Holder of a nice address book, Nicolas Batum can notably boast of counting Michael Jordan among his good acquaintances.

He even took advantage of his good relationship with him to send him a request regarding… his pregnant wife.

When he arrived in the NBA in 2008, few predicted such longevity for him.

And yet, Nicolas Batum was able to impose himself in an exemplary manner to achieve the vast majority of his career. Time for him to rub shoulders with a multitude of league legends, whether as a teammate, opponent… or even employee.

A remarkable list in which Michael Jordan’s name appears in particular.

Nicolas Batum’s brilliant request to Michael Jordan
Former owner of the Hornets, Jordan was still at the head of the franchise when Batum played in its ranks.

The two men therefore logically forged certain links at that time, going well beyond the sponsorship contract linking the French winger to Jordan Brand.

Invited to talk about the subject on RMC in 2022, Nico revealed the beginnings of this full-fledged relationship:

Nicolas Batum: The first time I had an interaction with him was when I was traded and arrived in Charlotte.

My agent told me that the franchise was going to call me to welcome me, the phone rings, it is passed to me and then I hear, “Hi”, in a deep voice. “This is Michael.” So he is the one who called me the first time to say welcome.

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What’s funny is that over time, you manage to remove this halo that he has above his head, this sanctification that makes him who he is, and then you discover the guy.

More comfortable with His Majesty over time, Batman then allowed himself to ask him for an unusual favor before becoming a dad:

Nicolas Batum: I have several funny little stories with him. For example, when my wife was pregnant with our first child, I asked him to touch her belly like he does in “Space Jam” with the ball.

I told him to throw all the talent he could into his belly! As a result, my son is 6 years old and he’s good at basketball, but we’ll see what happens.

While waiting to find out if Ayden will follow in his father’s footsteps and one day play in the NBA too, it seems that MJ agreed to “pass on” his talent to him before he was even born.

It remains to be seen whether this rather original maneuver will prove as effective as in Space Jam, where it allowed the Bulls legend and his Tune Squad to win against the Monstars.

Thanks to his understanding with Michael Jordan, Nicolas Batum allowed himself to ask him to touch his pregnant wife’s belly so that his child would become a good basketball player.

This is evidence of the good relationship between the Frenchman and his former boss.