“Michael Jordan and I played spades for 36 hours straight”: Antoine Walker shares how he was down $900k in a high-stakes gambling match with the Bulls legend

Antoine Walker recalls how incurably competitive Michael Jordan can get over a game of cards in a recent podcast appearance.

Walker was one of the best shooters in the NBA for a few years with the Boston Celtics. He teamed up with Paul Pierce to form some ‘spooky’ Eastern Conference squads in the early 2000s.

Walker later on joined the Miami Heat as a free agent, with whom he won an NBA championship in 2006. Walker retired from the league in 2008 after a 12-year career, which featured 3 All-Star Game appearances.

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Walker is known for being one of those who live life to the fullest. His misadventures have become the stuff of legend for some people. But even Walker can’t claim to be half as passionate as Jordan when it comes to a game of cards.

Antoine Walker recalls how passionately Michael Jordan played spades with him

In an interview on the All Things Covered podcast, Walker narrative a story that underlines how competitive Jordan was, even at the cards table:

“When Mike calls, the buy-in goes up a little higher. It’s going to be a number that everybody has to bring to the table. I’d say $20,000 just to get in. If you don’t have $20,000 to get in, you can’t even play.”

“Mike was competitive. I remember one time we played spades for 36 hours. We were playing against two other guys and Mike and I were partners. They had us behind $900,000.”

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“I was leaving for Boston in a couple of days so I had about $100,000 cash. I was always a cash person. MJ had about $200,000 on him, but he sent for $500,000. The other guys we played against had money too.”

“They had us down $900,000 and we got back all the money except for $20,000. Mike did not want to see them win $20,000. They ended up winning $180,000 because he got too tired. He was falling asleep at the table.”