A recent Boardroom post on Instagram highlighted the fact that between the 1992-1993 season and the 1997-1998 season, Michael Jordan got a whopping $29,100,000 uptick in salary. The huge surge in annual salaries between his first two retirements was just a part of the money His Airness was making. After all, his NBA salary aside, MJ had a number of different endorsement deals with popular brands like Nike, McDonalds, Hanes, and Gatorade, among others. However, his exorbitant income didn’t redeem him from accusations of being a cheapskate, with people like his then good friend Charles Barkley fueling the fire.

Over the course of his 14-year career, Jordan earned $93,877,500. A hefty sum, but just a drop in the bucket compared to his current $3,000,000,000 net worth. Given all the money he has accumulated, it’s difficult to understand how MJ could have ever been called “cheap”. That being said, Sir Charles and a number of MJ’s peers have shared multiple stories revealing just how much of a penny-pincher he was.

In 1993, Michael Jordan announced his first retirement from the NBA. At the time, his salary stood at $4,000,000. Two years later, he returned to the NBA, playing for three more seasons before announcing his second retirement in 1998. By the time he announced his second retirement, the Chicago Bulls legend’s salary stood at a whopping $33,100,000 per year.

This means, as pointed out by the Boardroom post, MJ saw an uptick in his salary of $29,100,000 in five years. A huge sum that no NBA superstars received at that time. Nevertheless, given his impact as a player, Jordan was definitely worth the big bucks. However, that didn’t solve the six-time NBA Champion’s frugality.

In an interview with late night host Conan O’Brien in 2014, Charles Barkley, once Jordan’s good friend, shared stories of some of the cheapest athletes in the world. In particular, he called out His Airness, who he has called “cheap” on multiple occasions. Barkley made claims suggesting that Jordan never tipped waiters well and what’s more, he even refused to help out the homeless.

It certainly was a bold claim from Chuck’s end. After all, it’s not every day that someone accuses the richest athlete of all time of being cheap. Nevertheless, Jordan definitely wasn’t always frugal with his money.

Despite being called “cheap”, Jordan has donated millions to help those in need

Charles Barkley may have considered Michael Jordan a cheapskate, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. While MJ may not have tipped well or helped out the homeless, he has given up millions of dollars in charity. From helping build clinics in North Carolina to donating $100 million over 10 years to the Black Lives Matter movement, MJ has proven to be generous on several occasions.

In hindsight, calling Jordan cheap is probably not the most accurate representation of the NBA legend. He may not have splashed the cash all the time, but he did it whenever it mattered.