in 1993 just after michael jordan had
won his third straight nba title his
father james jordan was found murdered
this is the tragic story of james
jordan's senseless death
james raymond jordan senior was born on
july 31 1936 in wallace north carolina
he met his wife dolores peoples at a
basketball game in 1954
when the two met they fell head over
heels in love rey as dolores referred to
him said he planned to marry her one day
and despite the objections of her father
the two began to date
after graduating james entered the u.s
air force and was sent to san antonio
while dolores went to trade school in
alabama
but the pair missed each other too much
to be separated two years after meeting
they were married
james transferred to virginia and
dolores left school and moved in with
her parents-in-law
over the next few years the pair would
have three children as james left the
air force to work at a local textile
mill in north carolina
dreaming of a better life the family
moved to new york where james attended
trade school
under the gi bill and learned how to
work with hydraulic equipment
during this time michael was born the
fourth of james and dolores five
children
soon the family resettled in wilmington
north carolina
while michael jordan was only one of
five children in the family he and james
senior were joined at the hip throughout
his childhood
with michael marrying his father in
everyday life michael's famous trademark
of sticking his tongue out on the
basketball court came from his father
who would do the same action when
concentrating intensely on a project
surprisingly when it comes to athletics
james didn't start his son on the
hardwood but rather on the baseball
diamond
introducing him to the sport when he was
six years old though michael of course
went on to become a basketball phenom
james still harbored a desire for his
son to play baseball
don't take this to suggest that james
didn't appreciate his son's basketball
skills
on the contrary he was a close-knit
member of michael's basketball entourage
and became a common face on tv as he
watched the sun light up the court
in a 1991 sideline interview james spoke
about being michael's number one fan
i always thought michael would play
baseball of course he had that yeti
he grew so much and it's just been a joy
watching them develop into the player
that the world can see today
michael jordan said that after the 1993
season when he had just won his third
straight nba title with the chicago
bulls his father suggested he leave
basketball behind and try his hand at
professional baseball
unfortunately unbeknownst to anyone
james would not live to see his son play
another game in any sport
for michael and james jordan the month
of june 1993 was a time of celebration
michael had just gotten his third
straight nba title the first
repeat in sports history since the
boston celtics won eight straight titles
from 1959 to 66
during this time like throughout his
career james senior was standing right
by his son's side regarded as not just a
father to michael but a close friend
author sam smith said of the father-son
pair i have no doubt he was closer to
james than anyone else in his life
one month after the chicago bulls
defeated the phoenix suns in the nba
finals james set off in a red lexus
sc-400
gifted to him by his son to attend a
friend's funeral in wilmington north
carolina
the plan was for james to attend the
funeral in wilmington drive to charlotte
and then hop on a plane to chicago
the funeral was the last time james was
seen alive
on july 23 1993 about a week before his
57th birthday
james jordan was sleeping in his car on
the side of the road in lumberton north
carolina
he had grown tired during his drive to
charlotte and it decided to park his car
at the intersection of us-74
and interstate 95 to rest his sports car
attracted the attention of two local men
daniel green
and larry demery who decided to take the
car and all its contents in an armed
robbery
during the robbery one of the two men
fired a single fatal gunshot into
james's chest
afterward authorities said the two
rummaged through the car for any
valuables finding among other objects
two championship rings that michael had
given to his father
the two had discovered they'd killed the
father the most popular athlete in the
world
and there was no going back the men took
the car and dumped james jordan's body
in a swamp in south carolina
despite james's absence causing serious
concern the jordan family took three
weeks to report his disappearance
the family had been contacting people
privately hoping that they had seen him
but nobody had
18 days after his murder james vehicle
was found in fayetteville north carolina
but james himself was not
the body of james jordan senior was not
discovered until august 3rd
11 days after his murder when a local
fisherman came across the remains in
mccoll south carolina
more than 40 miles from where he had
been killed exposure to the elements had
left the body unrecognizable and james
was cremated as a john doe
it was only through dental records that
officials were able to identify the body
three weeks after his disappearance the
jordan family had finally learned the
truth
now they and the rest of the nation were
left to wonder who did it
and why larry demery and daniel greene
were lifelong friends in lumberton north
carolina whose lives took a sinister
turn
as former robeson county district
attorney johnson britt detailed to the
chicago tribune in 2018
i was dealing with two kids who were on
a crime spree and that culminated with
the death of mr jordan
and each crime they committed together
became increasingly more violent
that violence culminated in the fatal
robbery of james jordan
before dumping the car they stole the
two young men made three dozen phone
calls with james's car phone over a four
day period
it was these calls that would be their
undoing with police using the call
records to track them down
the trial of larry demery and daniel
green played out in the national
spotlight
the evidence against them was strong
both had made phone calls from james's
stolen lexus and green had also made
home videos rapping while wearing
james's stolen jewelry
given all the evidence against him in
this crime as well as for multiple other
armed robberies
larry demery agreed to plead guilty and
testify against green at the trial
according to his testimony demary said
the two had planned to simply rob
unsuspecting tourists at a nearby
quality inn when they spotted jordan's
lexus
demury claims that green desired the car
and their plan was to tie up the owner
by the side of the road
however when james awoke he claimed
green shot him without hesitation
green and his lawyers disputed demery's
story and his credibility but it didn't
end up mattering
both green and emery were convicted of
first-degree murder and given life
sentences
each maintaining that the other was the
triggerman
james jordan senior stayed close to his
son from childhood to nba stardom
in 1991 after jordan won his first nba
title
james could be seen consoling an
emotional michael as he cried holding
the larry o'brien trophy
two years and two more titles later
after the death of his father michael
decided
enough was enough on october 6 1993
jordan announced his retirement from the
nba at the age of 30
telling the press that he had lost his
passion for the sport
when i lose the sense of motivation
and the sense of to prove something as a
basketball player
it's time for me to move away from the
game of basketball
one of the first questions asked of
course was how much his father's murder
had to do with his
decision journalist and author bob green
who wrote two biographies about jordan
thinks his father's death was critical
in prompting the change in careers
michael jordan would have never tried to
play baseball had his father not been
murdered
despite his son reaching the top of the
basketball world early in his nba career
making the all-star game in his rookie
season and setting records by just his
second
james still challenged michael to pick
baseball back up his father even
recommended to him after we won the
first championship then he go play
baseball at that time
shortly after his nba retirement to
everyone's surprise michael would sign
with the birmingham baroness the minor
league affiliates of the chicago white
sox
in his one season with the barons jordan
drew a lot of attention but
wasn't very experienced on the field
every mistake he made attracted
attention he was criticized and accused
of being delusional
he calls it his dream that he wants to
be a major league baseball player
i call it a delusion despite the
onslaught of negative press attention he
did show
improvement throughout the season but
then the 1994 player strike happened
shutting down baseball for 232 days
not wanting to cross the picket line
jordan retired from baseball
but as the world would soon find out he
was far from retired from sports
so if i desire to come back and play
again
maybe that's what i want to do maybe
that's the challenge that i may need
some day or down the road
at his press conference announcing his
retirement jordan said the most positive
thing i can take from my father not
being here with me today is that he saw
my last basketball game
and that means a lot but ultimately
jordan would honor his father not by
staying away from basketball but
returning
a year and a half after his initial
retirement michael returned to the nba
after falling to the orlando magic in
the 1995 playoffs jordan and the bulls
would complete their second three-peat
to the decade
winning three straight titles between
1996 and 1998.
in true hollywood fashion the team
clinched their fourth title of the
decade on father's day the moments
overwhelmed jordan who was left sobbing
in the chicago locker room
you know i can't even put it in words my
father
i know he's watching both larry demery
and daniel greene were convicted of the
murder of james jordan's senior
demoris guilty plea and testimony
allowed him to be the first of the two
to have a chance of parole
in august 2013 two decades after the
murder demary had his first shot of
parole
he was denied then and again in 2016. in
his third attempt demary was granted
parole and is set to be released on
august 6
2023 as for daniel greene he has
maintained that while he robbed and hid
jordan's body he was not the murderer
greene attempted to get a new trial but
was rejected by an appeals court in 2019
now 43 he remains in lumberton
correctional institution
in an interview on the oprah winfrey
show three months after the murder
jordan said that he neither wanted to
meet his father's killers nor
asked them why they did it because any
reason they could give him would still
be totally meaningless
it's better that i don't know