Michael Jordan will go down in NBA history as one of the greatest players of all time, a man who won everything in the league and revolutionized the game of basketball. Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that he is worth $3 billion in 2023.
Even though he was one of the most competitive players in the league, in his early years he didn’t seem to value winning as much as he did during his dynasty with the Chicago Bulls.
A video recently surfaced showing Jordan playing cards after being swept by the Boston Celtics in the playoffs in the mid-1980s, looking delighted as he won.
“This is a winner. I got paid. I got 30 million. It’s fun! … We just lost to the Boston Celtics, but I won!” Michael Jordan in video via NBA StatGuy said.
In addition to his love of basketball, Jordan also loved playing cards. He never misses an opportunity to play with teammates and friends before and after games. He spent a lot of money playing cards and gambling, but he still seemed very happy.
When Michael Jordan set NBA playoff record Celtics
In his early years in the league, Michael Jordan was part of a mediocre Chicago team that barely made the playoffs. Even though Jordan was the leader of the team, the Bulls were not on the same level as the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons or other teams.
So it’s no surprise that they were swept by Larry Bird and the Celtics in consecutive seasons (1986, 1987), despite Jordan’s impressive numbers in both series.
In 1986, Jordan averaged 22.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 rebounds per game, but these numbers were not enough to compete with Bird (28.3 points, 8.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds) and the Celtics.
However, Michael Jordan put in an outstanding performance in Game 2 of the series, scoring 63 points to set an NBA playoff scoring record.
A year later, the two teams met again, and Boston once again swept Chicago, although Jordan became the regular season scoring leader with 37.1 points per game.
In this series, he averaged 35.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, but the Celtics won all three games. In both years, Boston was the No. 1 seed in the East, while Chicago was No. 8.
Since then, the Bulls have become a strong contender in the Eastern Conference and won six championships in the 1990s (1991-1993, 1996-1998). Michael Jordan also won the Finals MVP six times.
Jordan played 56 games for the Celtics in his career, averaging 30.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.