Former mob boss Michael Franzese has crossed paths with all sorts of characters over the years, and Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan remains one of the most competitive people he has ever met. Franzese, who abandoned the mobster life in the mid-1990s, shared an interesting story about Jordan betting $5 over a table tennis game with former NBA head of security Horace Balmer.
“I was working with the NBA, and I was counseling the guys about gambling and relationships,” Franzese said. “I did a lot, especially a lot of the rookies in the NBA. So, one day we’re at a rookie presentation. We’re relaxing a little bit, right after I gave my speech. So, we’re in a room, and guys are playing pool and sitting down and playing cards, and I’m just talking to everybody.
“And the guy that was the head of the security for the NBA was a guy by the name of Horace Balmer,” Franzese stated. “So, he’s in there, and he’s in a jogging suit, warm-up suit. Michael Jordan is there. He looks at Horace and says, ‘Come on, let’s play table tennis.’ They start to play, and Michael says, ‘We’re going to play for five bucks.’ So, they’re playing table tennis. I’m watching. I’m taking all of this in.
“Michael wins, of course, right?” Franzese continued. “He wins everything. And he goes up to Horace, and he says, ‘Horace, give me my five bucks.’ And Horace says, ‘Well, Michael, I don’t have any money on me. I got a warm-up suit on.’ Michael says, ‘Where’s your money?’ He says, ‘It’s up on my room.’ Michael looks at him and says, ‘Go get it.’ And I’m watching this play out, I’m saying, ‘Is he serious? $5?’
“Horace goes up, comes down, and he’s holding a $5 bill like this, and he hands it to Michael,” Franzese added. “And he says, ‘Mike, five bucks? You make me go off to my room for five bucks.’ I’ll never forget, Michael grabs it out of his hand and holds it in front of his face, saying, ‘This is my trophy. I beat you.’ And takes it, puts it in his pocket, turns around and walks away.”
That might seem a bit much, but that’s classic Jordan right there. He has always been an uber-competitive guy with a great love for gambling. While the gambled amount wasn’t insignificant for Jordan, it was the thrill of winning that mattered more. He wanted to be better than everyone else at everything, and that $5 bill was the trophy to show he had gotten the better of Balmer, who was the head of NBA security from 1985 to 2002.
Had Balmer managed to win, you better believe Jordan would have asked for a rematch. The man once lost $500,000 gambling, but then stayed up all night and ended up winning $600,000. He was never the type to accept defeat easily.
