An Introduction
Ever wonder why the most successful basketball player in NBA history decided to retire in the prime of his career? During the 1990s, there was no star in American sports quite like Michael Jordan. He was widely considered to be one of the most popular athletes in the world while also having an enormous cultural impact throughout the United States. At the time of his early retirement, “Jordan was only 30 years.... He was healthy and seemed to be at his professional peak. Four months earlier the Bulls had won their third-straight title” (McCann). Many people couldn’t help but wonder why Jordan would retire so suddenly before his eventual return to basketball. This paper will dive into the conspiracies surrounding Michael Jordan’s early retirement from the NBA such as his alleged gambling problem, the murder of his father, and how all of the conspiracies spiraling during that time weighed on his mental health.
Did Micheal Jordan Really Retire Early on His Own Terms?
Michael Jordan first began receiving criticism about potential gambling problems during the 1993 playoff series against the New York Knicks. After a loss to the Knicks in Game One Jordan “checked into Bally's Grand at 5:07 that afternoon according to a hotel employee, checked out at 11:05 P.M., was seen in the casino as late as 2:30 A.M., returned to New York and was on the Garden court for a midmorning shootaround, 10 hours before Tuesday night's game” (Anderson). This was the first time the national media had seriously talked about Michael Jordan gambling and it would not be the last. According to Dave Anderson, a writer for the New York Times in 1993, “Jordan reportedly lost $5,000 playing blackjack in a private area in the baccarat pit, but that's not the issue. If he had won $5,000, it still wouldn't justify his being a two-hour limo ride from the Bulls' midtown New York hotel at 2:30 the morning of a big game” (Anderson). Anderson was implying that the money lost or won didn’t really matter. What mattered was the fact that Michael Jordan did not seem to be focused on the series with the Knicks in the public’s eyes. Jordan did not necessarily do anything wrong and it ended up having no outcome on the series; however, that night gambling would still somehow taint Jordan’s reputation which seemed to be flawless for so long.
Fast forward a couple months and Michael Jordan had won his 3rd straight championship when a book titled, “Michael & Me: Our Gambling Addiction . . . My Cry For Help!” (Wojciechowski) stained Jordan’s reputation further. In this book, the author Richard Esquinas claimed “that he and Jordan wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes adding up to more than $1 million, during the course of their four-year relationship, which included more than 110 rounds of golf” (Wojciechowski). This information about Michael Jordan’s gambling habits was an enormous deal considering the implications that surrounded athletes and gambling throughout history. Throughout the history of sports, every major sports league in America has dealt with athletes gambing on games and throwing games (losing on purpose) to win money. For athletes who choose to gamble in sports, the common theme is that the punishments are extremely severe. Many sports fans know about Pete Rose essentially being banned from the MLB and the Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling and even athletes today like Calvin Ridley receive very harsh punishment for gambling on games. Ridley is a receiver for the Atlanta Falcons who got caught gambling on games this year and has received a very harsh punishment in the form of a long term suspension because of it. Where this all ties together with Michael Jordan is that he retired for nearly two years in the prime of his career shortly after the world caught wind of his gambling habits. Because Jordan was the biggest star in basketball at the time and essentially the face of the NBA, “[a]s the (uncorroborated) theory goes, the NBA was concerned about Jordan’s gambling ties and wanted him to take a break. Jordan ‘voluntarily’ stepping away would serve as a face-saving measure for all involved” (McCann). This is a theory that is certainly reasonable to bring up considering the timing that all of these events happened. However, there is another side to the story that has nothing to do with gambling.
During the same summer that Michael Jordan was celebrating his third straight championship, tragedy struck the Jordan family in an unimaginable way. That same summer, “James Jordan was missing for several weeks beginning in late July and was found in August, shot once through the chest” (Deb). Anyone who watched “The Last Dance” documentary knew how much Michael’s dad meant to him especially when Michael said, "[h]e was my rock. You know, we were very close. He constantly gave me advice” (The Last Dance). Jordan alluded to how much his father meant to him time and time again throughout the documentary and it was fairly obvious that his sudden death crushed Michael (The Last Dance). The more disturbing reports that came out at the time about James Jordan’s murder were trying to link a connection to the murder with Michael’s alleged gambling problems. These remarks were emotionally painful for Michael to deal with and he made that clear when he said, "[i]t did hurt, you know, but you had people that were throwing darts who wanted to hurt me anyway. It wasn't from the people that I loved or the people that knew me and people that cared. It was the people that, you know, got tired of me being on top” (The Last Dance). It is hard to imagine the toll such accusations could have on a person, especially someone like Michael Jordan who’s every action was closely examined and liable to be criticized by the public. Regarding who was responsible for the crime, “[t]wo young men, close acquaintances with criminal records, were charged with murder” (Deb). Jordan held a press conference to announce his own retirement, saying “[i]t made me realize how short life is, how quickly things can end, how innocently. And I thought that there are times in one’s life when you have to put games aside. I wanted to give more time to my family. I’ve been very selfish about centering things on my basketball career. Now it’s time to be unselfish with them” (Deb). It is difficult to question Michael’s decision to leave the game of basketball, even for a short time, when you take into account what Michael was dealing with on a mental and emotional level during this time in his life.
There are often conspiracies about major events in history like John F. Kennedy’s assassination or about mysterious parts of the world like the Bermuda triangle. However, the effect that these conspiracies have on a person who was the subject of the theories is not talked about as much. In the case of Michael Jordan, the conspiracies about his gambling problems gave him a lot of grief considering the lack of evidence that he actually gambled on games. Not to mention the fact that the public rubbed salt in an already deep wound when people began to claim that Michael’s gambling problems could have correlated with the murder of his own father when there was insufficient evidence to prove that was even a possibility. Michael was subjected to participate in interviews concerning his gambling habits when he had not actually violated any laws. When Michael was asked if he had a gambling issue, he said “[n]o, because I can stop gambling. I have a competition problem, a competitive problem” (The Last Dance). This kind of life under so much outside pressure was clearly difficult for Jordan and that rang true when he stated, “[i]t’s funny. A lot of people say they’d like to be Michael Jordan for a day or for a week. But let them try to be Michael Jordan for a year. See if they like it.... Let them see that it’s no fun” (The Last Dance). Put yourself in the shoes of Michael Jordan in the year 1993 and that statement certainly seems accurate enough.
The Conclusion
In his documentary, Michael Jordan says, “[i]f I had the chance to do it all over again, I would never want to be considered a role model. It’s like a game that’s stacked against me. You know, there’s no way I can win” (The Last Dance). In hindsight that statement is a great reflection of how Michael Jordan had to deal with the allegations about his gambling problems. It is hard to imagine how a couple of stories about someone legally gambling can make someone's life so much harder in such a short amount of time. The commissioner of the NBA during the 1990’s, David Stern, said "[i] could bang on the table, say... it's a slanderous lie, but whatever, it's just not true. Never was and never will be no matter how many times people ask the question” (The Last Dance). Whether Michael Jordan was suspended by the NBA in secret, or in the more likely scenario that he needed a mental health break after his father’s murder, it is remarkable to see how much someone’s life and legacy can be impacted by the power of a conspiracy theory.
Works Cited
Anderson, Dave. “Sports of the Times; Jordan's Atlantic City Caper.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 May 1993, www.nytimes.com/1993/05/27/sports/sports-of-the-times-jordan-s-atlantic-city-caper.htm l.
Deb, Sopan. “The Death of James Jordan: What We Know.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/james-jordan-death.html.
ESPN Films, et al. The Last Dance, Episodes 6-7, Official Netflix, 19 Apr. 2020.
McCann, Michael. “Debunking the Michael Jordan Gambling Conspiracy.” Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, 25 Apr. 2020, www.si.com/nba/2020/04/25/michael-jordan-retirement-gambling-conspiracy.
Wojciechowski, Gene. “Jordan Hit on Gambling : Golf Bets: San Diego Man Says the Bulls' Star Played Him for Four Years, Once Owed Him $1.252 Million.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 1993, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-03-sp-42795-story.html.
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