The people in the suite know about his ego, and his moods, and his anger. They know better than most. George jokes a lot about the bite marks on his ass. But they also know Jordan, and if they're being honest, they love him. They know how kind he can be, having roses sent on Mother's Day to every mom who works for him. They see him gutted after meeting with another Make-a-Wish child. They see him swell with pride over any success of his children. They've been inside the machine, seeing firsthand the siege of fame, the hardness and cynicism it demands. So they think all the stories of Michael being Michael are funny, even endearing, while someone from the outside can hear the same story and be horrified, seeing a permanent adolescent spitting on food or cutting up clothes.
His friends, for instance, watched the Hall of Fame speech and laughed.
Another interesting part. Go check out any of the GB threads on MJ. "He's a troll, he's clueless, he's an assholee, I'm a Bulls fan but MJ is blah blah blah". Read anything about his personality from writers and talking heads about how he's a dick and use his HOF speech as Exhibit A.
Yet his friends laughed about it.
edit: then it goes into length explaining why people got the wrong idea about his speech. should've kept reading