"Plus about $600,000 more"- Bulls legend Michael Jordan once made more than a million dollars in a single night after losing half of it before
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is well known to be one of the most competitive athletes of all time. He’s also the wealthiest, with an estimated net worth of around $2 billion as of 2023.
Most of that has come from his post-career business ventures as Jordan retired with career earnings of $93.6 million plus endorsements. However, that didn’t stop Jordan from regularly engaging in high-stakes gambling throughout his life. Instead, Jordan’s competitive nature fueled his love for gambling as he often refused to lose money without putting up a fight.
In an excerpt from Roland Lazenby’s book “Michael Jordan: The Life,” Lazenby recounted a time when Jordan was gambling at a casino in Connecticut. The story goes that Jordan lost $500,000 at a gambling table. Instead of accepting his loss, Jordan refused to leave the casino until he made his money back. So, Jordan stayed up gambling all night, and in the end, he walked away with his $500,000 as well as an additional $600,000 in profit.
“During exhibition season in late October, Leahy’s running account of the comeback tracked Jordan up at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun casino the night before a game," Lazenby wrote.
"Jordan, down $500,000 at the gambling tables, stayed till the sun came up and he had won his money back, plus about $600,000 more, all the while unaware that Leahy was providing a running play-by-play of the event for readers back in D.C."
It was a big win for Jordan. However, like everyone else, he wasn’t always successful with his gambling. He reportedly once lost $5 million in a single craps session in Las Vegas. Luckily for Jordan, it didn’t end up mattering though, given his present-day net worth.
1. Michael Jordan
The @NBA GOAT is a true gambler, betting his friends as much as 100k in paper, scissors, rock. He also reportedly lost $5 million in a single craps session. But don’t feel too bad for MJ, he’s worth in excess of USD$1.6B. @Jumpman23 https://t.co/3AFutcfxMN
Michael Jordan on his history of gambling
Despite Michael Jordan’s well-documented history of gambling, the Hall of Famer has insisted that he has never been addicted to gambling. Instead, he said that he sees it as just another competition. Jordan once spoke in-depth about his reasoning for gambling in an interview with GQ:
“To me, gambling is like going to the edge of a cliff and then calculating what the choices may be,” Jordan said.
“You may push it a step further but never to the point where it endangers you or your wealth or your family. It's a challenge. It's competition. But it's not to a point where you throw all your eggs in one basketror where it's something you need every day.
“I can go days and weeks without gambling. And when I say, ‘OK, I've lost this one,’ I walk away from it. But people say, ‘Oh, he's got a gambling problem.’ No, I don't. I'm a competitor.”
Also read: “Michael Jordan is more interesting than LeBron James” – Colin Cowherd outlines unexplored attribute of 6x NBA champion