Michael Jordan, Who Played Cards On Bulls Plane For Thousands Of Dollars, Asked John Paxson If He Could Play Blackjack With Him For $1 A Hand Because He Wanted To Say ‘I Got Your Money In My Pocket’

The only and only Michael Jordan played cards for a lot of money on Chicago Bulls flights with his NBA teammates. 

Will Perdue, who won three NBA championships with Jordan, said in Episode 6 of “The Last Dance” documentary that Jordan’s life was just one big competition.

Perdue, who was punched in the face by Jordan, said Jordan once asked John Paxson if he could play blackjack with him even though Paxson was only playing for a dollar a hand. 

“Scottie [Pippen], Michael, Ron Harper would play cards in the back of the plane for major money,” Perdue said. “I’m talking thousands of dollars. And me, John Paxson, B.J. Armstrong would play blackjack in the front of the plane for a dollar a hand. He knows that we would never play with him in the back ’cause it’s just too much money, but he would come up to the front, he’s like, ‘What are you guys doing? You mind if I play?’

“I remember John Paxson looking at him and going, ‘Why in the hell do you want to play with us? We’re playing for a dollar a hand.’ I remember he looked at him and goes, ‘Because I wanna say I got your money in my pocket.’”

Jordan loved to gamble with his teammates during his 15-year NBA career. He would mainly bet on the golf course and during card games on the team plane.

Jordan’s gambling became a big story in 1993 after the NBA legend took a limo from New York to Atlantic City and gambled before the Bulls lost Game 2 of the 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks. 

Richard Esquinas, a one-time general manager of the San Diego Sports Arena, also wrote in his book that Jordan owed him more than $1.2 million in gambling debt. 

“Richard Esquinas, we met from a third party,” Jordan said in The Last Dance. “I’m actually playing golf with people all the time now. And if they wanna gamble, we gamble. The character of those individuals, I find out later what kind of people I was playing with, I learned that lesson. 

“But the act of gambling, I didn’t do anything wrong. … I never bet on games. I only bet on myself and that was golf. Do I like to play blackjack? Yeah, I like playing blackjack. There’s no laws with that. And the league did call me and they asked questions about it and I told them exactly what was happening.”

The Bulls went 6-0 in the NBA Finals during the ’90s thanks to Jordan, who averaged 33.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 35 Finals games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz.

Not only did Jordan win all six Finals MVPs for the Bulls, but he also never had to play in a Game 7.

We can’t confirm it since Jordan is extremely private, but odds are he still bets money on golf and card games. After all, his competitive spirit will never die.

Jordan is first in NBA history in points per game, fourth in steals, fifth in field goals and second in player efficiency rating. He holds the NBA record for most points (63) scored in a playoff game. 

Jordan has career averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks with the Bulls and Washington Wizards. He won five MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, six championships, six Finals MVPs, 10 scoring titles and three steals titles with the Bulls.