?Mike Was Lying on the Ground??: Shutting Dad James? False Claim, Michael Jordan?s Coach Once Unveiled the ?Rabbit? Origin Story

One of the coolest dudes around, Michael Jordan oozed confidence. With a general sense of swagger in every step, no wonder every kid wanted to be ‘Like Mike’. With such an aura, MJ needed some nicknames to match his standard as well. While ‘His Airness’ captured the royalty, the almost god-like reverence he drew, his childhood nicknames were far more simplified. Even though his dad, James, would have you believe otherwise, his early-day nicknames were more of schoolyard taunts.

As Jordan’s legacy and myth have grown, so have the stories. However, this one does give the legend some base in reality. While Jordan has become symbolic of the sport of basketball, a story of the origin of his ‘rabbit’ nickname does give us some perspective on the child that grew up to become Michael.

A backyard brawl made Michael Jordan ‘Rabbit’

After retiring from basketball to move to baseball, it is clear that Jordan certainly had a passion for it. However, the true depth of that love sometimes escapes fans. As a child, Mike was a baseball prodigy. So good, in fact, that some even touted a move to the major leagues.

As he trained under coach Richard Neher, Jordan showed immediate promise. In particular, he developed a close bond with David Bridgers. The two were extremely close as Coach described, “He was Mike’s number one fan. They called him the white Michael Jordan. He and Mike were best friends, but they’d get in a physical fight nearly every practice.”

“Mike was lying on the ground, with all his equipment on, and David was on top of him just pounding away on the mask. Like hockey players. They used to get into it all the time.” Neher described the fight between the two after Mike mocked Bridgers’ ears. Neher already had a nickname for each player.

After the incident, Neher said, “We were messing around with Mike. Mike’s ears lay real close to his head, just like a rabbit. So we all were standing around one day trying to decide, ‘Why don’t we call him Rabbit?’ …Everybody laughed. Mike was fine with it.” Neher also clarified that Michael’s speed had nothing to do with the nickname, as his father James had alluded to earlier.

Dad James says Rabbit was an ode to his speed

As coach Neher said, for years, the story stood differently. Jordan has used every slight against him as extra fuel. However, in the case of the rabbit nickname, the contradictor was his father. James maintained that the nickname was given to Jordan for his blinding quickness.

As any hoop fan can attest, Jordan had a certain cat-like quickness to him. The skill, a necessity for one-on-one players, earned him his rabbit nickname, at least according to his father.

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Whatever the origin story might be, the nickname hasn’t taken away from Jordan’s demeanor or aura one bit.

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