Quick Questions Answered
Why Do Michael Jordan’s Eyes Look Yellow?
A doctor gets to the bottom of it
Like millions of people around the world, you probably caught some of ESPN’s documentary, The Last Dance, about the greatest NBA player to bless the court: Michael Jordan. And, like many viewers, you may have noticed MJ’s eye color and wondered what caused it. Was it the cigars? The glass of brown liquor on the table next to him?
MJ’s eyes were front and center in every close-up shot of the 10-part documentary series. I noticed MJ’s eye pigment years before, but I was just a medical student back then. This time, I was a doctor — so I did my research in order to get to the bottom of this internet mystery.
I checked Twitter to see if other MJ fans were discussing his eye color, and comments and theories abounded. People thought MJ might have suffered from alcohol abuse that affected his liver and produced jaundiced eyes. Some thought it could be the result of hemolysis (the destruction of red blood cells), hepatitis, or even pancreatic cancer.
