Michael Jordan’s gambling escapades in the 90s had become a foil for his dazzling career on the court. Jordan’s competitiveness led him to some high-stakes games off the court, one of which reportedly lost the six-time champion a million dollars.
Rapper G Herbo shared the not-so-well-known story on the ‘What Could Go Wrong’ podcast. The Chicago native described it as “an urban legend” in his neighborhood.
The 28-year-old even admitted that he knows the guy who won a million dollars against MJ in the dice game.
G Herbo said, “This is a real street n***a from my hood so I ain’t even gonna disclose his name. This was back in the 90s…And it was believable because it was this n***a that had real money in my hood.”
Without many details known about the incident, the story is unverifiable. But Michael Jordan’s history with gambling does lend it some credibility. Even before making it to the league, MJ was cutting checks over pool games as a student and betting with college teammates during practice.
However, as per G Herbo’s story, MJ didn’t clear all of his dues in the costly loss. “Jordan only gave him probably about four, five, six hundred [thousand dollars]. Jordan probably owe him $400,000 to this day,” the Republic Records artist added.
Another similar story is MJ losing $1.3 million over a single day of golf to someone named Richard Esquinas. The latter had also accused that the Bulls legend didn’t pay his debt completely.
It helps that Jordan is a multi-billionaire. But for the five-time NBA MVP, betting has never been about profit.
Michael Jordan had an obsession with winning
It’s not that MJ placed the occasional bet. Former NBA pro Jay Williams alleged that Jordan wagered $100,000 on a simple game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’.
Mike craved higher stakes. So much so that he took off for Atlantic City during the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals.
This was before Game 3, in which the Knicks would defeat the Bulls with Jordan shooting 3-of-18 from the field. The buzz around his gambling habit transformed into a roaring controversy at the time.
Eventually, MJ would lead Chicago to the Finals and win their third straight championship. But he had to address the burgeoning rumors ahead of Game 1.
“I just felt that it was unfair, that I was being considered a criminal for doing something that is not illegal. Gambling is legal. And betting is legal…I didn’t bet to lose but I lost it and I paid off all my debts…”
“I thought I was taking care of what my responsibility was,” His Airness explained during his interview with Ahmad Rashad.
Michael Jordan trusted that his family would confront him if his gambling ever became a problem. But now hearing G Herbo’s story of the million-dollar dice game, it can be assumed that the reality of MJ’s habit remains obscure.
