Michael Jordan didn’t have many words for Dez Bryant, after the NBA legend signed the Cowboys wide receiver to represent his sneaker brand.
But the few words he said resonated with Bryant.
“The only thing he told me was ‘Stay out of trouble,’ '' Bryant said, via Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. “Hearing it come from him, . . . He is a strong voice. His opinion matters.”
By all accounts, Bryant has done what he’s supposed to do this offseason, but his checkered past made him a risky proposition for an endorsement deal.
Then again, the Charlotte Bobcats owner has never been afraid of a wager, and hedged his bets on Bryant by signing a deal that withheld payment from for a year, so Bryant can prove to Jordan he can keep his nose clean. If Bryant does, he’ll get his money in the second year of the deal.
“It just adds fuel to trying to do things great at all times,” Bryant said. “That’s something you don’t want to mess up. Now, I do pay attention to that, just because of the fact of who he is and what he is about. Everybody knows Michael Jordan is about his business, so that makes you want to be about yours.”
Perhaps in exchange, Bryant offered to tell Jordan about what it felt like to get to .500, something Jordan wouldn’t know much about since leaving the basketball court as a player.