Michael Jordan was recognized by Sports Illustrated magazine as the greatest basketball player of the 20th century.
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With the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan won the NBA Championship six times.
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In the Netflix documentary “The Last Dance”, Michael Jordan asserts that he never participated in the Bulls’ drug parties.
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In 2016, US President Barack Obama honored NBA legend Michael Jordan with the Freedom Medal.
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He broke records, won titles, and made a fortune: For many, ex-NBA superstar Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of the last century. A documentary series has now been dedicated to the six-time champion with the Chicago Bulls, “The Last Dance” is on Netflix, and expectations were high.
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And right in the first episode, the 57-year-old is asked whether he remembers that the Bulls were dubbed the “traveling cocaine circus” in the 1980s. Jordan laughs out loud, buys some time with it, initially says that he never heard of it.
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But then the multiple All-Star team member tells the story. From his 1984/85 debut season at Chicago, after which he had been voted best rookie. On an away trip during the season preparation, he bursts into a hotel room in which practically the entire team was gathered. «There were things I had never seen in my life as a young man. There were cocaine lines on one side of the table, the stoners sat on the other side, and the women over there, ”he says in the documentary.
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Orange juice and 7-up only
The then only 21-year-old was shocked, just wanted to get out of there. «I could only think that if the police came and arrested us now, I would be as guilty as everyone else in the room. And from that moment on I was more or less to myself. » Jordan emphasizes that he never attended the drug parties. «I didn’t smoke, I didn’t pull up lines, I didn’t even drink at the time. I just wanted to rest and then go out and play. »
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This Saubermann image is also confirmed in “The Last Dance” by Jordan’s teammate Rod Higgins (60) at the time: “Whatever others may have done outside the field, whether it was a party or something else, it was not something Michael did either wanted to do. Orange juice and 7-Up were his thing. »
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Jordan won his first title with the Bulls in 1991 and another five followed before ending his incredible career in 2003. The American’s scandal-free image only briefly lost some of its splendor when he was accused of gambling addiction and gambling debts in the mid-1990s. A decade later, he said that they never threatened his existence. In 2015, Michael Jordan was included in the Forbes list for the first time as a billionaire.