respect you already have. And maybe he will. It's just that you don't want it to happen this year. That's one of the things that keeps me going.

8.

[Q] Playboy: How much do you talk on the court?

[A] Jordan: I am constantly trying to get an edge. There are a lot of mental challenges. Maybe a guy expects me to drive, but I pull up for a jump shot. I might say, "This could go on all night." Or tell him he can't guard me. I might ask him a question. "How many do you want me to score?"

9.

[Q] Playboy: How does it feel when you're airborne?

[A] Jordan: It's an act of creativity. You make it up as it goes along. I see things before they happen, things that might happen, and then alter them--adjust, dish off. It all seems very slow to me, but it might not to you.

10.

[Q] Playboy: Why are NBA players such sharp dressers?

[A] Jordan: There are probably more sweaters and jeans in baseball. In a basketball locker room the guys are putting on suits. There's more style, more trendsetting. Here's my theory: It's because people see us wearing shorts all the time. We're so visible on the basketball court, running around in our shorts, that we want to compensate when the game's over.

11.

[Q] Playboy: Three years ago you quit hoops to try baseball, a more contemplative game. How did you kill all the downtime?

[A] Jordan: You'll do anything to bide time while waiting for your turn in the batting cage, waiting out a rain delay or riding in the bus. I learned to play hearts, and I also played checkers and dominoes. I (concluded on page 173)Michael Jordan (continued from page 123) filled a book of crosswords. And I listened to some funny arguments. The guys on my minor-league team, most were 21 or younger, and they'd go on about TV shows. Not about whether the show was good. They'd argue about what time it was on. "It's on at seven!" "No, 7:30!" I was thinking, Man, this makes me feel old.

12.

[Q] Playboy: What else about joining the Birmingham Barons was tough on the world's greatest athlete?

[A] Jordan: Hitting. It's hard. And then I'd see some of those kids staying out till three or four in the morning, drinking beer like water, and the next day they'd go four for five.

13.

[Q] Playboy: Did you chew tobacco?

[A] Jordan: Not this time. I tried it back in high school baseball--peer pressure--and got a little sick. So in the minor leagues I stuck to sunflower seeds. I'd spit them all over the dugout, practicing my accuracy. We played basketball that way, spitting seeds at a Gatorade cup. I got better at it, but not to a professional level.

I still think baseball is the greatest fun, the best camaraderie you can have. When a basketball game is over, it's zip-zip, 12 guys out the door in different directions. The camaraderie in baseball, at least in the minors, was unbelievable--ten or 12 players hanging out together every night. I still keep in touch with some of those guys.

14.

[Q] Playboy: Every minor-league ballplayer knows how to rewire a motel TV to steal premium cable. Did you?

[A] Jordan: No, I can afford to pay. But nobody else was ordering movies; they were saving their money. That's why my room was the team theater. All the guys came in to watch the movie with me.

15.

[Q] Playboy: What's your dream foursome for golf?

[A] Jordan: Can I say five? Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III, Ben Hogan and me. We play skins, and nobody wins a skin unless he knocks a hole in one.

Here's a real group: me, Larry Bird and Bill Murray. We've played a few times. Talk about talk--Bill is a player, a commentator and a damn coach all at once. It's just like Caddyshack. He'll be teeing off and giving the play-by-play on what club he's using, what kind of shot he wants to play. He does it while you're playing, too.

16.

[Q] Playboy: Can you be psyched out on the course?

[A] Jordan: Sometimes. There's a lot of reverse psychology on a golf course. My short game is probably the best part of my game, but I'll hit the tee ball anywhere. So mostly the attacks come when I'm teeing off. A guy will drop a tidbit: "Michael, there's water on the right. Make sure you go left." It's that simple--golf is such a mental game that you can't block it out. I'll be trying to focus on a good swing, but if you have to think about focusing, your concentration's not there, is it? Golf does that to you. Think about the negative and you're in trouble. You're in the water.

17.

[Q] Playboy: Why do white guys look so bad with shaved heads?

[A] Jordan: [Laughing] I guess it has to do with tanning. They've never tanned that part of their damn bodies, so the head stands out a little.

18.

[Q] Playboy: When you were 15, you got cut from your high school basketball team. What do you remember about that moment?

[A] Jordan: Looking at the list on the bulletin board. I looked through it four or five times. My name wasn't there. I went immediately to question the coach. I thought he was wrong. But it didn't help. Years later, I thought about that when I saw my name in the newspaper. It was when the Bulls won the first championship. Everyone said an NBA scoring champion couldn't win the NBA title, but I'd just done it. There it was in the paper. So I proved everyone wrong. That's one of my strong points.

19.

[Q] Playboy: Fifteen years ago this spring, as a freshman at North Carolina, you won the NCAA tourney with a last-second jumper from the corner. Did you know it was going in?

[A] Jordan: It felt good, but I was fading away, the defense was coming. I never saw it go in. I knew from the crowd, hearing the crowd noise. That was the beginning of Michael Jordan.

20.

[Q] Playboy: Was Shaquille O'Neal joking when he told us that you really can fly?

[A] Jordan: People can fly. Some fly higher than others, that's all.

his most supreme airness discusses team hygiene, trash talk and having bill murray as a golf coach

Baseball is the greatest fun. When a basketball game is over, it's zip-zip, 12 guys out the door.