He’s arguably the most iconic and legendary basketball player to have ever played the game. There are maybe a few who could contest for that title, but not many have matched up to what we’ve seen Michael Jordan do on a basketball court. And years after his retirement from the game, he’s still always in the news.
Having won 6 championships with his team Chicago Bulls, Jordan today is still involved with the National Basketball Association (NBA), being part owner of Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Miami Marlins. However, he’s now more in the news for ‘The Last Dance‘ a documentary series on Netflix about the life and career of this living legend!
Some new details of his life have been revealed with every episode launched of the 2020 series, and plenty of the stories were around his famous gambling habits too, with the show particularly focussing on his 1997-98 season with the Bulls. He enjoyed the game and he enjoyed gambling as well, having once bet his car with a rookie teammate and winning the bet too!
However, the incident in question took place later was when he was a veteran 38-year old now playing for Washington Wizards. By then, he was already a hero and he decided to up his gamble game as well, which rookie player Jamal Crawford found out the hard way. The latter was just 21 years old at the time and had just reached the highest league, NBA.
As per the story, it was Jamal who challenged MJ to a 3-point shootout for $1,000. Jordan, being the pro as he is, won the challenge which led to Jamal upping the stakes to $5,000, the latter being won by Jamal himself. However, it was Jordan’s turn to up the stakes who asked Jamal, “What car did you drive here with?”
“Mercedes”, came Jamal’s answer. It was his brand new Merc with a customized nameplate and MJ was quick to seize the opportunity of showing who the real boss is. He said, “I came with a Ferrari, let’s bet our cars.” The two agreed, went ahead with the shootout and MJ ended victorious, taking out the custom nameplate and walking away with a fancy new Mercedes!
It was not Jamal’s only encounter with gambling in his rookie season. In fact, he lost a 6-figure amount shooting craps in a couple of nights, for which he even got death threats. He was yet to be paid and they threatened to kill him if the debts were not cleared. It was his manager Aaron Goodwin who called the guy and fixed up a plan to clear the money without any incidents taking. It is said that Crawford never went close to gambling again. Stay tuned to ReadScoops.com for more updates from the world of sports…
