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By Root 765 0

I did not keep records, I cannot verify how much I won or lost. I can assure you the level of our wagers was substantially less than the preposterous amounts that have been reported.” This news came to light during the 1993 Finals, which had to infuriate Jordan, when he and his fans wanted nothing more than to concentrate on his play on the court. Money Players also reminds us of Stern’s words to Sports Illustrated, dismissing any possible deal between the league and Jordan. “The mere notion of that is scurrilous and disgusting,” said Stern. (After looking up the definition of scurrilous, which means “grossly or obscenely abusive,” one would wonder why a question about a deal would be out of line, especially considering the league’s ongoing investigation.)

Three days after Jordan retired, however, the NBA announced the end of its investigation into Jordan’s gambling, and found that he had violated no league rules. The league also admitted that its investigation did not even include an interview of Michael Jordan. Although David Stern has been nothing but vigilant over a quarter-century to maintaining sacred trust in his sport, he did not tie up the loose ends of a player’s gambling, at least publicly. I suppose an exit interview would have been, er, scurrilous? Remember, before Jordan’s October 6 retirement, Stern had said publicly that the investigation would be concluded before the start of the season at the end of October. I’m not sure anything done or not done was improper, but the timing of the retirement and the ending of the investigation looked funny.

WHAT CONSPIRACY THEORIRSTS SAY ABOUT JORDAN’S “RETIREMENT”

In an online article posted in 2001 on disinfo.com (a website billed as “the gateway to the underground news, politics, and conspiracies”), Brian Tuohy wrote,

Although some have speculated that his father’s death had something to do with Jordan’s gambling, I don’t believe that to be the case. James Jordan wasn’t a saint, truth be told. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison (which were suspended) for being a cog in a larger embezzlement scheme in 1985, and at the time of his death, he was the subject of several lawsuits concerning the unpaid bills of his clothing company, JVL Enterprises, Inc. And even though there are some odd facts surrounding his murder (like the fact that a man like Michael Jordan’s father decided to sleep in his car on the side of a rural highway rather than find a hotel or stay overnight at a friend’s home), there is no real evidence to support a conspiracy.

At the announcement of his retirement, Jordan said, “Now that I’m here, it’s time to be a little bit unselfish in terms of spending more time with my family, my wife, my kids, and just get back to a normal life, as close to it as I can.” When asked what he intended to do now, Jordan replied, “In retirement, you do whatever comes to mind. Relax. Enjoy the time you’ve been deprived of for many years.” In spite of those remarks, what “came to Michael’s mind” in retirement was playing baseball. Not spending time with the wife and kids, unless of course they could travel on the bus with him and the rest of the Birmingham Barons from small town to smaller town across the bush leagues.

One of the reasons Jordan was even given an opportunity to play professional baseball was because Chicago Bulls’ owner Jerry Reinsdorf also owned the Chicago White Sox. The Barons were an affiliate of the White Sox, so Jordan could easily cash checks from Reinsdorf for working in another part of the man’s business empire. Reinsdorf stood to lose as much as anyone from Jordan’s retirement, yet after Jordan’s announcement, how did Reinsdorf respond? By paying Jordan $4 million and leaving a contractual window open for him to return to basketball—even though when Jordan was asked if he would ever return, he replied, “No—if so, I’d still be playing.”

Jordan also made a very interesting comment during his retirement press conference. When asked, “Will you miss the sport?” he replied: “I’m pretty sure I’ll miss the sport. To come back