Sports
Brad Sellers: Michael Jordan Had Arrangement to Grocery Shop After Store Closed
Thibault Camus)/Associated PressWhile some celebrities and athletes do their own grocery shopping, modern conveniences like delivery services allow most to do their casual chores without the gawking eyes of the public. Or they simply have assistants who hit up the store as part of their job description.But that wasn’t the case for many celebs of previous…
Thibault Camus)/Associated Press
While some celebrities and athletes do their own grocery shopping, modern conveniences like delivery services allow most to do their casual chores without the gawking eyes of the public.
Or they simply have assistants who hit up the store as part of their job description.
But that wasn't the case for many celebs of previous eras, including Michael Jordan. So how did MJ find a way to feed himself without being accosted by throngs of fans? Apparently, he shopped at grocery stores after hours.
“You saw MJ doing laundry in the first few episodes and that was him back then, the country side of him, just living like a regular dude,” former teammate Brad Sellers said, per Jerry Bembry of The Undefeated. “But he just got bigger and bigger in basketball and to a point where he couldn't go out. I remember saying to him one day, ‘Hey, M, how do you eat?'
“… He told me he would call Jewel-Osco [a grocery chain] about 15 minutes before they closed, and let them know he was coming in. They would stay open later to let him shop.”
Sellers said Jordan would then tip the staff who stayed and allowed him to shop.
“He wasn't making no $30 million a year; I'm sure at that time he was making less than a million,” Sellers said. “But it was a lot of money at the time and he made sure that he took care of people.”
Stores closing down or allowing celebrities to come in during off-hours is far from an uncommon phenomenon. They will often provide extra accommodations for VIP guests as both a showing of goodwill and for privacy reasons—along with the potential safety liability of having someone as famous as Michael Jordan showing up to the adoring public.
Odds are MJ has caught on to the idea of having someone else do your shopping thing by now.
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