Comedians Kevin Hart and ‘Cedric the Entertainer’ recently sat down together to watch the contest between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. During this time, Hart mentioned that his co-host has been known to have some tantalizing stories about the legends of the NBA, due to having to be right with them during their playing days. Hearing this, Cedric immediately broke out into a hilarious story about Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
The Entertainer’ mentioned that at the time of the story, he, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley were all gambling in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I’m on the roulette table with Charles (Charles Barkley), you know? He doing good too, he up like $600,000 or something at the time. He got a bunch of chips on the table… MJ (Michael Jordan) walks in, grabs a bunch of Charles’s chips, and walk off!”
Given that this story is likely from before Barkley and Jordan’s falling out, it isn’t too surprising that MJ just went ahead and took his fellow former NBA man’s chips without permission. That is just how close the legends were back in the day.
That said, the Bulls legend did not steal the chips for no reason. Speaking further on the topic, Cedric said the following.
“Charles was like, ‘Man! Bro, how much was that?!’. MJ was like, ‘Does it matter? Like it doesn’t matter dog, you know I got you!’. He went over there, he started gambling. He started playing the Blackjack, came back about 30 minutes later, gave him all his chips, [and] say ‘I’m up $300,000 over here man, I’m good!’.”
Michael Jordan wasn’t confident for nothing when it came to gambling. With it being arguably his biggest hobby over the years, MJ was always bound to be good at it, given how much practice he has had. That said, you have to wonder if even with his confidence, did he really expected to make $300,000 in such a short span of time?
With Jordan, frankly, anything is possible.
Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley have paid the price for gambling too
Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, both earned a lot of money during their NBA career. So, it only makes sense that they felt safer than the average Joe when it came to gambling. However, while the two have had their wins here and there, they have sometimes also had to see the downsides of their hobby.
In 1993, in the middle of his NBA career, Michael Jordan’s habit of gambling came to the forefront of NBA news, forcing him to talk about it in an interview. Being accused of being addicted to gambling, the following is what he said on the matter.
“No, I enjoy it [gambling], it’s a hobby. If I had a problem, I’d be starving, I’d be hawking this watch, my championship rings, I would sell my house… My wife would have left me, or she’s be starving with the kids… I do not have a problem, I enjoy gambling!”
Jordan was clearly exasperated as he looked to deny the allegations being made against him at the time. But, while Jordan refused to talk about the downsides of his gambling, Barkley has been very open about his woes while partaking in the treacherous hobby. Speaking about how many times he has lost $1 million in a single day during his time with Graham Besinger in 2016, here is what he said.
“[I’ve lost $1 million in a single day] At least 10-15 [times], somewhere in there. Like I said, I’ve only won a million five or six times. But, I’ve lost a million somewhere between 10 and 20 [times]. I can’t get an exact number…”
While ‘the Chuckster’ may have made his fair share of money a few times, he was still very disappointed about the money he lost on different occasions.
No matter how big a personality’s net worth may be, $1 million is no small amount to anyone. It is no wonder Barkley seemed to speak with regret in his eyes. Losing that kind of money in a single night on that many occasions likely haunts the star to this day.