"And then Michael goes, ‘My wife’” - Looking back at the hilarious moment when Bob Costas mistook Michael Jordan's wife for his mother

Michael Jordan started his reign as king of the NBA in 1991. After years of falling short in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls star finally got his team to the NBA Finals. The only thing standing in the way of him and his first ring was Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers.

In the end, the Bulls managed to take down the Lakers and Jordan won his first of six championships. This was a monumental moment for the future Hall of Famer, and one reporter almost ruined it.

Back in 1991, Bob Costas was working for NBC and covering the NBA Finals. He was sent to the Bulls' locker room after their victory and proceeded to have one of the biggest mess-ups of his legendary career.

During an appearance on The Ringer's "Slow News Day," Costas opened up on the interaction he had with Michael Jordan after the Bulls won the 1991 finals. Most notably, how he mistakenly referred to MJ's wife as his mother.

“His father, whom I had met several times before, is leaning off his right shoulder. And off his left shoulder is a woman, and I’m looking at Michael, so she’s just in the corner of my eye, and my eyes are filled with champagne.

And I say, and I shouldn’t have, ‘Michael Jordan, surrounded by his mom and his dad.’ And then Michael goes, ‘My wife.’”

Decades after this tiny blunder, it is still one of the biggest moments in Costas' career that he wishes he could do over.

“There’s a few things you want to mulligan out of thousands and thousands of things; you want a do-over,” Costas added. “I would like to do that one over.”

---

Michael Jordan and his wife were never mad at Bob Costas for his slip up

While some might agree that Jordan and his wife had every right to be mad for what was said, it seems they didn't take it personally. Later in the interview, Costas talked about running into Jordan's wife not long after the 1991 NBA Finals. He said she was not upset over the incident.

“I was sitting in the audience at 30 Rock for the live show, and Juanita was only a few seats away,” he said on Slow News Day. “I went over and said hello, and she could not have been more gracious about the whole thing.”

After securing his first championship in '91, Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to title wins in '92 and '93 to complete the first of two three-peats in his career.