Michael Jordan’s quiet influence on European Ryder Cup team

Michael Jordan's influence extends beyond the basketball court as Luke Donald prepares to captain Team Europe at the Ryder Cup this week at Bethpage Black in New York. While Jordan is expected to wear Team USA colors on the weekend, Donald said his former mentor has already helped shape the way he leads and builds a cohesive group.

Donald said he has been able to 'pick his brain occasionally about what made him tick' and about how Jordan created a championship culture. 'You can be a team of champions but not a championship team,' Donald said. 'You always need the people around you. You’re always stronger being a collective. I think that’s something that I certainly took from him and I’ve tried to implant on my teams the last two times, that we’re always stronger together. Those are strong values that we try and live up to.'

Jordan, who starred for the Bulls for 13 seasons before unretiring and joining the Wizards, is an avid golfer. Donald said he did not recognize Jordan's significance until they met in Chicago, where they played golf when Donald was finishing his collegiate career at Northwestern. The two have remained close, living near each other in Florida, and Donald has carried that connection into his leadership of Europe. He also noted that the 'Last Dance' documentary, which chronicled Jordan's Bulls years, reinforced the lesson that Jordan 'was never going to do anything he didn’t ask his teammates to do' and understood the importance of a strong team setting.

Donald's track record with Europe speaks to the continuity he is trying to sustain. He won four Ryder Cups as a player and later served as a Team Europe vice captain before guiding the continent to victory in Rome two years ago. That success helped pave the way for his appointment to captain again, making him the first person to lead Europe in back-to-back Ryder Cups since Bernard Gallacher in the 1990s. It is the second straight Ryder Cup that Donald is captaining for Europe.

'I've been very fortunate to get access to and pick his brain occasionally about what made him tick, what motivated him, how he was able to get the best out of himself,' Donald said. 'Michael is also very close to Keegan [Bradley], and I'm sure Keegan has maybe leaned on MJ a little bit as well over the last year. He's not going to specifically give me advice this time around, but certainly my friendship over the years I've picked up many things. It's nice to have someone that is a legend of their sport, the greatest ever, quite arguably, to sit down occasionally and pick their brains.'

As the Ryder Cup unfolds at Bethpage, Donald's leadership style — informed by a cross-sport friendship with Jordan — underscores a broader theme in golf: team chemistry can be as decisive as individual prowess. The Europe captain has long emphasized the value of collective strength, a philosophy that resonates with traditions of the European team when facing an American squad eager to defend its home turf. The weekend promises to test the balance between individual brilliance and group cohesion, and Donald's approach will be scrutinized through the prism of Jordan's influence, both on and off the course.