You probably think you know everything there is to know about your favorite athletes. You know when they started playing, who their idols were, and how many times they won tournaments.
But we’re pretty sure there are still a few things you don’t know about the world’s most famous athletes. Like what? We’re glad you asked.
Michael Jordan
Fans know just about everything concerning the on-court performance of the NBA’s greatest ever player. But there’s more to MJ than rebounds and three-pointers.
The winner of six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan has a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jordan retired from basketball after the 1993-4 season to give baseball a try, earning himself a place in the minor leagues until he returned to the Bulls in March 1995.
The owner of the Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf, continued to pay him his reported salary of $4 million during his brief baseball career.
LeBron James
NBA superstar LeBron James has a deep passion for football. He played two seasons of football for his high school and earned recognition as an all-state receiver.
Notre Dame recruited him as a wide receiver. As a junior, he led the team to the state semifinals, finishing the season with 16 touchdown receptions.
He made 57 receptions for 1,670 yards that season. James switched to basketball his senior year. It wasn’t because he preferred the game, but because a broken wrist prevented him from playing football.
Kevin Garnett
Did you know that Celtics forward Kevin Garnett celebrated Christmas for the first time at the age of 19?
If you thought Garnett simply wasn’t a fan of holidays, you thought wrong. His mother was a Jehovah’s Witness and she didn’t allow religious holidays or celebrations in her house.
Halloween was prohibited, too. Garnett didn’t enjoy his first Christmas celebration until he started his career in the NBA.
Kurt Warner
How would you like to have a nice restaurant meal - and have legendary NFL quarterback Kurt Warner pay for it?
Hundreds of people have had that experience, but few know it. When Warner goes out for dinner with his family, he quietly instructs the restaurant staff to give him the checks for diners seated near him.
The NFL legend has bought meals for hundreds of strangers because they happened to be seated near him and his family.
Peyton Manning
You might think there is not much left unsaid about one of the most popular and successful quarterbacks in the history of American football.
Manning won two Super Bowls and several MVP trophies, and he started his own charitable foundation as soon as he secured a place in the NFL. For football fans, there will only ever be one Peyton Manning.
Facebook seems to think the same. A teenager named Peyton Manning, coincidentally from Denver where the NFL’s Manning capped off his career with a 2015 Super Bowl win, couldn’t get a Facebook account using his real name.
Usain Bolt
Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt is probably the greatest sprinter the world has ever seen. He is known for his records in 100 metre and 200 metre races.
He is the only runner to have won Olympic gold three times in a row - in 2008, 2012, and 2016.
He has held the world championship 11 times. Of the 30 fastest 100-metre sprints in history, only nine did not involve doping. Usain Bolt ran all nine of them.
Diego Maradona
Unlike Usain Bolt, Diego Maradona had no problem with using drugs. In fact, the legendary soccer player failed numerous high-profile drug tests.
In 1991, Maradona tested positive for cocaine in Italy. Three years later, during the World Cup, Maradona tested positive again. This was the last time when he failed a doping test, but not because he stopped using drugs.
From then on, whenever he was tested, he used a plastic extension to fill the sample container with drug-free urine.
Paul Pierce
In September 2000, basketball player Paul Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the back, neck, and face.
The injuries were horrible, and no one expected the player would be ready to wear a Celtic uniform the next season.
Pierce not only didn’t miss a single game match during the 2000-2001 season, but he had excellent performance. He averaged 25 points per game over the season.
Dennis Rodman
Rodman’s eccentric personality is obviously hard to resist. The former NBA player is one of the rare US citizens who are always welcome in North Korea.
The unpredictable North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, invited Rodman to visit him for the first time in 2013 and they have visited several times since.
But Kim is not the only world leader who likes Rodman. American President Donald Trump has been a friend of the basketball star since they met on the set of Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice television program.
Allen Iverson
It seems like NBA athletes provide more than their share of fun facts compared to football and baseball players. Al Iverson played in the NBA 15 seasons as shooting guard and point guard.
In 2001 alone he was league MVP, an NBA All-Star, MVP of the NBA All-Star Game, a member of the All-NBA First Team, the NBA scoring champion, and the NBA steals leader.
He was selected for the NBA All-Star Game 11 times and he ranks sixth in all-time points per game. Surprisingly, Iverson hated practicing.
After his retirement, he told an interview he didn’t work out with weights during his career because “that s*** was too heavy."
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Anja Niedringhaus / AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 13th October 2020
