Michael Jordan’s time at Laney High School may be decades in the past, but his impact on Wilmington’s largest public high school and the surrounding community continues to be felt.
Longtime Laney teacher Ms. Etta, who spent more than 40 years at the school, including during Jordan’s time there in the 1980s, had one final wish after entering hospice care with Lower Cape Fear LifeCare on May 11: reconnect with her former student one more time.
Specifically, Ms. Etta wanted to “hug Michael’s neck one more time,” the Wilmington-based hospice care center wrote in a May 12 social media post.
After several unsuccessful attempts to reach Jordan, a Lower Cape Fear LifeCare social worker named Wendy received a call from an unfamiliar number.
“Is this Ms. Etta?” the caller asked. It was Jordan.
Wendy, who was home at the time, immediately drove to Ms. Etta’s and set up a FaceTime call between the two. The emotional conversation was filled with laughter, tears and memories as Jordan and his former teacher reflected on their time at Laney together.
Jordan, who graduated from Laney in 1981 before starring at North Carolina and becoming one of basketball’s most iconic figures, has long remained connected to both his alma mater and his hometown of Wilmington.
After Hurricane Florence, he returned to Wilmington in November 2018 to help distribute Thanksgiving meals to displaced residents and donated 50 pairs of Air Jordan sneakers to children at the local Boys & Girls Club. In 2019, the Laney graduate donated $1.1 million to the school, with the funds split evenly between athletics and academic projects.
More recently, Jordan partnered with Novant Health to open the fourth Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Wilmington in February 2025, expanding access to preventive and primary care for uninsured and underinsured residents.
Over the past several years, Jordan has made a significant investment to improve health across the state, with much of that investment happening in his hometown. A Novant Health spokesperson told the StarNews in February that Jordan has donated a total of $27 million to the Novant Health Foundation for clinics in Charlotte and Wilmington.
Reporting by Michael Cuneo, Wilmington StarNews / Wilmington StarNews
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
