Michael Jordan was going to have to respond, there was no way around it. With seemingly zero provocation, the president had called LeBron James stupid in a tweet, and he ended his comment with “I like Mike,” apparently making his choice clear in the most rehashed debate in US sports. As the rest of the league rushed in to defend James, there was a curiosity about how the notoriously apolitical Jordan would react. After all, if there is one major difference between the two players, it is in their differing approaches to social issues.

In the end, Jordan made a single, underwhelming statement: “I support LJ he’s doing an amazing job for his community.” But if we were expecting more from Jordan then that’s on us. If there’s been one thing consistent with Jordan throughout his career – apart from his otherworldly skills – it’s been his reluctance to taking a political stance. It was true when he was the most famous athlete in the country with the Chicago Bulls and it hasn’t changed much now that he’s an owner with the Charlotte Hornets.

At this point, Jordan’s philosophy has been narrowed down to a quote he may never have even said. In an anecdote that first appeared in Sam Smith’s book Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan, Jordan replies to questions about whether he would endorse North Carolina Democratic senatorial candidate Harvey Gantt over the arch-conservative Republican incumbent Jesse Helms by joking “Republicans buy sneakers too” or possibly “Republicans buy shoes too.” As Slate’s Laura Wagner has noted, the quote took several different forms in its transformation from an offhand (and possibly apocryphal) comment into the definitive distillation of Jordan’s perceived lack of activism.



Of course, the reason that the “Republicans buy sneakers too” has survived despite is dubious origins is that it does capture something true about Jordan’s priorities. It’s possible that no one else has done more to solidify the idea of the “athlete as brand” as Jordan has. As great as Jordan was on the basketball court, he was equally as skilled when it came to marketing himself, particularly in regards to his partnership with Nike, and the two became practically synonymous. Jordan was, and remains, something of a corporation unto himself and it’s no surprise that he was unwilling to risk that by involving himself in partisan political concerns that could have hurt the bottom line. While he may never have uttered those infamous four words, he certainly seems to have lived by them.

Even when Jordan has waded into hot-button issues, he’s gone through pains to avoid making a clear cut political stance. When he recently publicly pledged money to the Institute For Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund he attempted to find equivalence in an issue where there probably isn’t any: “I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers.”

That’s certainly a far cry from James taking to the court in an “I can’t breathe” shirt in honor of the memory of Eric Garner and speaking out against the president’s de facto travel ban. Maybe it’s because he’s a different person, maybe because it’s a radically different era, but James has spent much of the last few years managing to maintain his status as a global brand while expressing himself about some of the more divisive issues of our times. It’s a tricky balance and not one without its pitfalls, including being called an idiot by the most powerful person on the planet.

Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2018

Of course, as Myles Brown discusses in a thoughtful piece for GQ, it’s a bit too simplistic to dismiss Jordan and praise James. While Jordan may be disappointingly wishy-washy on matters outside of basketball, he was a radical force of change within the league. If Jordan hadn’t spent all that time ruthlessly building up the Michael Jordan Brand, establishing himself as bigger than the league itself, James doesn’t have the platform and influence he is currently using in such an admirable manner today.

Let’s get it kids!! Love you guys https://t.co/kY88geedus — LeBron James (@KingJames) August 4, 2018

In any case, while Jordan needed to respond to Trump’s tweet, James didn’t need his help in this particular case. He had enough experience with internet trolls to know that sometimes the power move is not to directly respond at all.