NBA great Michael Jordan’s fondness for gambling is often said to be a result of his competitive nature. Always willing to make bets, MJ was known to make a ton with his teammates and coaching staff about a range of events. Sometimes, this includes $2 or $5 bets on shots that he would take during training. According to The Jordan Rules, the Chicago Bulls star would often remind his coach about insignificant amounts of money that they owed him, even weeks after winning the bets.
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Michael Jordan had once become obsessed about beating then-Nike executive Howard White at ping pong. White had revealed that he was better than MJ at the game. This led to Jordan buying a ping pong table for his home after which he forced his guests to play the game in order to get better. He eventually succeeded and was said to have gotten much better at ping pong.
Michael Jordan’s competitiveness was apparent even before he won his first NBA title
It was in 1991 that MJ won his first NBA title. However, the player was known to be highly competitive right from the start. According to Lazenby’s book, he would place random bets with teammates and coaching staff during training.
MJ would often be willing to bet about a range of events. This included him taking shots for $5 each. While his teammates might forget, Jordan would eventually bring up the insignificant amounts of money even weeks later:
“He’d make bets with players and assistants throughout practice on free throws, shots from odd positions, just about anything. Sometimes, before games, he’d sit on the bench and attempt shots sitting for $5 each. And he’d always collect. “Sometimes he’ll come to me,” says Bach, “and he’ll say, ‘Coach, you know you still owe me two dollars.’ And it would be from some free throws he’d hit in practice a month ago.”
Always looking to collect his winnings, MJ obviously did not care about the money. Instead, he was addicted to winning, and his competitive spirit meant that he would always remind the losers of how much they owed him.
Of course, he eventually increased the scope of his bets, and was known to bet thousands of dollars over pre-recorded Jumbotron races he already knew the outcomes to. MJ eventually was able to translate this competitive spirit into NBA titles, going up against Magic Johnson’s LA Lakers in the 1991 NBA finals.
Michael Jordan’s winning addiction was once talked about by Will Smith
Will Smith, during his appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, spoke about his relationship with Michael. Smith revealed that he had engaged in random bets with MJ, and hand-hung out with him multiple times.
Speaking about his and Tiger Woods’ betting habits, Smith revealed that the two were utterly competitive. Smith said that the two would be willing to compete and bet on any imaginable event.
This included mundane events such as racing each other while drinking water. Always looking to win, Smith claimed that MJ would only engage in bets if he believed he had a good chance of winning.
