“Get That Money Ready”: Michael Jordan's $200 Bet with Suns' Eddie Johnson Had Him Obliterating Dan Majerle

Michael Jordan was absolutely obsessed with competing throughout the entirety of his career. As great as he was, Jordan would often challenge himself to completely destroy his opponents. According to former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Eddie Johnson’s latest anecdote, the Chicago Bulls legend once claimed that he would drop 40 points on Phoenix Suns’ Dan Majerle. MJ was so confident that he would go on a scoring rampage with the elite defender guarding him, that he agreed to bet $200 each to Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers on the subject.

Michael Jordan was feared by some of the best defenders we’ve ever seen. For obvious reasons, players always thought twice before trash-talking MJ. However, Dan Majerle wasn’t someone who would bow down to His Airness. In fact, Majerle was touted to be capable of slowing Air Jordan down.

Hating this very notion, MJ used the 1993 NBA Finals as an opportunity to shut down all such rumors. Dominating the court for six games, the Bulls superstar averaged 41 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals during the series against the Phoenix Suns.

Michael Jordan bet $200 to Eddie Johnson that he’d drop 40 points on Dan Majerle

We have heard numerous tales about MJ being a ruthless trash-talker. As evident from these anecdotes, Jordan used all the extra motivation he could gather to humiliate his opponents. According to this recent story, MJ once bet $200 each to Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers that he’d drop 40 points on Majerle in the series. Kenneth Manuel recently posted a reel on Instagram where Johnson was seen narrating the incident that occurred during an exhibition game.

“He[Jordan] looked at Tom and I and said ‘Ima give your boy 40’. We like ‘who?’…‘Dan (Majerle)’…’Okay bet a $100, bet $200,’[Johnson said to MJ]. I took the bet, Tom took the bet.”

The former Sacramento Kings star further detailed how MJ was dominant right from tip-off of the 1993 NBA Finals. At one point in the contest, Jordan hit a tough shot over Majerle and asked Chambers and Johnson to “get the money ready”. Johnson continued:

“So he starts the game and he just going nuts. I’m over there stiff, I got heat packs under my clothes… This man’s out there going crazy. Tom and I are sitting there and looking at him like ‘this dude is just insane’. So he had about 34, he walks over to the bench and he catches the ball, looks at Tom and I, like ‘get that money ready’.”

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Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers lost $200 each and learned an important lesson – never challenge Michael Jordan on the basketball court.

Jordan’s love for gambling

Basketball was relatively easy for Michael Jordan. Therefore, it is no surprise that he would look to other activities where he could display his competitiveness. Gambling was one such activity that MJ was heavily invested in.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Jordan had a reputation of being a compulsive gambler. Apart from hitting the casinos, the 6-feet-6 Shooting Guard would also place heavy bets on golf games. At times, the six-time NBA Champion would even gamble small amounts with his security guards.