When Michael Jordan opened up on his nightmares due to being a role model: “I have robbed a bank, done cocaine…“

Even two decades after his retirement from professional basketball, Michael Jordan is still considered the greatest of all time. As a basketball legend, MJ is an idol to many young people and has inspired many other players since he entered the NBA.

The pressure of being a role model haunted Jordan in his dreams. In his 1989 interview with GQ, the talented player revealed that he had nightmares of something terrible happening that would ruin people's conceptions of him.

"I have robbed a bank. Or I have done co­caine," MJ revealed in the interview. "I have succumbed to the pressures of drugs. I felt the pressure to drink. These are all nightmares."

At the time of the interview, Jordan was in his fifth professional season and had no championships. However, he was one of the league's greatest players and its best scorer.

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Michael Jordan had nightmares of him using cocaine or robbing a bank

In his fifth season in the league, Jordan led all players in scoring with 32.5 points per game. This was the third straight season as the league's top scorer, yet he also established himself as a fantastic two-way player.

Despite winning no rings, Jordan was on top of his game. He didn't even sleep much as he constantly worked on improving his game and winning games. However, when he did sleep, he was haunted by nightmares.

Jordan led the league in scoring in his third professional season.

In his interview with GQ in 1989, the Chicago Bulls superstar revealed some of his biggest nightmares, such as using cocaine or robbing a bank.

"They're nightmares of something terrible happening to me that would destroy a lot of people's dreams or conceptions of me—that's the biggest nightmare I live every day," Jordan revealed.

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The shooting guard deeply cared about his image and did not want it to be ruined. He was aware that he had millions of fans from all around the world, which is why wanted to be a good role model.

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Being Jordan is not easy

Michael Jordan eventually ended up winning six championship rings and becoming the greatest player in the league's history. Despite enjoying all of that success, the basketball superstar claimed that had to deal with big fears during his career.

"Ev­erybody feels it's easy to be Michael Jordan with all the good things happening to me, but the things that most scare me are ... the things that would tear down Michael Jordan's image," the Bulls legend said. "That's the biggest fear I face."

Jordan cared about other people's opinions about him (Image via Getty Images)

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All these fears made Jordan one of the best role models of all time. Not only was his work ethic incredible, but he's also become a very successful businessman since retiring from the NBA.