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UNC Basketball: The reason why Michael Jordan wasn’t at the national championship

By Zack Pearson

Mar 4, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Former North Carolina Tar Heels great Michael Jordan during a half time announcement that Jordan's Jumpman Brand is teaming up with Carolina Football. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 90-83 at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Former North Carolina Tar Heels great Michael Jordan during a half time announcement that Jordan's Jumpman Brand is teaming up with Carolina Football. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 90-83 at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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UNC head coach Roy Williams reveals the reason why Michael Jordan didn’t attend the national championship game

Michael Jordan is one of the first names that you think of when you hear University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball.

Jordan spent three seasons with the Tar Heels, hitting one of the biggest shots in college basketball history to help UNC beat Georgetown in the 1982 national championship game. He then went on to become the greatest player to play the game, winning six NBA titles.

With more than 50 former players in the stands for Monday’s national championship in which the Tar Heels beat Gonzaga 71-65 to claim their sixth title, Jordan wasn’t one of them.

Jordan attended the 2016 national championship when UNC lost on a buzzer beater to Villanova as he was seen reacting to the crazy final seconds of the game.

On Wednesday, it was finally revealed why Jordan didn’t attend Monday’s game and it was for good reasoning.

Head coach Roy Williams revealed why Jordan wasn’t at the game during his appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

Here’s what Williams said:

"“People asked me the last day and a half if he was going to come. And I said ‘he hasn’t called but guys, knowing him, he’s going to say I went last year and you lost.’ And so that’s what I was thinking. Our assistant AD Clint Gwaltney, we were walking to the bus last night and I said ‘I want to bet you a dollar, I’ll give you about any odds you want, but I’ll bet you there’s a text message from Michael or a voicemail from Michael and he’s going to say something about coming last year.’ And sure enough, I got on the bus and got my phone out of my backpack – so I left it on the bus. I had quite a few messages and one of them was from Michael, so I collected some money last night.”"

So Jordan didn’t come due to superstition, which is a fine reason because the Tar Heels ended up winning the game.

As for that text?

Well, Inside Carolina revealed what Jordan actually texted Williams following Monday night’s win over the Bulldogs:

The ceiling and roof part is in reference to Jordan’s speech at halftime of UNC’s win over Duke back in March.

Jordan closed out a speech about the UNC Football program becoming a Jordan Brand team by saying “the ceiling is the roof.”

Next: Former UNC players celebrate national championship

The saying made it’s rounds on the internet and t-shirts were even made. It’s nice to see Jordan can go along with the joke as he certainly had a smile on his face when he texted Williams.

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