“My 9-year-old thinks I’m pretty cool today,” a NASCAR attorney told Jordan after finishing his cross-examination of the former athlete.
Earlier this week, former basketball player Michael Jordan took the stand in an antitrust case against NASCAR, telling the court that, while he’s been a fan of the stock car series since he was a child, he felt he had little choice but to sue.
According to The Associated Press, Jordan spoke at length, with his testimony lasting about an hour. He explained why the team he co-owns, 23XI, has joined Front Row Motorsports in suing NASCAR.
“Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,” Jordan said. “I sat in those meetings with longtime owners who were brow-beaten for so many years trying to make change. I was a new person, I wasn’t afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole. I felt as far as the sport, it needed to be looked at from a different view.”
Jordan, who claims that NASCAR’s structure is unfair to its teams and drivers, said that the sport should be organized more along the lines of professional basketball, with better, more clearly-defined partnerships between players and teams.
“If you share responsibility, the healthiness of the sport can grow,” Jordan said. “It needed to be looked at from a whole different perspective. That’s why we’re here.”
Jordan emphasized that drivers face inherently dangerous conditions, but aren’t afforded the benefit of insurance coverage or union protected.
“I never saw [NASCAR CEO] Jim France drive a car and risk his life,” Jordan told the court.
Heather Gibbs, the chief operating officer of Joe Gibbs Racing, also testified, saying that, even though 13 out of 15 of NASCAR’s Cup Series teams signed a charter agreement extension, most of these organizations had no leverage and no real say in negotiations.
If they refused NASCAR’s terms, Gibbs indicated, the teams would effectively lose the opportunity to continue to race competitively in the Untied States.
“As if you have a gun to your head,” Gibbs said of her own team’s decision to sign.
Gibbs said that, despite her team’s well-known success, Joe Gibbs Racing has struggled to remain reliably profitable.
“Some year, not every year,” she told an attorney for NASCAR.
NBC News notes that the tone of the hearing was generally cordial.
Furthermore, Michael Jordan’s presence and celebrity did not go unnoticed.
“My 9-year-old thinks I’m pretty cool today,” a NASCAR attorney told Jordan after finishing his cross-examination of the former athlete.
Jordan, in response, recommended a wardrobe modification.
“You’re not wearing your Jordans today,” he said.
Sources
Michael Jordan testifies in NASCAR antitrust trial, says he had no choice but to sue ‘the entity’
Michael Jordan is suing Nascar, accusing it of being an illegal monopoly
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