Struggling Michael Jordan Had to Be ‘Taken Away’ From Gambling Night Outs to Ensure NBA Championship Win for Bulls

The NBA boasts of having some of the biggest legends of the game of basketball. Out of all the stars who have played, Michael Jordan is widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever do it. He led the Chicago Bulls to 6 NBA titles having an insane finals record.

However, he has his fair share of haters. Some hate him for his attitude while some hate him for his actions which almost cost his team at times. In one such instance, Jordan’s gambling habit caused a disaster for the Bulls.

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When his team took on the New York Knicks in the 1993 Eastern Conference finals, MJ was busy at the club. Jordan’s love for gambling is not unknown and he took it to the next level by gambling all night before games. Interestingly enough, this affected his performance as well. 

After the Knicks won the first two games of the series, MJ’s teammates had enough. They forced Jordan to get off the blackjack table and focus on the game. Safe to say, this was the key to unlocking Jordan. He returned back to his usual best and helped his team get the better of the Knicks.

Michael Jordan owed money due to gambling

Apart from basketball, Jordan has two other interests. They are golf and gambling. Interestingly, the game of golf put Michael Jordan in a huge debt. According to Richard Esquinas, who wrote the book, ‘Michael and Me: Our gambling addiction…my cry for help!’ MJ owed him money in golf bets.

Esquinas talked about how they played golf for a long time and it resulted in Jordan owing $153,000 to the businessman. Moreover, several double or nothing bets made the figure go upwards of a million. Although Esquinas asserted that Jordan did not pay off his debt, the Chicago Bulls legend remains of the strong belief that he paid off Esquinas.

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