Despite being known as the greatest player to play the game of basketball, Michael Jordan usually finds himself associated with other sports. Michael, who has made $93 million through contracts in the NBA, owes his riches to the game. He has built a billion-dollar empire through the success and fame he accumulated in the league. Even so, Jordan once downgraded basketball for a sport he claims to feel more strongly about when asked in an interview with ‘Cigar Aficionado’.
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It is common knowledge that Jordan took a couple of years off to play baseball in the prime of his career. Apart from that, Jordan’s famous interests include participating in fishing tournaments and owning a NASCAR team. However, none of the above sports hold a candle to golf, which he vehemently described as an addiction.
Michael Jordan Trumps Golf over Basketball
Even Michael Jordan’s lavish lifestyle is a mere runner-up to his love for golf for the man. Apart from gambling away ridiculous amounts of money in the sport, Michael has even built his own golf course in Florida. Such is his love for the game that in a 2005 interview with the magazine, he exclaimed basketball to be his passion but golf as his addiction. Here is what he told Cigar Aficionado on the matter.
“I have to stay away from it because of it. I wouldn’t say it’s an addiction, but it’s a passion. When you have a passion, you want to do it as much as possible. Addiction means you can’t help yourself. I have a strong passion for the game of basketball.”
“That [golf] addiction. Now, that is an addiction.”
The quote from Michael should not serve as an insult to the basketball fans. In fact, it helps understand the psyche of great athletes who need other interests to keep them sane while playing the same sport on the daily. In fact, even reigning NBA champion Nikola Jokic seems to have the same mindset as he talks about cart racing regularly.
That said, the Joker’s hobbies have never got him in any kind of fiascos just yet. MJ on the other hand, just can’t say the same.
Michael Jordan’s golf addiction landed him in trouble
Michael Jordan’s love for golf has been well-documented by media houses over the years. He is often seen participating in celebrity tournaments and playing on famous golf courses across the country. There was a time when Michael was betting large amounts of money, and it landed him in trouble when he paid a cheque to Slim Bouler.
Jordan got involved with Slim Bouler, a notorious golf hustler, and paid him a cheque of $57,000 for his gambling debt. When the police raided Bouler’s house for illicit substances, they found the cheque given by Michael and he had to appear in court to explain himself.
