Michael Jordan was known to smoke cigars and drink occasionally during his playing days despite his focus on fitness. Even though the Chicago Bulls legend had a reputation of being hard on his teammates, he also allowed them to drink alcohol during training sessions. During his appearance on the Forgotten Seasons podcast, Antoine Walker dived into MJ’s rule regarding drinking.
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Jordan never compromised on having fun, even during the most hectic NBA schedules. But he understood the importance of having healthy limits on fun.
As a result, he instructed Walker and his other practice buddies that they could drink at parties if they wanted to. But under one condition.
Walker said, “One thing I did love about MJ, we always took the weekend off…to do whatever you’ve gotta do…That Monday to Thursday was all about fellowshipping with the guys, working out, getting our bodies together. Even to the point where we drink, he had a rule, ‘We gon’ drink no juice.'”
“All straight, vodka. We ain’t gon’ mess these workouts up,” he added.
The reason why MJ asked everyone to stay away from juice was because of its high sugar content. That could affect his players’ workouts. But Jordan didn’t stop them from drinking or partying as long as everyone adhered to the rules.
Walker said that such elements made their practice sessions special and everyone held each other accountable whenever needed. The 48-year-old also noted that they always gave their everything in practice because they had three days off in the weekend to enjoy family life and time off the court.
Although these practice sessions helped the three-time All-Star to build a rapport with Jordan, there was one instance where he ticked the Bulls legend off by showing up to practice in a flashy sports car.
Antoine Walker’s Ferrari made Michael Jordan flaunt his collection
Michael Jordan is the richest NBA athlete in the world with a net worth of over $3.2 billion. Even when he wasn’t a billionaire during his playing days, Jordan was filthy rich. During a conversation with NBC Sports, Jared Jeffries revealed a story about MJ flaunting his wealth.
He said, “We were in Chicago at [trainer] Tim Grover’s gym. Antoine Walker pulls up in some Ferrari, and he was like he just got it. MJ was like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna bring a different color Ferrari every day this week with a matching Jumpman jumpsuit.’ Bro, he pulled up in a Ferrari with a matching Jumpman jumpsuit for the whole five days we were playing. That’s the kind of swag he had.”
Years ago Antoine Walker showed up to a workout with Michael Jordan by showing off his new Ferrari. So, M.J. one-upped him in the most M.J. way possible.
A great story from Jared Jeffries on the Wizards Talk podcast: https://t.co/QXewImq2XC
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) April 15, 2020
It must’ve been difficult for other players to even attempt to match up to MJ’s swag as no one else had the kind of money that Jordan had.
