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Denny Hamlin heaped praise on basketball legend Michael Jordan and spoke on the latter's popularity.
Hamlin and Jordan both co-own the Cup Series team 23XI racing. The team debuted in 2021 and has run competitively since then. Talking about Jordan's ownership, Hamlin stated that the basketball icon being the "most popular athlete in the world" is what set him apart from other owners. His co-host Jared Allen on the Actions Detrimental podcast asked him:
"What does MJ bring to the team that maybe another owner can't bring to their team because of his, you know, greatness in being a professional athlete?"
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To which Denny Hamlin replied:
"Man, I can't, I can't quantify it, but he's the most popular athlete in the world.I mean, is there a more popular athlete in the world?"
Despite the fact that the team joined the field recently in 2021, they have proved to be quite competitive. With his win at the GEICO 500 at Talladega, Tyler Reddick brought them their sixth Cup Series victory. Michael Jordan was present at the track, too, where he revealed the team's significance for him.
Michael Jordan talks about his co-owned NASCAR team with Denny Hamlin
Present at Talladega, the NBA legend revealed the time he invests in the team. After retiring from the NBA over two decades ago, Michael Jordan mentioned that NASCAR replaced the competition that he had in basketball.
"I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball."
Furthermore, he spoke of 23XI, stating that the team has done a "heck of a job" to keep up the competition on the field.
"This, to me, is like an NBA playoff game. I am so ecstatic, obviously for the fans who support the sport itself. And we’ve been working hard, trying to get ourselves up to compete against all the top guys in this sport. But we’ve done a heck of a job just to be where we are. And for us to win a big race like this, I mean, it means so much to me and for the effort that the team has done," Jordan was quoted as saying by NASCAR.com.
Jordan owns a majority stock in the team along with Denny Hamlin. The latter currently races for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
