Michael Jordan is the only billionaire to ever play in the NBA. He’s majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, and raked in over $100 million from his sneaker and clothing line last year. Needless to say, the six-time champion isn’t exactly hurting for coin despite having retired for good almost 15 years ago.
But don’t tell that to the service-industry workers who are “lucky” enough to interact with him.
In a thread on reddit (first brought to our attention by firstwefeast) asking which celebrities are “complete a**holes,” Jordan’s name was mentioned multiple times. Why? His supposedly ugly penchant for tipping like a person who is struggling to make his own ends meet.
/u/Scoregasm666: My cousin waited on Michael Jordan in Myrtle Beach (in the 90s during his heyday). She was pissed he didn’t tip, especially since it was a high end restaurant.
/u/westfunk: I have a waiter friend who took care of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley once. Apparently MJ told him that the privilege of waiting on them was his tip. Barkley slipped him a hundred on the way out and apologized.
Charles Barkley, by the way, confirmed stories of Jordan’s penny pinching with regard gratuity and those less fortunate on Conan two years ago.
On the other hand, different reddit users told personal accounts of Jordan being the type of tipper that befits his bank account.
/u/kevo31415: My dad’s friend had a kid that was a caddie at Medinah Country Club (super nice course in Chicago that they play the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship in sometimes). He caddied for MJ once and, while MJ barely said a word to him for 4 hours, he left a $1000 tip.
/u/MyFriendExploded: My wife waited on MJ while we were in college working in a restaurant. His son Marcus had just come to play basketball at UCF and Jordan was always in the area. She said MJ was super nice, he left her a $75 tip on a $125 bill.
Is Michael Jordan really a bad tipper? The jury is still out with the official verdict. Considering he’s well off enough to tip the full amount or more of any bill, though, the very fact that question needs to be asked certainly isn’t a ringing endorsement of Jordan’s more personal acts of charity.
(h/t firstwefeast)
