Michael Jordan is a Hall of Famer and an NBA legend. He played with the Chicago Bulls for over a decade. Jordan had a historic career and retired with numerous accolades. Many fans consider him to be the greatest basketball player ever. But during a dark time in his life, Jordan retired from the NBA in the middle of his prime to play baseball.

Though his baseball career never took off, and he eventually returned to the NBA, MJ found a new friend; his teammate Scott Tedder. Scott Tedder played for the Chicago White Sox for eight long years. From 1990-1993 he played for the double-A affiliate of the White Sox, the Birmingham Barons. He and Jordan became teammates when Jordan signed with the team after his retirement.

Michael Jordan planned a grand Birthday for a fellow teammate

Jordan and Tedder became close friends during their tenure with the Birmingham Barons though they played together for only a few months. Tedder was an All-American player in college for both baseball and basketball. He once revealed his experience with Michael Jordan on his birthday. Jordan planned Tedder’s Birthday and started the day at 6 a.m. when he asked Tedder to meet him in the lobby.

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 “The day before my birthday, he asks me to meet him in the lobby the next day at 6 a.m,” he said. Jordan took him to a golf course. “He took me to the Nike warehouse and told me to go shop for my birthday, and put it on his tab,” Tedder added. After playing golf, he took the baseball veteran to a Nike warehouse and offered to buy anything ,telling him that it was on him.

Tedder and Jordan maintained the relationship through the years. When Tedder got diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003, Jordan regularly kept in touch with him and even invited him to a Wizards game in Atlanta. Jordan played his final season with the Washington Wizards and retired in 2003. 

Michael Jordan’s first retirement from the NBA in 1993

The entire NBA world was shocked on October 6th, 1993, when Michael Jordan announced his sudden retirement from the NBA. At that point, Jordan had won three consecutive championships with the Chicago Bulls and was the best basketball player in the world.

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Jordan announced on February of 1994 that he will play for the Chicago White Sox. He started on the Birmingham Barons squad, the double-A affiliate of the White Sox. Jordan played 127 regular season games for the Barons before returning to basketball.