Michael Jordan once had to testify in court that he had indeed written a $57,000 check to Slim Bouler after a lost golf bet.
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Michael Jordan wanted everybody to know during his playing career that he was not perfect. While the caption ‘Be Like Mike’ popularized him beyond control across the world, it painted him in a light that showed he could do no wrong. However, like all humans and especially those constantly in the limelight he most certainly could.
Gambling was the one ‘flaw’ on Jordan’s resume that could be dug up at any time and used against him. Despite the fact that putting money on mundane activities isn’t a crime in the slightest, it ruined the prestige of Michael Jordan in many people’s eyes, for some inane reason.
The gambling got so excessive however that two major events in his life that most certainly were not related to it, unfortunately were.
His father’s passing was twisted into an unpaid gambling debt and his departure from the league in 1993 was seen as a secret suspension from David Stern due to his gambling habits.
Michael Jordan lost $57,000 in a golf bet.
‘Slim’ Bouler once scammed Michael Jordan out of $57,000 after losing a golf bet. However, Bouler couldn’t exactly revel in his ‘successes’ as he was convicted of money laundering, leading to him having to pay the government $194,730.
Jordan would be called to testify in an 8-minute court appearance that saw him confess that he had sent Bouler the $57,000 as a check after losing at golf against him.
“Slim” Bouler, the guy who won $57,000 from Michael Jordan, was from Charlotte, who played pro golf for eight years.
At the time, MJ cut the check to him, he was the owner of a Charlotte-based golf equipment store.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 4, 2020
This wouldn’t be the last time that Michael Jordan would be involved in a golf bet that resulted in widespread media attention. Days before the 1993 NBA Finals, a golfing friend of his, Richard Esquinas, released a book titled ‘Michael and Me: Our Gambling Addiction….My Cry for Help!’
In the book, Esquinas wrote about how MJ owed him $1.2 million in lost golf bets. Jordan would claim that the total was merely $908,000, bring it down to $300,000, and eventually pay $200,000. When talking about him, Michael said, “I felt betrayed by this individual. I don’t consider him a friend, because friends don’t do this to other friends.”
