to better the world, I don't need to debate who's the GOAT. Here's my story:

My first job out of BYU Grad school was in Chicago at the end of MJ’s rookie season. Lived there for 7 years and watched the Bulls dominate. As a lifelong Celtics fan, I couldn’t get into the Bulls, though, I’d go watch them when the Celts came to town. So, I have no predisposition towards calling him the NBA GOAT because I lived in Chicago. In fact, I’d probably a bit of a negative slant against him as he would often light up my team.

During that time I worked for a Fortune 500 company that was a big sponsor of The Make a Wish Foundation. (They grant wishes to children with life-threatening/ending illnesses. I was the main contact with them nationally and with the Chicago chapter.)

In my first meeting with the local people, I was speaking with one of the chapter leaders. I asked her if the most asked-for wish was a trip to Disney/land/world. (Nationally, that was the #1 choice.) She told me, “No. Meeting Michael Jordan is the number one choice. He meets about 20-25 kids every year.”

She explained that he was inundated, as you can imagine, with request for every disease, charity, etc, in the city or coutry. He had to be selective or he’d spend his life doing charity work. His time is valuable, like any of us. His more so, of course.

In fact, to get a feel for what his time was worth, my company hired him to do a photo shoot in ’89. We wanted to get him doing a flying dunk. He arrived in the limo, changed into his non-Bulls attire we’d provided. He did some stretches for about 10 minutes while we reviewed the shoot sequence with his agent. We got 10 dunks. That’s it. “If your cameras aren’t working, not our fault”. I’m guessing he spent about 30 minutes round trip in the limo and 30 minutes at the photo shoot.

For that, he got a handsome sum. I won’t share the number, except to say that for each dunk, he made more than my annual salary at the time. It took him about 10 minutes to do 10 dunks. (We had to adjust some lighting after the first 2-3 dunks.) Anyway, you get a feel for what his time was worth.

Back to MoW. When a MoW child met MJ, he would come up to a VIP room to meet with the family about 90 minutes before tipoff. It was after his solo shoot around that he did 2-2 ½ hours before each home game.

The group was limited to 8-10 people, usually, the kid, parents, siblings, maybe a best buddy or two. (MJ wanted it small as, believe it or not, he is pretty shy and didn’t’ like big groups.) MJ would come in and shake hands with everyone after a brief introduction of the family. He’d do a few quick comments to family members and pose for a few pics with the group and then one with just he and the child.

Then (and this was what he was adamant about doing) he would visit one-on-one with the kid. It meant going to the far side of the VIP room being visible, but, out of earshot. His whole point was “I’ve got a message for the child. Nobody else.” Of course, the kids would usually later share with their parents what he said.
Also, he stipulated to the family that they were not to take any pictures of him with the child during the 1 on 1 talk. They could be in the room and watch, but, no pics. (He didn’t want them being circulated in public.)

The child was usually in a wheelchair or sitting in a chair. MJ would kneel in front and get really close, maybe 1-2 feet away, and he would look them in the eye as he spoke. He’d sometimes hold their hand, or put a hand on their knee or shoulder. Sometimes, at the end, he would be so close that when they ended the chat, he’d lean into them and they’d do the head touch. He would speak with them in a hushed tone and look them earnestly in the eye. The kid would know that this was just he/she and Michael talking. Nobody else.

Once that was over, he’d turn, say goodbye with a wave and walk about the door. Probably 20-30 minutes of his time (by the time you calculate him walking from the floor up to the VIP room, etc.) 20-25 times per season.

I asked the chapter leader “So, what did he say?” She said, “He would tell them to be strong. Keep fighting. He’d tell them to listen to their doctors and parents and do what they told them to do. He would say ‘don’t quit. Don’t give up. You can beat this thing. I know you can. Do you think you can? I have to fight to win every game. You need to fight to beat this’”.

I raised an eyebrow and said “Wow, that’s kinda bold. These kids don’t usually survive”. With that she got whispy-eyed and her voice cracked when she said “Yes, it is bold. But, what else would you expect MJ to say? But, the crazy thing is….some of those kids DID get better. They actually improved and some of them are (at that time) still alive today. Doctors can't explain it, but, some of those kids got better.”

In Catholicism, those would be considered miracles. I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that they use to canonize a Saint. Whether or not he’s the GOAT in the NBA or not, it makes no difference to me. Anyone who could use his position to make that kind of impact on a child…well, I’m a fan.