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- Michael Jordan is notorious for being a highly competitive gambler.
- There were some reported instances where Jordan allegedly cheated to win random prop bets.
- Scottie Pippen said Jordan cheated on some bets, but won others through reputational advantages.
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Michael Jordan is notorious for being a competitive gambler and has even been accused of cheating to win random prop bets.
Jordan's former Chicago Bull teammate Scottie Pippen said Jordan has cheated on some bets and won others through purchased or reputational advantages during an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show.
"I will say that he cheated on a few of his bets," Pippen said.
Pippen did not give any specific examples of when Jordan cheated. However, some instances have been reported that Pippen could be referring to.
Jordan allegedly bet Pippen $100 on the outcome of pre-recorded animated Bull races during games on the Chicago Stadium jumbotron. However, Jordan would ask the Bulls' operations staff before each game which color bull would win the race that night. They would tell him, and then Jordan would use this information to trick Pippen into a losing bet, according to Amin Elhassan of ESPN.
One of Jordan's most random gambling ventures reportedly came at airports in between road games. He would apparently bet his teammates hundreds of dollars on who's luggage would get pulled out first by airport staff, according to a story by Bill Simmons in ESPN The Magazine.
Pippen disputed a report that Jordan bribed luggage handlers but did say that Jordan gave himself a unique advantage in the race to get his luggage pulled out first.
"Michael Jordan had his own beautiful bags," Pippen said. "At this time, we didn't have team bags, so when you saw a bag come off and it had a Jumpman on it, I'm sure for the guys working at the airport, that was the first bag they grabbed. So he had an advantage, but I don't think it was something he intentionally did. It was just a knowing thing that he knew people were going to jump on his bag."
Jordan has also been accused of gaining illegitimate advantages on the golf course.
His own exclusive golf club, The Grove XXIII, has a unique design layout that makes playing difficult for opposing golfers, professional golfer Rickie Fowler explained during an interview with Golf.com.
"The shorter you hit it, the wider it is," Fowler said. "He can basically hit driver on all the par 4, par 5s. And if I want to hit driver, I have to kind of put it into a bit of a tighter spot. I can obviously play back if I want, but that becomes a little bit of a disadvantage, especially if it's a hole where he's getting a stroke on."
The layout gives Jordan a huge advantage when playing for money against professional golfers.