Michael Jordan is an exceptional man. He has made a name for himself as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, players in the entire world. The former Bulls superstar and 6-time NBA Champion, MJ was haunted perhaps by only one addiction. His habit of gambling got him in a lot of trouble. He once allegedly owed a man $1.2 million in golfing bets debt. In fact, Juanita Vanoy had to write multiple checks to cover one such golf gambling debt of her husband.
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In Last Dance, Michael Jordan and his love for gambling was made clear to the younger generation. However, the docuseries failed to show the entirety of his problem.
Behind the visible iceberg in the Last Dance, there was a huge chunk of stories that was hidden underneath. One such story was from the time Michael’s ex-wife Juanita wrote a few hefty checks to Ricard Esquinas.
Juanita Vanoy wrote checks for Jordan’s gambling debt
In his book, Michael Jordan: The Life, Roland Lazenby, the author of the book, wrote in detail about Esquinas and Michael. One story that stood out, however, was the one where Juanita got involved in the entire fiasco.
Esquinas had alleged that Michael Jordan owed him about $1.2 million from golf gambling debts. But Jordan refused to pay his golfing partner so much money and brought down the wager to some $900,000 after winning a few hundred thousand back.
Jordan later paid Esquinas back some $200 to $300k back but the checks were written by his then-wife, Juanita.
Roland: “Esquinas’s days with Jordan, however, had come to an end. They would continue to wrangle over the golfing losses, with various estimates suggesting that Jordan paid somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, some of it in a series of $50,000 checks written by Juanita Jordan. Esquinas would bide his time, plotting a way to bring the matter to Jordan’s attention one final time.”
Michael Jordan had a gambling addiction
Simply put, Jordan had a major gambling addiction. He liked wagering away his money. After it became difficult for him to go to his family as an escape due to James and Deloris’s fighting, he quickly turned to gambling.
He began to indulge in some very big bets. In fact, his bet with Esquinas wasn’t small either. But it must be remembered that Esquinas was just one of the people Michael Jordan played and gambled with.
