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Michael Jordan played on the team plane; it didn’t matter if they were big money games in the back of the plane or $ 1 for hand blackjack in the front of the plane; He played silly games made up safely in the sand, he played on the golf course and he played in casinos.
Jordan’s predilection for gambling big or small appeared prominently in Sunday’s Episode 6 “The Last Dance” on ESPN.
Attention to Jordan’s game began to grow and exploded during the 1993 playoffs when the Chicago Bulls played against the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Following the Knicks 1-0, Jordan went to an Atlantic City casino, and was reported to have been seen at the casino at 2:30 a.m. with a game to be played about 18 hours later at Madison Square Garden.
The New York Times lectured Jordan about his late-night / early-morning excursion: “Jordan’s time could have been better spent lounging for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Bulls and the Knicks. “
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The Bulls lost Game 2, falling behind 2-0 in the series. Jordan explained his trip to the casino: “My father said, ‘Let’s get out of New York City. Let’s go you and me to Atlantic City. “We took a limo and went to play for a couple of hours and came back. Everyone went totally ballistic:” He was at the casino last night. “It wasn’t late. We got home at 12: 30, one. ”
The Bulls won Game 3 and Jordan scored 54 points in Chicago’s Game 4 victory. The Bulls also won the next two games to reach the final.
But it’s clear that Jordan was frustrated with the focus on his game and said he didn’t have a problem with the game.
“I have a competition problem,” he said.
There are numerous Jordan game stories in the books about him, including Roland Lazenby’s tome “Michael Jordan: The Life”, “Playing For Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made” by David Halberstam and “Dream Team” by Jack McCallum.
Even the night before Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals between Chicago and Portland, Magic Johnson played cards at Jordan’s home. The following night, Jordan made six triples and scored 35 points in the first half.
Still, it was not looking good when it emerged that Jordan issued a $ 57,000 check to Slim Bouler to cover a gambling debt, and a golf acquaintance Richard Esquinas said Jordan owed him $ 1.2 million. Jordan had to testify in court where Bouler was being tried on charges of money laundering and drug conspiracy. (Jordan once skipped a White House visit to golf with Bouler, according to the documentary.)
The league became interested and questioned Jordan. “I never bet on games; He was just betting on me and that was golf. … I told them exactly what was happening, “said Jordan.
Former NBA Commissioner David Stern told filmmakers: “In my opinion, it never reached epic levels of crisis.”
But the gaming stories continued to haunt Jordan. Rumors about the game accompanied important events in Jordan’s life: the murder of his father shortly after the 1993 Finals and his decision to withdraw from the game before the start of the 1993-94 season.
When Jordan’s father was killed, some suggested that James Jordan’s death was revenge for the son’s unpaid gambling debts.
Jordan lashed out at those suggestions in a statement shortly after two people were arrested.
“Throughout this painful experience, I never doubted my belief that Dad’s death was a random act of violence,” Jordan said in a statement in 1993. “Therefore, I was deeply disturbed by early reports that speculated that there was a sinister connection to Dad’s death. ” “I was outraged when this speculation continued even after the arrests of the suspected killers.”
Turns out it was a robbery turned into murder.
Jordan’s first retirement in 1993 was clouded by talk that the NBA had suspended gambling or that the NBA had told him to take a break and play with them.
“As far as the NBA is concerned, Michael Jordan did nothing wrong, and any implication to the contrary bothers me,” Stern said.
It did not quell speculation when Jordan joked about his retirement announcement: “Five years later, if that momentum comes back, if the Bulls have me, if David Stern lets me go back to the league, I can come back.”
People read “if David Stern lets me go back to the league” and put on their conspiracy hats.
Those two topics, the death of Jordan’s father and his initial retirement, were not addressed on Sunday. They should play a prominent place in future episodes.
