Michael Jordan was born into a family of 5 siblings, including 2 older brothers James Jr and Larry, 1 older sister named Deloris and 1 younger sister Roslyn.

There is a fact that not many fans know that besides Michael Jordan, his brother Larry also played professional basketball. In fact, Larry was considered to have greater potential than his brother, but in the end, he could not develop and was never able to play in the NBA.

What’s the reason behind it? Find out with Sporting News.

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Larry Jordan’s Potential: Michael Jordan’s Admiration for His Brother

In an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan mentioned Larry Jordan, the real brother of basketball legend Michael Jordan. 

Rogan spoke admiringly about Larry Jordan: “I want to talk about Michael Jordan’s brother. He can do a lot of the moves that Michael did. I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember if he played professional basketball, but Larry is a killer on the court. He’s really good.”

Michael Jordan himself has also praised his brother Larry. The Chicago Bulls legend once shared that Kobe Bryant was the only person who could beat him in a one-on-one match. However, his brother was the better player when they were both young.

A rare video from the 1997/98 season captured Michael Jordan admitting: “When it comes to Air Jordan, I’m number 2, he (Larry) is number 1.”

In an interview with Scoop Jackson in SLAM magazine in July 1996 , Michael Jordan also revealed that his older brother (Larry, born in 1962) always beat him when he was young. The experience of facing his older brother also helped the star born in 1963 become one of the best players in history and win 6 NBA championships.

Michael Jordan said: “My brother Larry used to ‘destroy’ me on the court. He was older and bigger than me. Larry would always remind me how he beat me so I wouldn’t forget it. That made me work harder to overcome him.

I consider playing with Larry a great experience when we were kids. It helped me love basketball more and pushed me to improve every day.”

Why can’t Larry Jordan develop like Michael Jordan?

Larry Jordan possesses the same great qualities as Michael Jordan, including an incredible 40-foot jump, which allows him to dunk with ease. The potential is huge, but the reason Larry couldn’t develop like his younger brother was because of his modest height.

Michael Jordan once shared: “Larry was always a good player, but he wasn’t big enough.”

Clifton ‘Pop’ Herring, the coach who coached the Jordan brothers, asserted that if Larry were 6ft 1in tall, people would say “Michael is Larry’s younger brother” rather than “Larry is Michael’s older brother”.

In fact, Larry Jordan was only 5’7″, while Michael Jordan grew to 6’3″ by his senior year and eventually won a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He then continued to rise as the third pick in the 1984 NBA Draft and became one of the greatest basketball stars of all time.

What happened to Larry Jordan?

As for Larry Jordan, he played for UNC-Wilmington (a division of the University of North Carolina), and later played in the now-defunct World Basketball League.

The World Basketball League was a lower-level basketball league with a height restriction, meaning that players over 6 feet 4 inches tall were not allowed to participate. The league suited Larry Jordan perfectly, and he was drafted by the Chicago Express with the third overall pick. In 1988, Larry Jordan and his team advanced to the finals, but were defeated by the Las Vegas Silver Streaks 102-95.

After the 1988 season, the Chicago Express moved to Springfield, Illinois and changed their name to the Illinois Express, and Larry left the team. His professional basketball career ended there.

Larry Jordan has said that people treat him better knowing he is Michael Jordan’s older brother. Indeed, Larry once got away with a speeding ticket in his red 1985 Corvette because of his brother’s fame and influence.

In 2011, Larry was hired by Michael Jordan to work for the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) after the NBA legend became a majority owner of the team. Larry served as director of team personnel and later vice president of player personnel.

Larry’s son, Justin Jordan, also works as a scout for the Hornets. Justin played NCAA Division I basketball for the UNC Greensboro Spartans.