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It is no secret that NBA legend Michael Jordan is a winner. The Chicago Bulls legend has never lost in a Finals series. He has made six trips to the NBA Finals and won six rings. His ability to elevate his game and his teammates at crunch time is one of the main reasons fans love him so much. MJ did not like losing, so he made sure he didn’t lose at any cost. He would push his teammates to be better every day, even though most did not like being pushed around.

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Unsurprisingly, his hunger to win at any cost translated off the court as well. He wanted to be the #1 all the time. Even in small things like getting dressed, hitting the showers, showing up on the court, etc., he wanted to be the first one. And he did not mind cheating as well.

READ MORETeary Eyed Michael Jordan Broke Down Publically Forcing Daughter Jasmine to Call Him ?Daddy of the Year? in 2015

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‘The Last Dance’ gave us a glimpse of MJ’s bets with his teammates and friends; an interesting incident where he bets a security guard for a game of coin throws. Whoever throws the coin closer to the wall wins, as simple as that.

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Michael Jordan hated losing

Michael Jordan lost that coin game and the guard recreated the iconic “shrug”. It was one of the most hilarious scenes in the docuseries and the fans loved it. However, it captured just one incident in MJ’s long and illustrious career. In 1999, ESPN released a Michael Jordan SportsCentury documentary which included interviews with people close to the six-time NBA champion.

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Former University of North Carolina assistant coach Roy Williams revealed how much Jordan hated losing. “He is so competitive. I can remember beating him in a game of pool. Three games running and he didn’t speak to me for 24 hours,”?Williams said.

WATCH THIS STORY – ?Did Michael Jordan Play in 1994? Was Shaquille O’Neal The Last Player to Beat MJ in The NBA Playoffs?

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His former teammate at the University of North Carolina, Buzz Peterson, stated MJ cheated even while playing a simple game of cards with his mother. He could not believe Jordan’s competitiveness to cheat on his mother to win a simple game.

Author David Halberstam recalled another iconic betting incident. It was the baggage bet at an airport. A trainer noticed Jordan giving $50 to a baggage handler. The bet was to see whose luggage comes out first. And the $50 Jordan spent worked wonders as his luggage came out first and he reportedly won around $1000 from the bet.

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Love him or hate him, this was who he was. A serial winner who hated losing.

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Written by

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Bagavathi Eswaran

1,520 Articles

Bagavathi Eswaran is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports, having a strong passion for the sport since the age of ten. As a former college player, Bagavathi has been following the NBA for more than a decade and has found his calling in writing about the sport. He has used his expertise in covering the NBA, as well as other arenas of the sport, to write more than 1400 articles at ES. Bagavathi's pieces on the increasingly dominant presence of European basketball and those following the journey of women-ballers are particularly noteworthy. Along with being a full-time writer, he is also a part of a group of young coaches groomed as trainers by Junior NBA. Bagavathi has trained players from schools and colleges, as well as underprivileged students who can attend the camps for free.

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Sreeda U M

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