‘Michael Jordan cheated on his bets, but didn’t bribe airport security’: Scottie Pippen Dismisses The Notion That The NBA GOAT Paid Off Baggage Handlers To Win A Wager
Michael Jordan was an incredibly competitve player, and according to Scottie Pippen it resulted in him cheating on bets.
Jordan’s past is decorated with on-court stories of him winning and becoming the greatest basketball player ever, but there was a whole other side to Jordan off-the-court that only enhanced his legacy.
His trash talking and mind games with his opponents are some of the greatest sports stories you’ll hear, but he also used to place many bets with everyone around him, for anything and everything, even baggage claims.
“So Michael would you like a bet, a little wager?” ⛳️👀
Gary Lineker’s story about playing golf with Michael Jordan and Samuel L Jackson at Sunningdale is brilliant! 😂👏https://t.co/UO7jpNWzfK
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) May 15, 2020
Michael Jordan Once Placed A Bet That Wasn’t Fixed According To Scottie Pippen, Even Though He Cheated Otherwise
The Bulls were once heading to Portland, Oregon to take on the Trailblazers during a regualr season game. Unable to help himself, Jordan had to make a wager with his teammates when they arrived.
The stakes were set. The first bag out of the baggage claim was going to be Jordan’s with the reward being a $100.
And well, lo and behold, the first bag out was indeed Jordan’s. On the Bill Simmons podcast, Simmons said that the entire ordeal was fixed, however. He claimed that Jordan had bribed some baggage handlers after stepping off the plane to ensure that he could win the bet.
Even for Jordan’s competitiveness, that seems like he took a little too far to reach his goals. And, well, apparently it was a stretch. Scottie Pippen would later reveal that Jordan hadn’t done anything of the sort.
However, Pippen did also say that Jordan did use to cheat on some bets, manipulating the odds to his favor to prove that he was the winner always as he’d say:
“I’m going to go against that [version of events]. Michael Jordan had his own beautiful bags,” Pippen said. “At this time, we didn’t have team bags, so when you saw a bag come off and it had a Jumpman on it, I’m sure for the guys working at the airport, that was the first bag they grabbed. So he had an advantage, but I don’t think it was something he intentionally did. It was just a knowing thing that he knew people were going to jump on his bag. ”
But:
“I will say that he cheated on a few of his bets”
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