Michael Jordan once took casino chips from Charles Barkley to bet on blackjack and ended up winning big.

Credit: Fadeaway World

Michael Jordan had a love of gambling that many people have brought up over his career, but no one could stop the Bulls star. Cedric the Entertainer revealed that he was once in a casino with Jordan and Charles Barkley, with Jordan taking nearly $300,000 worth of chips from Barkley to play blackjack.

“I’m on the roulette table with Charles (Charles Barkley), you know? He doing good too, he is up like $600,000 or something at the time. He got a bunch of chips on the table… MJ (Michael Jordan) walks in, grabs a bunch of Charles’s chips, and walks off!”

Cedric then revealed that Jordan would return Barkley’s chips to him in about 30 minutes, revealing that he had made a profit of about $300,000 in that time.

“Charles was like, ‘Man! Bro, how much was that?!’. MJ was like, ‘Does it matter? Like it doesn’t matter dog, you know I got you!’ He went over there, he started gambling. He started playing blackjack, came back about 30 minutes later, gave him all his chips, [and] say ‘I’m up $300,000 over here man, I’m good!’”

Michael Jordan absolutely loves gambling, having previously said that competition fuels him, and gambling on it adds to the thrill. Even though many assume Jordan’s NBA career was sidetracked by his gambling habits, his winning record proves that he rarely let his affinity for gambling spill over onto the court.

Jordan is a supreme competitor and always looking for ways to beat people. Everyone who watched ‘The Last Dance’ has seen the clip of how Jordan used to get fiercely competitive even with Bulls’ security guards, so it’s abundantly clear that betting gives Jordan a thrill that not many things could replicate.

Michael Jordan Once Spent All Night Gambling To Recover $500,000 In Loss

Michael Jordan has plenty of money, being known for being the richest NBA player during his playing days, and is currently the richest basketball player ever with a net worth of over $3 billion.

Jordan’s gambling habit has never been about the money, but about winning. This is exemplified through a story about Jordan revealed by Roland Lazenby, who claims Jordan once spent all night in a casino to recover $500,000.

“During exhibition season in late October, Leahy’s running account of the comeback tracked Jordan up at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun casino the night before a game. Jordan, down $500,000 at the gambling tables, stayed till the sun came up, and he had won his money back, plus about $600,000 more, all the while unaware that Leahy was providing a running play-by-play of the event for readers back in D.C.”

These gambling stories reflect the incredible winning drive Jordan became well-known for on the NBA court. While he had to tackle some unsavory media attention for his gambling habit, Jordan expertly navigated through it and realized his potential as the greatest NBA player in history.