Michael Jordan indulged in a slew of hobbies for the sake of competition. Did he really like table tennis or was he just trying to one-up Christian Laettner and Howard White? Did he really like tossing coins against walls was he just trying to beat his security guards? Well, one hobby of his that he most certainly has been enjoying for close to 4 decades now is golf. So much so that he’s put hundreds of thousands on the line while playing it, even getting wrapped up a $57,000 controversy in 1991/92.
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Charles Barkley confirmed that he would respectfully bow out of any golfing bets with Jordan because of the fact that he would bet as much as he did. ‘Slim’ Bouler, a notorious hustler, would even receive a check from MJ worth $57,000 that MJ would have to testify for in court in 1992, ‘7 years’ before 1999.
Michael Jordan admitted to playing 81 holes of golf
Michael Jordan retired for the second time of his career after winning his 6th championship in 8 years in 1998. After Jerry Krause refused to bring Phil Jackson back as the head coach, MJ left the NBA with the 1998-99 season being his first year into his second retirement.
Jordan would consistently appear on the ‘Tonight Show With Jay Leno’ throughout the mid to late 90s and his closed off the millennium with another appearance in 1999. Here, Leno would ask ‘His Airness’ what he was up to now that he was retired.
“I just got back from Ireland and Scotland; I was there for about 10 days. At least 54 [holes] a day. One day I played 81 holes in a day. I don’t have a job, what else can I do,” said MJ on the Tonight Show.
Michael has been very vocal about his love for golf over the decades, even calling it an addiction at times. He’s participated in professional tournaments in his free time and has built himself his own golf course in Florida called ‘Grove 23’
Michael Jordan was offended by Jay Leno’s question
Michael Jordan had been retired for 7 years when he decided to grace the audience at the Tonight Show in 2010. When doing so, he was asked by Jay Leno if he can still dunk while being 47 years old and not having played professionally since 2003.
Jordan immediately asked Leno if he’s stupid and told him that he could still dunk the basketball. This was clearly a touchy subject for the 6x champion but was also a fairly uneducated question from Leno.
