From Cheating in Cards to Slipping $50 to Win $1000, Billionaire Michael Jordan Once Took His Pettiness to the Next Level With 24 Hours of Silence

Published 10/04/2022, 10:00 AM EDT

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.

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.

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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.

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?

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.

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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.

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

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Written by:

Bagavathi Eswaran is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He has been playing the game of basketball for more than 20 years now and has also been following the NBA for more than 10 years. After not being able to go pro, this former college player decided to join the IT industry.

Edited by:

Sreeda U M

From Cheating in Cards to Slipping $50 to Win $1000, Billionaire Michael Jordan Once Took His Pettiness to the Next Level With 24 Hours of Silence

Michael Jordan hated losing

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