My Favorite Cigar
Michael Jordan • GOAT • Partagás Lusitania
He goes by many nicknames, including “His Airness,” “MJ” and, of course, “Air Jordan,” but the most apt moniker for Michael Jordan is the GOAT. He redefined greatness on the basketball court during his time in the NBA, winning six championships (two three-peats) with the Chicago Bulls, while leading the league in scoring 10 times and delivering clutch baskets like it was second nature.
“I smoked my first cigar in 1991, when we won the championship,” Jordan told Marvin R. Shanken during his first Cigar Aficionado interview. It became a part of his pregame ritual. “We had to be to the stadium at 6 o’clock for home games, and traffic was so bad it would take us an hour and 15 or an hour and 30 minutes to drive. So now I’m sitting in a car for almost an hour and a half, and I’m very tense. I’m worried about the traffic. So I started smoking a cigar going to the games.”
In retirement—he’s 62—Jordan smokes even more cigars. To Shanken he named a big Cuban—Partagás Lusitania—as his favorite. It still is.
To watch a video of Jordan and Shanken smoking cigars, visit the CigarAficionado.com video gallery.
