A boat, whose crew included one of the greatest basketball players of all time, is inline for second place in the prestigious White Marlin Open held in Ocean City, Maryland.
Michael Jordan was aboard the “Catch 23” when angler Trey “Cricket” McMillan reeled in a 71-pound white Marlin on the sixth day of the 52-year-old deep-sea fishing tournament that is dubbed as one of the world’s largest and richest of its kind.
The boat pulled back into the harbor in Ocean City with the song “Sirus” – synonymous with Jordan as the team’s entrance music when he played for the Bulls – playing over the event sound system as the six-time NBA champion could be seen standing alongside other crew members.
The boat erupted in celebration when the weigh-in revealed they had moved into second place in the tournament.
Second place takes home a prize of $400,000. Angler Dan Gough of the Billfisher is currently first and would win the estimated $4.27 million first prize with a 72-pound Marlin. There is still about an hour left in the competition.
Social media showed other images of Jordan from the tournament.
One image shared showed him posing alongside the rest of the crew with the fish after they returned to shore.
Another showed him sitting on the boat and the reflection in the window behind Jordan showed the large group of people who gathered to try and get a glimpse of the NBA legend.
The weather had forced tournament organizers to open up Saturday and Sunday to fishing and 211 of the 282 boats entered took advantage of the chance on Sunday, according to COAST TV.
Competitor Jimmy David equated the tournament to the likes of the Super Bowl, for fishing, especially with a star like Jordan there.
“The biggest tournament, people come from all over,” David said to COAST TV. “Michael Jordan, all kinds of people. I heard they have the Secretary of the Navy over there and all kinds of celebrities. And the best of the best fishing. That’s for sure — the Super Bowl.”
