Shooting skills like those of NBA players are hard to come by. It takes years of practice before an athlete propels themselves to that level. For O. J. Mayo, the product of his hard work was invaluable, but he liked making some extra money on the side using his talent.
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During a recent Run It Back show appearance, former NBA star Michael Carter-Williams revealed how his former teammate once made $50,000. The two played together for the Milwaukee Bucks during Williams’ short stint with the franchise. He said that when they were in Chicago once where he found out about Mayo’s side hustle.
Williams recalled asking his teammate what his plans were for the day. He told him that he was about to go into the city. When asked if he’s going for something specific, to his surprise, Mayo responded, “I’m about to go just shoot for some bread.” The surprise didn’t end there for Williams.
He saw Mayo come back with a duffle bag and he had $50k in his bag. That’s a lot of money even for some NBA stars, especially when they claim it has come from ‘shooting for some bread.’ Williams said, “I’m like, ‘Yo, you won all that just off…just shots at the gym?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re all just in there.’”
. @mcarterwilliams witnessed O.J. Mayo run up $50K in Chicago like it was nothing…
and then leave a duffel bag, full of cash, on the team bus like there was nothing in it 🤑 pic.twitter.com/lR8LENosfJ
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) November 20, 2024
While Mayo must’ve worked really hard to make that $50k, he was very careless with the money earned. Williams revealed that the former NBA star left the duffle bag on the bus when the team went for practice. He said “But that’s OJ” to outline that none of it was unusual for his former teammate.
O.J. Mayo once trash-talked Michael Jordan
There are numerous athletes in the game who can attest to the claim that it was never a good idea to trash-talk Michael Jordan. The Bulls legend has made athletes regret their words in the past. However, Mayo, who was only a high school athlete during the 2005-06 Jordan camp, dared to talk trash to MJ.
Mayo said “You can’t guard me” and ended up getting schooled by the six-time NBA Champion. During a conversation with NBA 2K14, MJ said, “Finally, I just said, ‘Look dude, you might be the best high school player, but I’m the best player in the world. So from this point on, it’s a lesson.’ And from that point on, it was a lesson. He never won a game, I posted him up, I did everything.”
Jordan believes that whatever he said was not trash talk as he was simply stating the facts. This comes from MJ’s supreme confidence in himself as a player that proved himself time and time again on the world’s biggest stage. Mayo on the other hand, was a relatively inexperienced high schooler who was hungry for more. In hindsight, Mayo’s mentality is perfect for a player of that age. Being hungry and wanting to go at the best lies at the core of what makes a winning basketball player.
