Michael Jordan had devised quite a clever tactic to avoid paying money to those who worked under him. On his recent appearance on Broken Play, former NBA player Damon Stoudemire recounted a hilarious incident he witnessed when he was on a plane with Jordan and some people who worked with him.
“Mike was talking so bad to those dudes,” Stoudemire said. “Mike was playing cards with the dudes that work for him. Beating them and telling them, ‘It’s cool, I don’t got to pay you this week.’ That’s how he was.“
(starts at 13:44 mark):
Considering how much Jordan loved those card games and gambling, this isn’t all that surprising. Stoudemire, who was drafted by the Toronto Raptors with the seventh pick in 1995, stated that the Chicago Bulls icon asked him if he wanted to play as well.
As he was just a rookie at the time and didn’t have a lot of money, Stoudemire declined the offer. It was certainly the right decision, as Jordan would have made him pay up.
Michael Jordan Played $1 Blackjack With His Bulls Teammates
Jordan wasn’t the billionaire that he is today when Stoudemire witnessed that scene. Still, he had made a lot of money on and off the court, so why bother gambling on what probably would have been relatively lower amounts?
Well, the answer to that question might be found in another classic story. It was once revealed that Jordan wanted to play $1 blackjack games with Bulls role players, all because he wanted their money in his pocket.
“But the back of the plane was the fiercely competitive high rollers’ room. That’s where you’d most often find Jordan, of course—until he learned of the role players’ $1 blackjack games up front.
“Jordan wanted in. Will Perdue, the Bulls’ 1988 first-rounder, swears by his memory of the following exchange between the Hall of Famer and John Paxson. ‘Why are you even bothering to play with us,’ Paxson asked Michael. Jordan, in his typical competitive fashion, replied, ‘So I can say I have your money in my pocket.'”
Beating people at any sort of game or competition was what Jordan relished, and the money involved was somewhat secondary. He was just crazily competitive and the thrill of winning against someone was what he was addicted to. Jordan just wanted to show that he was the top dog at everything, and was willing to do whatever it took as well.
Michael Jordan Made Almost Four Times More Annually In 2023 Than He Did During His NBA Career
Coming back to the present, Jordan continues to reap the benefits from his partnership with Nike. The Jordan Brand generated $6.6 billion in revenue in 2023 and as per his contract, MJ gets 5% of it as royalty.
That amounts to approximately $330 million, which means Jordan earned nearly four times more annually than what he got in his entire NBA career. His career earnings in the league amounted to around $94 million and he has been making so much more now thanks to this deal with Nike.
It is certainly a candidate for the most successful partnership in the last 40-odd years. Even though he is making so much money, I’d think Jordan would still jump at the chance of making $1 off of someone, being the competitor that he is.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
