- Michael Jordan has some phobia which he developed since his childhood
- In 1992, Jordan made the revelation in Playboy magazine
- He sometimes has strange dreams that keep him awake all night
With a staggering $1.9 billion fortune to his name, one wonders what would worry NBA legend Michael Jordan and the answer is aquaphobia.
Surprisingly, swimming or a large water mass sends chills down his spine, a phobia going back to his childhood days.
In 1992, Jordan made the revelation in Playboy magazine saying he escaped death by a whisker when swimming in the ocean at age seven.
He was out with a friend swimming and catching waves when a strong tide knocked him off and he lost it. Jordan has since lived with aquaphobia.
It was his friend who saved him from sinking and he pulled him some metres away but lost his grip and drowned to death. This experience of seeing his friend who saved his life die instead as he helplessly watched made him develop a phobia for swimming.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Photo/Marca
“One day I went swimming with a very good friend of mine and we were having fun catching waves. At one point, the current was so strong that it swallowed him up and he grabbed me so he wouldn’t sink. It’s called a ‘death lock’, it’s when someone can die and they hold on to what’s next to them. I practically had to break his hand because he was dragging me and was going to take me with him. I couldn’t save him and he died,” he recalled
“I was seven or eight years old. Now I don’t even go near the water. I don’t swim, I don’t get along with water,” he revealed.
Getting him on a boat is another story and when he agrees after a lot of persuasion; there must always be a life jacket. Additionally, Jordan never boards a small boat and he has learnt to live with the judging but he doesn’t give it much thought.
With his wealth, you will rarely find him in luxurious yachts which his billionaire friends often hang out in. While his aquaphobia remains at an all-time high, he sometimes has strange dreams that keep him awake all night.
The retired NBA star who played for Chicago Bulls is not much of a public person. He loves his privacy and you’d be forgiven to think that he has no inner troubles with the kind of fortunes he possesses.
The legendary Chicago Bulls player, who made a living by inducing fear in rival teams, occasionally experiences anxiety and even dread in his personal life.
Michael Jordanw with his wife Yvette Prieto . Photo by Fadeaway World
It is the cost of upholding the mythological reputation he has built over the years, which frequently keeps him up at night.
In an in-depth interview with GQ, Jordan opened up and made a confession about the fear he experiences within himself. He revealed he gets up from nightmares sometimes in the middle of the night.
The dreams are always terrible, where he appears as a drug abuser and a robber and they leave him shaken. The legend further elaborated on the reasons behind his dread concerning his own dreams and nightmares.
He said the nightmares where something terrible happens to him would destroy his reputation if they were true and he lives a life of always looking over his shoulder not to do these things in real life.
Thus, he says that being the idol many people see in him is not easy as you would assume. For now, though, his aquaphobia remains unchanged.
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