Flashback Friday: Sports Illustrated Tells Michael Jordan To Bag It

Even though Michael Jordan was trying his best, success in minor league baseball wasn’t coming anywhere near as easy as winning had in his stellar NBA career. Jordan was batting in the low .200s, dropping fly balls from his glove, and whiffing at the plate more than he wanted.

Sports Illustrated approached what appeared to be Jordan’s misguided foray onto the diamond with provocation. In March 1994, the iconic sports magazine printed the “Bag It, Michael” cover to accompany Steve Wulf’s feature story, framing Jordan’s baseball career as a white elephant to be put out of its misery.

Jordan took exception to the editorial, installing an indefinite embargo between himself and Sports Illustrated, and walked away from baseball one year later largely to avoid being caught in the MLB strike.