Idris Elba Says He Told Michael Jordan He Wanted To Play Him In A Movie, Revealed MJ's Response: "That's What He Said, 'I'm Not Ready Yet'... I Was Dead Serious."

“I even said to him one time, ‘I want to play you,'” Elba told host Joe La Puma. “He was like, ‘Hm, I’m not ready yet.’ That’s what he said, ‘I’m not ready yet.’ … I was dead serious.

“In my head, playing Jordan wouldn’t be about playing the basketball player; it was about the businessman,” he said. “He is a very astute businessman, really smart. And his work as a philanthropist is unspoken, but people don’t understand the work. He cares; he does a lot of work. So that’s where I was hinting at. I wanna play Jordan—I’m doing that. He was like, ‘Ah, I’m not ready for that story yet.'”

Alba's idea about playing Jordan as a businessman would be a stellar one, his decision to choose Nike and his many ventures since have made MJ a billionaire after all. Although, if the Last Dance was any evidence, Michael Jordan is very particular about how his story is shared with the world. 

There's also a possibility that if it's about his later life, Jordan may just want to play himself, which would be quite fun to watch. But if he did decide to let a big-screen actor take a crack at playing him, then he could do a lot worse than choosing Elba, one of the most passionate and charismatic performers of all time.