Michael Jordan Saw Bulls Teammates Drink Beers, Smoke Cigarettes At Halftime: ‘They Was Getting The Cigarettes From The Coaches’

In Episode 6 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries, NBA legend Michael Jordan said he saw Chicago Bulls teammates drink beers and smoke cigarettes at halftime when he first joined the team. 

The Bulls drafted Jordan with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. Many of Jordan’s teammates drank and smoked a lot. 

“Aye, if they go back 10 years ago, you’d see half the brothers drinking a case at halftime,” Jordan said. “When I first joined the team, they was drinking beers at half and smoking a cigarette. And you know what? Shit, they was getting the cigarettes from the coaches.”

During Jordan’s first couple of years with the Bulls, he played with guys who did a lot of drugs and partied a lot. In Episode 1 of “The Last Dance,” Jordan spoke about walking into a hotel room filled with girls and drugs once. 

“I had one event,” Jordan said. “Preseason, I think we were in Peoria. It was in a hotel. So I’m trying to find my teammates. So I started knocking on doors. I get to this one door, and I knock on the door, and I can hear someone says, ‘Shh, someone’s outside,’ And then you hear this deep voice says, ‘Who is it?’ I says, ‘MJ.’ And then they all say, ‘Ah fu*k, he’s just a rookie. Don’t worry about it.’

“So they open up the door. I walk in and practically the whole team was in there. And it was like things I’ve never seen in my life, you know, as a young kid. You got your lines over here. You got your weed smokers over here. You got your women over here.

“So the first thing I said, ‘Look man. I’m out.’ Because all I could think about is if they come and raid this place right about now, I am just as guilty as everybody else that’s in this room. And from that point on, I was more or less on my own.”

Bulls management slowly but surely cleaned the roster up and surrounded Jordan with more professionals, allowing the franchise to turn into a dynasty. 

Jordan had two stints with the Bulls. He won five MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, 10 scoring titles, six championships and six Finals MVPs.

Chicago went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice in the Jordan era. 

The Bulls won titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz (twice). 

Jordan finished his NBA career with averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists with the Bulls and Washington Wizards. He’s first in NBA history in points per game and player efficiency rating.