NBA icon Michael Jordan could be set for a shock Ryder Cup role alongside Keegan Bradley.
Michael Jordan has been mentioned as a shock suggestion as a vice captain for Team USA at the next Ryder Cup (Image: Scott Halleran/PGA of America via Getty Images)
NBA icon Michael Jordan has emerged as a surprise candidate for the Team USA vice-captaincy at the Ryder Cup, following the announcement of Keegan Bradley as captain for the 2025 event.
Bradley, 38, was chosen for the esteemed position after golfing great Tiger Woods turned down the chance to captain the team at Bethpage. Although Bradley wasn’t picked by former US captain Zach Johnson for last year’s tournament in Rome, his selection is not entirely unexpected due to his past participation in the 2012 and 2014 Team USA line-ups.
by Taboola Sponsored Link Capsule Filling Machine 2024 (See Prices)Capsule Filling Machine Search Now
Speculation is rife about who will serve as Bradley’s deputy, with some intriguing possibilities being considered. During a discussion on PGA TOUR Radio, hosts Jason Sobel and Michael Collins pondered over potential vice-captains, with Collins proposing: “I think if we’re going outside the box, give me a college coach that’s not a golf coach or give me it from a different sport. Like back in the day would it have been cool to have Phil Jackson in the room. Would it be cool to have [Michael] Jordan?”.
Michael Jordan is a regular at the Ryder Cup and his sporting expertise has been mentioned as a potential asset for Team USA (Image: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
The argument for the basketball superstar’s involvement was made, alongside the mention of long-time former Alabama head coach Saban as another possible option. Sobel concurred, stating: “I have no problem with a guy like that being in the team room whether in an official assistant captain capacity or unofficially.”
“Michael Jordan I would assume – Keegan and MJ play a lot of golf together – you’ll see some presence from MJ. I’ve got no issue with that, I don’t know about giving him the full captaincy but look, we’re going outside the box. The box has been broken, we’ve crushed the box There is no box anymore.”
Jordan, an often seen face at Ryder Cup events, was in attendance at Marco Simone last year as the USA took a severe hit. Prior to this, the basketball superstar delivered an inspiring pep talk to his countrymen during the tournament at Le Golf National in 2018.
Basketball figure Michael Jordan’s influence was captured by Brooks Koepka, who said: “Michael was talking about how he would always play on the road against tough opponents or crowds that were always against him. ‘It’s just funny hearing a different athlete’s point of view or the way they would go about it, and then you can kind of take what you want from there.”
“He talked about how he didn’t hear the crowd. I took it as he couldn’t wait to shut them up, and the second he would go off, the quieter they are [and] you’re kind of laughing inside [and] you’ve done what you wanted to do. I thought that was pretty cool.'”.
Rickie Fowler shared that during the encounter, Jordan opened up “about some of the teams that were the toughest to play, the guys that he faced and who he thought were the toughest”, as well as “how he kind of went about home games versus away games”.