“Michael Jordan cashed in a $5 check after losing several times at pool”: Bulls legend lucked out while gambling against friends during his UNC days

Michael Jordan gambled away his earnings while playing pool with his friends at UNC and was left with merely a $5 check. 

Michael Jordan was built up to be an All-American hero type of a figure during his prime with the Chicago Bulls. His excellence on the court was perceived as something that could be translated off it as well, making him a global superstar. However, like every other human, Jordan too had his own faults that, unfortunately, projected to the rest of the world. 

Perhaps the biggest ‘flaw’ that was associated with Michael Jordan throughout his career was his gambling antics. Jordan could not stand to lose, as evident by the plethora of stories that exist about him going above and beyond to win at any and everything.

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Whether it was vowing to destroy Christian Laettner at table tennis or getting back at Chuck Daly during a morning’s round of golf, MJ knew that he had to be in the uppermost echelon of frankly anything. 

Couple his competitive spirit with the chance to win or lose money and you’ve got yourself a handful with Michael. 

Michael Jordan would lose a pool bet and walk away with $5. 

Michael Jordan has placed bets that go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars but everybody’s got to start somewhere. That ‘somewhere’ would be during his days at the University of North Carolina where he played pool against a couple friends of his.

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This was back in 1984 and Jordan was up to a hefty $25 while betting his billiards skills against his friends. However, after winning several times over, MJ’s opponent’s friend stepped in and proceeded to return the favor to Jordan. 

‘His Airness’s’ earnings from the day would dwindle down to a measly $5. He would bow out and take these $5 before losing that as well. 

Instead of giving Jordan the fiver, his friend instead asked if he could write him a check. MJ obliged and cashed in the check. The reason for why a check was used was to have proof of transaction as the friend knew perhaps knew Michael Jordan would be a big enough name in the future to garner some money off the check. 

Sure enough, an auction in 2019 put this same $5 check up for grabs.