Michael B. Jordan admitted that he wanted to change his name to a Swahili name.
During a recent interview with CBS Morning, he revealed that growing up with the name Michael Jordan made him a subject of jokes from other children.
“Big time. I got teased so much, to the point where I almost changed my name. I was gonna be Bakari…Bakari Jordan.”
Jordan said that constant teasing sparked his competitive edge.
It definitely made me want to be competitive. I wanted to be great at something. If not for nothing else at that time, just to feel like I had my own identity, you know, in a world that was so…MJ was Mike, you know?”
While the name Michael Jordan reflects the NBA icon, his middle name Bakari reportedly means “noble promise,” or “promising.”
Jordan said,” That was a part of the alchemy that made me who I am today. I’m walking in that [noble promise] and will continue to do so. We have a lot more things to do. We’re just getting started.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jordan shared that he sought therapy after filming the Black Panther franchise. He remarkably played Erik Killmonger in both films.
Jordan shared that he “went to therapy and talked about it. Found a way to kind of just decompress, I think at that point I was still learning that I needed to decompress from a character.”
Jordan explained that his therapy around the role “spiraled into a bigger conversation and self-discovery.
Okay, you know, I think that’s something that’s necessary for people.’”
“Especially men. I think it’s good for them to go and talk. That’s something I’m not ashamed of at all, and very proud of,” Jordan explained. Also, his therapist “definitely helped me try to be a good communicator and a well-rounded person, inside and out.”
Jordan shared that he tapped into the spirit of “Killmonger.”
“Erik didn’t really know a lot of love. I think Erik didn’t experience that,” Jordan explained. “He had a lot of betrayal, a lot of failed systems around him that shaped him and his anger and his frustration.”