Six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan was called a ‘bad role model’ by Tupac Shakur and his murder suspect Keefe D was arrested nearly 30 years later

Modified on October 6, 2023 11:03 GMT

Iconic rapper Tupac Shakur has criticized Michael Jordan for being a “bad role model” and asked him to be more visible in poor communities. As a public figure, he hopes the six-time NBA champion can be more down-to-earth and use his influence to make people more approachable, especially the black community.

“You know Michael Jordan? I’ve never seen Michael Jordan in the ‘hood. Let’s see Jordan come downtown, just to a parking lot, and shoot hoops with kids. I bet that would Change their lives,” Shakur said in a 1992 interview with MTV.

Shakur emphasizes that children identify with role models they can easily approach. Grandparents, uncles, friends, and neighbors—these are the people children most want to emulate as they grow up in the community.

The influential rapper was shot to death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996. Fast forward 30 years later, and Tupac’s legacy remains relevant as new developments emerge in his murder case. The arrest of Keefe D, a suspect in Tupac’s unsolved murder, adds an additional layer of complexity to the story.

Michael Jordan doesn’t want to be a role model

Michael Jordan has expressed a strong reluctance to be seen as a role model amid revelations about a culture of hero worship among athletes. Despite Gatorade’s impactful marketing campaign that fostered an iconic “I want to be Mike” mentality among young people, Jordan revealed his reservations about rewriting his legacy if he had the chance , he will avoid the burden of being a role model.

“If I had it to do over again, I definitely wouldn’t want to be seen as a role model. It’s like the game was stacked against me,” Jordan said in episode six of The Last Dance documentary.

Jordan’s revelation resonated deeply, challenging the notion that public figures, especially athletes, must automatically shoulder the responsibility of being role models for young people.

As seen in The Last Dance, being a model is indeed a huge challenge that comes with fame and one’s right to define one’s own persona in the public eye.