When Michael Jordan recounted facing racism in 1992 interview: “I threw soda at a girl for calling me a n****r, I was 15”

Although Michael Jordan may not have endured the racism that his predecessors like Bill Russell went through during his time in the NBA, he certainly felt it. Many years before MJ was absolutely tearing it up for the Chicago Bulls, he was just a young teenager with a dream. Despite his focus being on basketball, Jordan had to deal with his own fair share of trials and tribulations.

As he recalled many years ago during an interview with Playboy in the early 1990s, he also experienced racism. When he was a kid in North Carolina, the three-sport athlete was called the N-word by a girl. At the time, an angsty Jordan reacted much like any teenager would in that situation: He threw his drink on the girl.

It didn't stop there though. In addition to the rest of the racism he saw firsthand growing up, the incident left Jordan fuming. He recalled being so infuriated by the situation that he went as far as to hold it against Caucasian people for some time. As it turns out, the incident was the first time Jordan had dealt with racism firsthand.

"I threw a soda at a girl for calling me a n****r," Jordan said. "It was when 'Roots' was on television. I was 15. It was a very tough year. I was really rebelling. I considered myself a racist at that time. Basically, I was against all white people. It was hundreds of years of pain that they put us through, and for the first time, I saw it from watching 'Roots.'"

Below you can see a clip of MJ talking about racism growing up and how he moved past it. Although it isn't the Playboy interview footage, the interview touches on many of the same topics.

So how did Michael Jordan move past his anger?

As Michael Jordan explained, it was his parents who got him to understand that he couldn't carry hate in his heart. As he recalled, it took an entire year for him to get over his anger after being called the N-word.

"The education came from my parents. You have to be able to say, 'OK, that happened back then. Now, let’s take it from here and see what happens.' It would be very easy to hate people for the rest of your life, and some people have done that. You’ve got to deal with what’s happening now and try to make things better."

Since then, Jordan has made sure that he is at the forefront of trying to unite people. In recent years, he has pledged $100 million over 10 years to causes that work to help fight racism. Although Jordan was never much of an activist during his time in the NBA, it seems as though he has begun to understand that he can make a difference.

As fans saw in "The Last Dance," in the midst of his playing career, Jordan declined to endorse Harvey Gantt for the U.S. Senate. At the time, he saw himself as a basketball player, not an activist. Although he admittedly admired athletes like Muhammad Ali, Jordan never saw himself as an activist.

In recent years, however, that seems to have changed. As a result, many of his peers have expressed newfound respect for the NBA great.

Below you can see Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe on "Undisputed" discussing Jordan's recent activism.