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Jordan too superstitious to attend UNC title game

NCAA Villanova North Carolina Final Four Basketball

Former North Carolina and NBA basketball player and principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets Michael Jordan watch before the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Villanova and North Carolina, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AP

There was a theory floating around the North Carolina locker room as to why the Tar Heels’ highest-profile fan, former UNC great Michael Jordan, had been nowhere to be seen during its title run that concluded Monday night with a win over Gonzaga.

“Last time we talked to him, we saw him, was the Duke game at home,” Theo Pinson said. “I think he thinks he’s bad luck.”

Turns out, after watching his beloved Tar Heels fall on a buzzer-beater in the title game in 2016, that’s precisely what His Airness was thinking.

“People asked me for the last day and a half if he was going to come,” UNC coach Roy Williams said on the Dan Patrick Show. “I said guys, knowing him, he’s going to say, ‘I went last year, you lost.’ That’s what I was thinking.”

As Williams made his way out of University of Phoenix Stadium with his third national title secured, he mentioned the theory once more to a North Carolina administrator.

“I’ll give you any odds you want,” Williams recalled saying, “but I’ll bet you a text message from Michael or a voicemail from Michael, and he’s going to say something about coming last year.

“Sure enough, I got on the bus ... had a quite a few messages, and one of them was from Michael.

“So I collected some money last night.”

Even the greatest player of all time doesn’t want to tempt fate with a title on the line. Not to mention, no one can prove Jordan wasn’t right to stay away. North Carolina has another banner. Maybe he was on to something. It’s probably best not to question MJ on matters of basketball, anyway.