Michael Jordan, who sold a $3 billion franchise, once had to pay a mere $102 fine to avoid arrest

Michael Jordan is one of the richest athletes in the world, and he recently sold the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion. However, did you know that Jordan once had to pay a $102 fine to avoid arrest in Kentucky?

According to the Chicago Tribune, MJ was stopped by a police officer on Jun. 6, 1989, in Lexington for speeding and driving without a license. The Chicago Bulls legend forgot about the ticket and failed to show up on court. A judge had to issue a warrant for his arrest.

However, Jordan's then-agent Barbara Allen had to pay the $102 fee through Federal Express. The arrest warrant was withdrawn, but he still needed to send a copy of his driver's license which he likely did.

That was the only time Jordan was in trouble for speeding. It was also the only time a warrant was issued for his arrest. Jordan was relatively out of trouble during his NBA career, with his gambling the only black eye in an otherwise clean-cut image.

However, the 1989 speeding incident was not the only time Michael Jordan was caught going over the speed limit. Charles Oakley told SportsNation last year how MJ would get out of a speeding ticket due to his popularity.

"We just always go places together, so we were cruising on the highway doing about 110, 120," Oakley said.

"You could tell when somebody catching up on you, so the car was getting close to us. We just took off doing about 140, 150. Next thing we know, about 2 miles up the road about 20 police cars, and they had a roadblock for us. And we stopped and got out ... 'Oh, Mr. Jordan! We're sorry. Just slow it down. We'll see you next week.'"

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Michael Jordan loves race cars

Michael Jordan at the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400

Michael Jordan is a huge fan of speedy cars growing up and idolized NASCAR drivers like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough. Jordan is also a fan of F1 and was in attendance at last year's Miami Grand Prix.

The six-time NBA champion took his fandom to the next level when he opened a NASCAR team with Denny Hamlin called 23XI Racing. They have four race wins, with four drivers — Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Travis Pastrana and Kamui Kobayashi.

23XI Racing's four wins are the 2021 YellaWood 500 in Talladega, the 2022 AdventHealth 400 in Kansas, the 2022 Hollywood Casino 400 in Kansas and the 2023 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix in Austin.