Here's the conspiracy behind Michael Jordan's first retirement.
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00:00Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players
00:03to ever play in the NBA.
00:05And now the reasons behind his first retirement
00:09have been speculated to be connected to his gambling.
00:12Joining me now to discuss this
00:14is SI's legal analyst, Michael McCann.
00:17Michael, Jordan and his gambling
00:19has become quite the conspiracy theory.
00:22That's right, Caitlin.
00:23Back in 1993, the first time he retired,
00:27there was questions.
00:28Why would Jordan, at age 30, at the peak of his career,
00:32seemingly in good health,
00:34why would he suddenly leave the NBA?
00:36It didn't really make a lot of sense to many.
00:38And since that time, there has been wild speculation
00:41that it may be somehow connected to his gambling activities.
00:45He has admitted that he gambles.
00:47The NBA investigated him for gambling,
00:50though it found nothing.
00:51And over the years, it's taken on a life of its own.
00:55But I think there's some reasons to be skeptical
00:57that his first retirement had anything to do with the NBA
01:02in the sense that, let's look at the facts.
01:04One, there's never been a proven connection
01:06between him leaving the NBA and gambling.
01:10He also had given reasons that are pretty plausible.
01:12He was burnt out.
01:13He felt that he had accomplished
01:15all he needed to accomplish.
01:16Whether we agree with those reasons,
01:17they're at least plausible.
01:19There's also the fact that the NBA
01:20said he didn't do anything.
01:22They found no wrongdoing, which is important.
01:24Also, the league approved him as an owner
01:28back in, first in 2006,
01:30when he bought a piece of the Charlotte franchise
01:33that's now called the Hornets.
01:34And then later on in 2010,
01:35when he became the majority owner.
01:37So those are other reasons.
01:38And of course, the big one is this.
01:40Why would the NBA not want,
01:42it's the most marketable athlete in American history
01:45to be part of the league?
01:46It just really doesn't make sense
01:48in terms of negotiating TV deals,
01:50apparel contracts, and merchandising deals as well.
01:54So I would say the conspiracy is fun to think about,
01:58but doesn't seem to be proven by the facts.
02:01All right, Michael, thank you so much
02:03for your analysis as always.
02:05Thanks, Caitlin.