Michael Jordan won outrageous bet on golf course after drinking ‘ten beers’ hours before NBA game
Michael Jordan once won an outrageous bet on a golf course upon drinking ten beers, according to Jeremy Roenick.
Michael Jordan once won an outrageous bet on a golf course upon drinking ten beers, according to Jeremy Roenick.
NBA great Jordan is known to be partial to a bet, having admitted to placing wagers on everything from golf and cards to minor competitions with team-mates.
And according to NHL Hall of Famer Roenick, Jordan once placed an outrageous bet while playing golf, just hours before his Chicago Bulls side were scheduled to play the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“This was like end of the season for us, end of the season for them,” Roenick recalled to 670 the Score. “I get a call from Michael, ‘meet me at Sunset Ridge early, we’re going to go play 18 holes.
“We didn’t have a game, we actually had a day off. So I meet him at Sunset Ridge… we played a round, beat him for a couple thousand, and I’m getting ready to leave.
“Now, the Bulls are playing that night. They play Cleveland that night. So I’m thinking he’s leaving, it’s 10:00, he’s like, ‘No, let’s go play again.’
“So we fill up a bag full of ice and Coors Light and we walk again. We roll around another 18 and I take him for another couple.
“We’ve been drinking all afternoon. Now he’s going from Sunset Ridge to the stadium to play a game.
“And I’m like messing around, I’m like ‘I’m going to call my bookie, all the money you just lost to me I’m putting on Cleveland tonight.’
Jordan put up 44 to help the Bulls win by 24 against the Cavs in 1992 (Getty)
“He goes ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll bet you that we win by 20 points and I have more than 40.’ I’m like ‘done.’
“Son of a gun goes out, scores 52 and they win by 26 or something… after [36] holes of golf and having maybe 10 Bud Lights. The man, to me, is the best athlete that I’ve ever seen.”
While Roenick claimed Jordan went on to drop 52, winning by 26, the game in question was likely the March 28th, 1992 encounter between the Cavs and Bulls, when Jordan put up 44 to help the Bulls win by 24.
Either way, Jordan still appears to have won the bet
Michael Jordan names the two players he feels are ‘disrespected’ whenever he’s called the GOAT
The Chicago Bulls legend is often hailed as the greatest NBA star of all time.
Michael Jordan is frequently hailed as basketball’s GOAT – but the man himself named two other NBA stars he feels are ‘disrespected’ in the debate.
MJ is often labelled as basketball’s greatest player of all time thanks to his illustrious career on the court, much of which was spent in a legendary spell with the Chicago Bulls.
The now 62-year-old was crowned NBA Champion on six occasions, all of which were won with the Bulls.
Jordan was named the NBA Finals MVP six times and was crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player on five occasions in a career with the Bulls and the Washington Wizards in its latter stages.
Jordan is more than deserving to be a contender as the NBA’s GOAT, as well as fellow modern day legends including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
However, that does not include players who plied their trade on the basketball court before these legends of the past 30 years.
Jordan himself was very much aware of this fact and when the man himself was once asked if he felt he was the greatest basketball player of all time, MJ believed this disrespected two players in particular from before his time who he never had the chance to face on the court.
And the players he named were Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.
Speaking back in 2009 via CBS Sports, Jordan said: “I don’t want it in a sense because I think it disrespects Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West — you know all the guys that prior to me I never had a chance to play against.
“What everybody is saying I am, I never had the chance to compete against other legends that was prior to me.
“When I hear it, I cringe a little bit because it’s a little bit embarrassing because no one knows. I never had the chance to, once again, to play against those guys.
“I would love to have played against them but I never did. And for you to say that I’m better than him … I mean it’s your opinion; it’s their opinion. I accept that as their opinion.
“If you ask me, I would never say that I am the greatest player. That’s because I never played against all the people that represented the league prior to Michael Jordan.”
Michael Jordan picked two NBA legends who came before him. Image: Getty
Chamberlain became NBA Champion twice in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers and in 1972 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
West meanwhile became an NBA Champion along with Chamberlain as a teammate at the Lakers in 1972.