'Rare Air' author reveals Michael Jordan’s biggest fear: 'He was terrified of snakes'

Michael Jordan was as fearless a superstar as any in professional sports. Even when he was getting pummelled over and over again by the bruisers known as the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s or the merciless New York Knicks of Pat Riley in the early 1990s, Jordan seemed like a glutton for punishment, relentless in his pursuit of victory and greatness.

Even as his body ached from the constant pounding and his opponents resorted to dirty tactics to stop him, Jordan never backed down until he got what he came for. Long story short: “His Airness” wasn’t afraid of failure, getting hurt, or losing. But there was one thing that did scare the bejeezus out of him: snakes.

Terrified of snakes

According to Mark Vancil, a journalist and author that a young Jordan trusted and confided in early in his career, the 6’6” wingman was deathly afraid of these slithery reptiles. Vancil came to know all about this in the times he hung out with MJ back when he was still a young sportswriter who covered the Chicago Bulls and their sensational rookie from Wilmington, North Carolina.

As a matter of fact, “Air Jordan” was so afraid of snakes that if ever a TV show came on that featured them, he wouldn’t hesitate to switch the channel just to avoid seeing them on the screen.

“He was terrified of snakes. If you watch TV with him and a snake came on, he’d change the channel,” Vancil revealed on “Stacey King’s Gimme the Hot Sauce Podcast.”

Jordan even asked the author of the acclaimed book "Rare Air: Michael on Michael" not to write about this detail about him for fear that someone might use it against him during games.

“And he goes, ‘If you write that, somebody's going to get killed because somebody's going to throw a snake one day.’ And, you know, he was terrified, he was afraid of snakes,” Vancil disclosed.

His team had to redo a shoe from scratch

Another anecdote depicting MJ’s intense fear of snakes involved the making of one of his famous sneakers. As Vancil’s story goes, his team designed a sneaker with faux snakeskin on it. Safe to say, Mike was repulsed by the sneaker’s design to the point where he demanded they overhaul the whole shoe.

“They did a shoe that had snake skin on it, and he went nuts. It was all the way—all had been approved. It was all the way to the end. He got the final approval, and he looked at it, and he goes, ‘You guys are nuts. This isn't authentic,” Mark stated. “Anybody that knows me knows I'm afraid of snakes. You got to redo all of this.’ And they did it.”

During his playing days, the “Black Cat” wasn’t afraid to conquer the most demanding challenges, which is a significant part of his greatness. Ask him to take a shot with his team down one with only a second to go, and he wouldn’t blink. Ask him to guard the league’s best player in a crucial playoff series and he would do so with ferocity. But when it came to snakes, that’s where MJ drew the line.