The “Sinners” star explains that he’s come to appreciate what the name has done for him.

Michael B. Jordan almost changed his name after being compared to NBA superstar: ‘I got teased so much’

The "Sinners" star explains that he's come to appreciate what the name has done for him.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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January 19, 2026 2:00 p.m. ET

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Michael B. Jordan says he was teased for his name's similarity to that of Michael Jordan. Credit:

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Alexander Tamargo/WireImage

Growing up in the '90s, actor Michael B. Jordan, known back then simply as Michael Jordan, couldn't escape references to a certain NBA star with the same name who was *everywhere*, from the court to the movies to the shoe store. Everyone wanted to "Be Like Mike" — the other one.

"I got teased so much, to the point where I almost changed my name," the *Sinners* star recently told *CBS Sunday Morning.*

Looking back, Jordan said, he understood that it was being compared to the legendary athlete "was a part of the alchemy that made me who I am today. It definitely made me want to be competitive. I wanted to be great at something, if not for nothing else at that time, just to feel like I had my own identity."**

But it definitely wasn't fun for the California native at the time.

The future star of TV's *Friday Night Lights *and movies such as the* Creed *and *Black Panther *franchise had been named in honor of his father, but he weighed whether to use his middle name, Bakari.

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He resisted the change, of course, and continues to feel a connection to the NBA legend.**

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"I feel like I'm walking in that and will continue to do so, big time," Jordan said. "We got a lot more things to do. We're just getting started."

One of **'s Entertainers of the Year, Jordan has definitely distinguished himself by now.

Jordan was nominated in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama at the Golden Globes for his work playing twins Smoke and Stack in the rollicking vampire tale, but he lost to *The Secret Agent'*s Wagner Moura.

Michael B. Jordan stars in 'Sinners'.

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Overall, *Sinners *was nominated for seven Golden Globes and won two, for Best Original Score and Cinematic Achievement.**

*Sinners *is* *now streaming on multiple platforms, including HBO Max and Prime Video,

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