?Enjoy Yourselves?: Gold Medalist Michael Jordan Nervously Walked Out on His Teammates ?Sprawled? Under Intoxication

Millions of fans around the world consider NBA All-Time great Michael Jordan as the GOAT of the game. However, like every other rookie, he wanted to fit in with the pros. But what he witnessed during the preseason of his rookie season was not what he had in mind.

The Chicago Bulls drafted him as the 3rd overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He was coming into the league with quite the resume. Jordan had the North Carolina Tar Heels to the NCAA championship in 1982 by hitting the game-winning shot. He had won the College Player of the Year award twice.

Furthermore, Jordan had just captained Team USA to a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. And was one of the most hyped-up rookies at the time, and rightfully so. However, he was still a rookie who wanted to make friends in the league. During the preseason of his first ever year in the NBA, Jordan wanted to join his teammates’ party. David Breskin wrote an article about the story in 1989.

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Breskin wrote, MJ went up and knocked on the door. They were a secret code that the rookie didn’t know so the door was not opened. He continued knocking and letting them know his identity. When the door finally opened and Jordan walks in, he could see most of his team was sprawled about the room: drunk, stoned, coked.

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The writer says that rookie Jordan was nervous and didn’t know what to do seeing his teammates. He wrote, “On impulse, he says, “Enjoy yourselves,” turns and walks right out. As he walks down the hallway, he figures these guys are talking behind his back, saying he’s a nerd.”

MJ came back to his room and was proud that he didn’t indulge with his teammates. However, he wondered whether this was the state of the NBA. The writer says that Jordan wondered whether his teammates would be angry at him. But he knew he shouldn’t worry if others were angry at him for trying to lead a positive lifestyle.

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Michael Jordan also talked about the incident in “The Last Dance” documentary. He said, “? [Y]ou got your weed smokers over here, you got your women over here. So the first thing I said was, ?Look, man, I?m out.?…” MJ said that he was worried he would be just as guilty as anyone else in the room if it was raided at that moment. So the Bulls legend left the room immediately. He continued, “And from that point on, I was more or less on my own.”

NBA among other pro leagues suffered a lot from illegal drug usage in the 1980s. And the league had to make some stringent changes to change it.