Jayson Tatum Recalls Spilling Wine on Michael Jordan: 'My Hands Were Shaking'

Over the summer, Tatum revealed he has Jordan saved in his phone as "Uncle Mike."

January 22, 2025

Jayson Tatum has once again retold the embarrassing moment he had with Michael Jordan where he spilled a whole glass of wine on him.

During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tatum explained how he managed to spill wine all over His Airness when he first met him after announcing he would be joining Jordan Brand. Tatum initially told this story during his visit to Carmelo Anthony's 7PM in Brooklyn show where he gave a bit more detail.

"The same day I met him and I announced that I was signing to Jordan brand, later that evening they had a dinner for all the athletes and I walked in I was still I think I just turned 21," Tatum told Kimmel at around the nine-minute mark of the video above. "It was MJ, his wife, and Spike Lee, they were sitting at the table and my table was like over there and I just wanted to go introduce myself."

He continued, "I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I go to shake his hand and I knock over his wine glass and I spill it everywhere. I break the glass and I'm speechless. He was super cool about it because that's probably happened to him a thousand times."

In his recollection on 7PM in Brooklyn last summer, Tatum explained it was his mother who pushed him to talk to MJ. He added that Jordan told him not to worry about the wine being spilled and jokingly told him to have a seat which eventually led to them developing a close bond.

"He's like, 'Yo, young fella you're alright,' you know what I'm saying? 'Go sit back down, you good.'...Ever since then, we've been locked in and that's another person I will text and I will call," said Tatum before revealing he has him saved in his phone as "Uncle Mike."

Tatum doesn't seem to have a great relationship with Jordan's former teammate and current Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr. After a game between the Warriors and Boston Celtics, Tatum appeared to ignore Kerr while having a conversation with Steph Curry.

Fans were quick to assume Tatum had some unresolved feelings towards Kerr not playing him during Team USA's quest for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Tatum previously said not playing was "a lot" for him to handle as he's "never not played."