“Sorry for the embarrassment” – Michael Jordan gave ex-wife HUGE $100,000 cheques to compensate for mistakes

Michael Jordan used to repay his ex-wife Juanita Vanoy his gambling losses.

“Sorry for the embarrassment” – Michael Jordan gave ex-wife HUGE $100,000 cheques to compensate for mistakes

Juanita Vanoy and Michael Jordan (Image via Twitter)

Michael Jordan is undoubtedly the best or one of the best players ever to touch a basketball. Most basketball fans even consider him the G.O.A.T. He was the first global superstar of the league and the reason behind their widespread. 

One of the most intriguing aspects of Jordan’s legendary career was his involvement in gambling. Jordan was known to wager on anything from golf to cards to dice, sometimes with high stakes and shady characters. He denied having a gambling problem, but some speculated that his first retirement in 1993 was influenced by his gambling habits and not by his father’s tragic death.

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However, Jordan never admitted to any wrongdoing or addiction and maintained that he gambled for fun and within his means. He also claimed that he never bet on basketball or anything that would compromise his integrity as an athlete.

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Surprisingly, even Jordan had some weird double standards for his gambling losses, as the biggest and most formidable competitor who hates losing used to repay his gambling losses to his then-wife Juanita Vanoy. In an interview with Connie Chung in 1993, he revealed how he compensated the losses for the embarrassment to his ex-wife.

Jordan said, “You know, whatever I have lost… About 108, 55 or whatever I have lost, I have always given it back to my wife. So whatever cheque I make, here honey, I am sorry for the embarrassment. I am sorry for what I have caused for losing this amount of money. Here take it and do what you have to do with it. I have wasted it. So this is yours, this is the kids, this is for whatever.”

Related: “Model will receive $1 Million for each year married” Michael Jordan learned his lesson from his $168 Million divorce with Juanita Vanoy

Michael Jordan on having a gambling problem

Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan (Via Getty Images)

Jordan, to this day, denies having any gambling problems. And the story was very similar during the 1993 interview. When questioned about having a gambling problem, he said, “No, because I can stop gambling. I have a competition problem. A competitive problem.” 

Jordan’s current net worth is around $2 billion. And he is still out there betting, gambling, and playing on his luck. But his generational wealth is away, safe, and protected from the losses. 

Michael Jordan’s very well aware of his actions and lately hasn’t been involved in any controversies due to his gambling habit. So he wasn’t wrong while claiming himself to be a competitor and not an addicted gambler in 1993.

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