Michael Jordan's affinity for golfing (and gambling) is no secret. During a recent interview, Blackhawks great Jeremy Roenick explained how His Airness didn't let little things like his job stop him from doing what he loves.
Roenick told Chicago's McNeil & Parkins Show about the time he played golf with Jordan during the 1992 NBA season. According to Roenick, the two met up to play 36-holes and drink a lot of alcohol despite MJ having a game that night. "'Meet me at Sunset Ridge, early. We’re gonna go play 18 holes,'" Jordan said according to Roenick.
Roenick claimed to have gotten the best of Jordan during the first round, which led MJ to play another 18 holes.
"We played a round, I beat him for a couple thousand and got ready to leave," Roenick said. "Now, the Bulls are playing that night. They played Cleveland that night. I’m thinking he’s leaving, it’s 10 o’clock. He goes, 'No, let’s go play again.'"
Again, Roenick beats Jordan out of a few thousand dollars, but the rounds took so long that Jordan had to leave the course and go directly to the stadium.
"Now we’ve been drinking all afternoon and he’s going from Sunset Ridge to the stadium, to play a game," Roenick said. "I’m messing around. I’m like, 'I’m gonna call my bookie. All the money you just lost to me, I’m putting on Cleveland.'"
Any normal person would've laughed off this joke (or not have consumed alcohol before a game) but Jordan showed his unnatural competitive nature by urging Roenick to place the bet. "He goes, ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll bet you that we’ll win by 20 points and I have more than 40 [points].’ I’m like, ‘Done,'" he continued. "Son of a gun goes out and scores 52 and they win by 26 points or something."
Although Roenick didn't give a specific date for the game, he's very likely talking about March 28, 1992. Jordan didn't score 52, but he did put up 44 against the Cavs en route to a 126-102 victory. This covers the 20 point spread that MJ told Roenick to bet. Chicago then went on to win the NBA championship that year, beating the Portland Trailblazers in six games.
