Michael Jordan branded his 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin ‘a clown’ on Sunday before comparing the veteran driver to himself.
Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season last weekend when he finished first in Martinsville.
And the 44-year-old soaked in the victory afterwards by brandishing an ’11 Against the World’ flag while standing with one foot on the roof of his car. The flag was given to him by a fan before the race.
Jordan was in attendance at NASCAR’s Darlington race on Sunday, and was asked by Fox Sports for his reaction to Hamlin’s antics last week.
‘He is a clown,’ Jordan cracked ahead of Sunday’s race. ‘But that’s him. That’s Denny. ‘He’s a very confident driver. He is a very confident person.
‘His competitive juice is no different than mine. I mean, I love that he’s gotten back to winning and I want him to win a championship so badly, because I think he’s earned that because of what he is done for the sport for so long. And he’s gonna grind it out.
Michael Jordan said that Denny Hamlin was a ‘clown’ for his post-race celebration last week
Hamlin stood atop his flag and brandished an ’11 Against the World’ flag, which a fan gave him before the race
‘That’s just the way Denny is. And you know, if you boo him that makes him better. You know, you boo me that makes me better. I mean that’s just the nature of a good competitor.’
Hamlin has a total of 56 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, including three Daytona 500 victories.
Jordan, of course, is widely recognized as the greatest basketball player of all-time after he won six championships, five MVPs and 10 scoring titles with the Bulls during a storied NBA career.
Back in October, Jordan’s 23XI Racing and another team, Front Row Motorsports, filed a joint antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR.
They alleged that the new charter system – NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise model that assures charter holders certain financial guarantees and a place in all 36 Cup Series races – limits competition by unfairly binding teams to the series, its tracks and its suppliers.
The two groups branded chairman Jim France and his family ‘monopolistic bullies’, while vowing to stand up to them and ‘refuse to be victims’.
Jordan has vowed ‘to fight for a competitive market’ for all teams across the NASCAR world
Hamlin looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 in Darlington
NASCAR then launched a stunning countersuit against 23XI Racing, Front Row and Jordan’s right-hand man Curtis Polk, a 23XI co-owner who has advised Jordan for decades.
Jordan’s team were accused of being part of an ‘illegal cartel’.
Polk, Jordan’s longtime business manager and partner, was singled out in NASCAR’s countersuit as the mastermind for a near-mutiny. He was accused of threatening a boycott of the Daytona 500 qualifying races.
Jordan later warned NASCAR that he was standing by Polk and that this ongoing legal war is ‘personal’ for the NBA legend.
‘Curtis and MJ stand united,’ Jordan said through a spokeswoman. ‘His perspective is if you are coming after Curtis, you are coming after him. He doesn’t look at this as just business. It’s personal.’
