Mendoza: Jordan also owes it to one breakfast

Mendoza: Jordan also owes it to one breakfast

BREAKFAST is said to be our most important meal for any day.

But for BJ Armstrong—and Michael Jordan, too—it’s more than that.

Their breakfast a quarter of a century ago was a game-changer.

Not only did it change their lives forever. It also changed the course of basketball history.

The breakfast made Jordan a six-time NBA champ.

The breakfast made Chicago a six-time NBA champ.

The breakfast made Jordan a billionaire, with his net worth today at US$2.1 billion.

Had Jordan ignored the 1995 invite by Armstrong for them to have breakfast, His Airness and the Bulls might have contented themselves with winning “just” three NBA titles.

In his report, the AP’s Tim Reynolds tagged Armstrong as the key to Jordan’s comeback.

It was published while “The Last Dance,” the blockbuster 10-episode ESPN Jordan documentary on Netflix, was being shown last month.

“Armstrong was the person who, at a breakfast chat over pancakes in Chicago, nudged Michael Jordan to stop by the Bulls’ practice facility one morning in the 1994-1995 season to go see his old teammates,” wrote Reynolds. “Before long, Jordan ended his retirement—the Bulls won three more titles in Jordan’s second stint [1996, 1997 and 1998] with the franchise.”

After Jordan completed his first “three-peat” in 1993, followed by the murder of Jordan’s father, MJ the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) retired in October that year.

He next played in minor baseball. Unsuccessful.

“I’ve never really thought about it [convincing Jordan to come back],” Armstrong told Reynolds. “I just wanted to be a good friend.”

In that momentous breakfast, Armstrong merely suggested Jordan to practice with him “and see the old guys, too.”

One practice led to another, and another. Before long, Jordan left baseball and returned to the NBA.

“I just got him,” said Armstrong, who was part of Chicago’s 1991, 1992 and 1993 title run with Jordan. “I was just happy for him. He kept basketball in a sacred space and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Beautiful, too, was that breakfast in 1995. Make that pancake.

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