Michael Jordan's Legendary Gambling Spree
During the 1993 NBA Playoffs, Michael Jordan went on a sudden gambling spree that would result in a lot of media attention and pressure to perform on the court. Then he stunned everyone with his performance.
Video Transcript
- It's 2:30 AM the night before a pivotal playoff game, and Michael Jordan is sitting in a high stakes blackjack table over 120 miles away from his team's hotel. This is the story of Michael Jordan and the New York Knicks home Casino advantage. It's the 1993 playoffs. The Bulls are two-time defending NBA champions, but this season they've lost the number 1 seed to Patrick Ewing and the surging New York Knicks.
Jordan and the Bulls are 2 and 1/2 point underdogs as they head into Madison Square Garden for game 1 of the eastern conference finals. Jordan puts up 27 points but shoots a rough 10 for 27 and only 2 for 9 in the fourth. After the game, Jordan is frustrated by his performance. He needs to blow off some steam. So naturally he turns to his favorite pastime.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) Bally's! Bally's!
- The day before Game 2, he hops into a limo and heads South to Atlantic city New Jersey. He strolls into Bally's Grand Casino and takes a seat at a private high stakes blackjack table. Michael Jordan gambles until 2:30 AM, then drives 2 hours back to his hotel in midtown Manhattan. He's up in time for the 10 AM team shootaround. But that night, the Bulls lose game 2, 91-96, and go down 0-2 in the series.
Jordan scores 36, but it takes him 32 shots to do it, and he only scores 11 points in the whole second half. Today, if the most famous athlete in the world was out in public at a casino the night before a playoff game, video would be all over the internet in minutes, the number 1 trend on Twitter, endlessly dissected by fans and media before Jordan even woke up the next morning. However, in 1993 the story of Jordan in Atlantic City doesn't come out until two full days later.
The day before game 3, "The New York Times" finally breaks the story of Jordan's late night casino escapades. Their source? Two anonymous Knicks superfans and longtime courtside regulars at MSG who say they saw Jordan at the casino until 2:30 AM. Jordan is furious. How dare anyone say he was out gambling until 2:30 AM. He was out gambling until 11:00 PM and then home in bed by 1:00 AM. He didn't even drive. He rested in the limo.
Jordan goes on a media blackout and refuses to talk to anyone about his gambling-- a subject that has certainly come up a few times before this incident. Jordan instead focuses on dismantling the New York Knicks. The Bulls win the next four games and eliminate the number 1 seed. Jordan averages 33, 7, and 9, including a 54-point performance in Game 4.
The Bulls go on to the finals, where Jordan defeats reigning MVP Charles Barkley to complete the first three-peat. Before game 1 of the NBA Finals, Jordan finally breaks his 2-week media silence. Wearing a suit and dark sunglasses, he gives the ultimate "deal with it" interview to NBC's Ahmad Rashad. Jordan wasn't apologizing.
AHMAD RASHAD: Do you have a gambling problem?
MICHAEL JORDAN: No, I enjoy it. It's a hobby.
- He liked gambling. He didn't think it affected his game. And, well, maybe he was right. That previous summer Jordan and the dream team spent time tuning up in Monte Carlo before the '92 Olympics. Jordan reportedly spent all night in the casinos, played 18 holes of golf every morning, and then dominated the best players on the planet at practice every afternoon.
Jordan was built different. It didn't matter if he was out till 11:00, 2:30, or all night long. He was always going to find a way to win, at least on the basketball court.
MICHAEL JORDAN: Yeah, I'm a human. And yet humans, you know, make mistakes. But yet we bring championships to Chicago to.
- Michael, you know, a lot of--
