ABSTRACT
In March 1995, two of the most potent black sporting symbols were released, one from prison, the other from baseball’s backwaters. Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan were the most successful African Americans in sports. They earned more money, more respect, and, in Tyson’s case, more notoriety than any previous black athlete in history. Their absence from sport’s big league was agonizing. Tyson’s was enforced: he was found guilty of raping a beauty queen contestant in an Indianapolis hotel room and banished in ignominy. Jordan quit the Chicago Bulls with the plaudits ringing in his ears; he wanted to conquer his second sport, baseball, but fared poorly with Chicago White Sox. Even after a second departure from basketball, Jordan found the lure of competition irresistible and returned, this time with Washington Wizards. Tyson never recaptured the indestructible menace of his early career, but remained the biggest attraction in boxing even as he advanced on his fortieth birthday. His presence, like Jordan’s, had promoters rubbing their hands and advertisers reaching for their checkbooks. In many ways, Tyson and Jordan were opposites. In one important way, they were similar: they inspired the dreams of millions.
