“Baseball’s Michael Jordan” – Shohei Ohtani’s translator Ippei Mizuhara gets fired for gambling, ignites WILD comparison with Michael Jordan

Shohei Ohtani’s agent Ippei Mizuhara has been fired on allegations of “massive theft” and illegal gambling

Shohei Ohtani, his translator Ippei Mizuhara, and Michael Jordan [Image credit: Imago/NBA.com]

It has been some hectic past two days for Shohei Ohtani. The Los Angeles Dodgers star first found himself becoming a target of a bomb threat, before making his official MLB debut for the NL West later on. However, things got spicy when his translator Ippei Mizuhara got fired for illegal gambling.

Ippei Mizuhara had been the official interpreter of Shohei Ohtani since he stepped foot on US soil. With allegations of “massive theft” coming up against him, the Dodgers relieved him off his duties. This development has since become the number one talking point on social media with basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan finding his name trending as well.

While Ohtani has been previously compared to Michael Jordan for his gameplay, this time it for all the wrong reasons. Though Mizuhara claimed that Ohtani has no involvement in gambling, the fans on social media users are unwilling to listen to him and have come up with theories suggesting Ohtani is the one dealing with gambling addiction and Mizuhara taking the fall for it.

This development nonetheless has once again brought up gambling issues in Jordan. Despite having huge success in his career, the former Chicago Bulls star suffered from a gambling addiction that saw him lose a lot of money.
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Since his debut in 2018, Shohei Ohtani has gone on to establish himself as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In the past few years, he has become the face of the MLB just like how Michael Jordan was the face of the NBA in his playing days.
Shohei Ohtani (Image via Imago)
With his current fame level, anything Ohtani does starts trending. So with such a big issue surfacing, some backlash and trolls were expected. Fans on X have shared several wild reactions while comparing Ohtani to Jordan with one writing that he indeed is “Baseball’s Michael Jordan“.

Check out some top reactions from X below:

As per reports from The Athletic, Ohtani will currently not be facing any disciplinary action or will be investigated by the MLB. Meanwhile, Dodgers coach Dave Roberts refused to comment on the scandal regarding Mizuhara but did admit that the two-way star has already found a new interpreter.

For the time being Will Ireton, the manager of performance operations will help out Ohtani and their other Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto in communication. Fans though are eager to see for further updates in this matter and how much how an impact will it have on the Ohtani.