Michael Jordan won back $900K deficit in 36-hour spade marathon, reveals ex-champion

Michael Jordan's competitiveness is well known not just on the basketball court but in any other sport or hobby.

Michael Jordan won back $900K deficit in 36-hour spade marathon, reveals ex-champion

Michael Jordan was part of a 36-hour spade marathon

Michael Jordan did not become one of the greatest NBA players ever, just off his athletic or basketball skills. The drive to compete has always been the biggest motivating factor for any great athlete in any form of sports.

Tales of Jordan’s competitiveness are part of NBA folklore. Many players have talked about how he used to bring out that drive in almost anything in life. Whether it was in his hobby, golf, where that drive has seen him trash talk top ranked golfers.

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Or against other NBA stars of his era, who could not ignore his competitiveness, especially after anyone attempted to trash talk to him. Many legends have been humbled after they tried to get into his mind. They did not know how those mind games fueled Jordan.

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By the time his opponents figured it out, it was too late. His drive to compete was also evident in other past times such as gambling or while playing cards. Antoine Walker was speaking with the panel of Run it Back, where he revealed how one card game went down.

We got into this heated spade gambling game. We got a million dollars cash and we playing spades. 36 straight hours of it. They had us down $900K. We get all the money back, except $30K. Michael Jordan is such a competitor, he was like, ‘I don’t want to see them with that’.

Antoine Walker said

Michael Jordan’s competitiveness brought him and Antoine Walker back from a $900K deficit to just $30K. To reach that number, they played 36 hours straight. The Chicago Bulls legend is known for his freak of nature abilities, but the Run it Back panel were stunned listening to this.

36-hour spade marathon forced media to wait for NBA return announcement

Michael Jordan gathered Antoine Walker and others to play this game of spades as the last fun event they would have before everyone returned to training camp. But at the time, His Airness was not playing basketball after he retired for the second time after the 1997-98 season.

But Walker revealed during that discussion that the Bulls great was about to make an announcement to the press. It was about another return to play basketball. Considering how great Jordan is, media personnel had arrived at their stipulated slot.

But at the time, this group was still playing spades. Walker revealed that the media waited at a gym until the game of spade was over. He also talked about the situation becoming a mess. Which means media personnel were getting angsty about having to wait that long for Jordan to announce his return to the NBA.

Michael Jordan returned to play for the Washington Wizards

At the time of this 36-hour spade marathon, Michael Jordan had already established himself as the greatest NBA player. But Antoine Walker talked about his return from retirement. Third time around, it was not with the Chicago Bulls.

Rather, it was with the Washington Wizards. He was already a part owner and the President of Basketball Operations. But now, he was returning to play for the team that had struggled mightily. He believed his drive would help influence his teammates to step up a level.

That tactic did not work as the Washington Wizards struggled mightily. The 6-time NBA Finals MVP was great, but the team struggled to win. Two seasons of identical below .500 records and Jordan retired for the third time.

Then team owner Abe Pollin fired the Jordan and offered him a blank cheque to leave the team. But apparently the situation ticked the North Carolina native, and he left the facilities after firing some expletives at Pollin.