Over the course of several decades, Michael Jordan built a kind of Michael Jordan Exceptionalism. And then he hid behind it.
This mythos more or less held that any of his bad behavior toward teammates was fine because he was Jordan and because that behavior was exactly what made him Jordan. This tautological reasoning gave Jordan the cover he needed to be considered the greatest basketball player of his time – or all time, but that’s beside the point here – without an ugly blemish on his body of work.
The mindset that he could do no wrong, even when he was plainly wrong, was foundational in building the Jordan brand.