Drake, who once won $40 million gambling recalls beating Michael Jordan in ping pong

Michael Jordan is known for his exploits in gambling where he channels his competitive spirit which even impressed rapper Drake.

Drake, who once won $40 million gambling recalls beating Michael Jordan in ping pong

Michael Jordan and Drake gambled in ping pong

Michael Jordan was not just the greatest basketball player ever. He was also a competitor by nature, which meant, he would look to compete in anything and everything he was a part of. That nature has added on to his legacy of being one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Even though he has left the game of basketball more than two decades ago, he still wants to compete. His usual space to renew that competitiveness is golf. Some world champions have been humbled, not necessarily by his golfing skills, but his trash talk, as he refuses to give up.

YouTube video

That drive also saw him try and recover almost $900K in a game of spades. For someone who at the time was the richest basketball player, he could have walked away. But he went head on for thirty-six straight hours to win back that money. Rapper Drake has another story concerning His Airness and that drive to win.

FS Video

All-Star weekend Toronto, and he had an event. I beat him at ping pong a couple of times, and he just wouldn’t leave the ping pong table. Like he kept stepping up the bet, like 10 bands, 20 bands. Kept at it, because he couldn’t stomach the loss. He’s definitely not a quitter.

Drake said

The rapper saw firsthand the competitive spirit of Michael Jordan. The incident took place at the 2016 NBA All-Star weekend in Toronto. That means, Drake was playing a 53-year-old Jordan. Even then, he was not ready to quit and kept upping the bet by $10k per round, just because he could not stomach a defeat.

Michael Jordan’s exploits at gambling

Gambling and Michael Jordan are synonymous. The six-time NBA champion built up a reputation as a compulsive gambler from his early days. Stories are aplenty about how he would push others to gamble with him, only for them to lose a lot of money.

On the other hand, he has had some gambling partners, most notably Charles Barkley. Jordan’s relentless desire to keep winning rubbed off on his then best friend. Barkley has mellowed down a lot nowadays considering he could not keep up with the losses unlike the billionaire Jordan.

But having money is not an excuse to why His Airness would take such a keen interest in gambling. His competitive drive was such that he had to have another outlet. Else it does not explain why he would play cards or something like that for hours on end. Other players would quit out of exhaustion, but he wouldn’t.

Drake also won a considerable amount of money in gambling

Michael Jordan might be the most famous competitive gambler in sporting history. But Drake is almost in a similar stature when it comes to musicians. Of course there are many others who gamble, but the amount Drake won in one sitting probably takes the cake.

The biggest win I ever had, I was in Dave & Buster’s. I was getting this random girl to call roulette numbers, I hit like eight out of ten numbers. I think by the end of the night we had won $40 million. The craziest night gambling ever, January 2024.

Drake said

Winning $40 million on one sitting at a roulette table is unreal. The Canadian rapper probably did not believe his luck when he won eight out of ten numbers. Such luck does not usually happen to anyone playing roulette. In fact, people have lost millions playing roulette considering how varied its results are.