Topic: Is Michael Jordan a gambling addict ? (Read 476 times)

Yeah see I was hoping someone would bring that in to the conversation.  I had heard the whole leaving the league for the year conspiracy deal..but man, MJ brought back basketball.  He's the best thing to ever happen to the game..I really doubt this was Sterns call..but who knows.  His dad dying because of gambling debts, that to me is more realistic..but who knows.


Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm not sure there's a clear cut answer but I like see the different thoughts. Sharing this with my buddy who I was arguing about this with me.  Going to lock this now out of respect for Hilarious and Cyrus's time..anything more would just be redundant at this point.  Cheers ya'll.

Smart comment. I agree with you.
You can be winning millions of dollars, be in a great financial condition, providing for your family from gambling and still be an addict. You don't measure addiction by how wealthy someone is, whether he's winning or not and how much and if the person is successful in his job. For instance, a millionaire with a steady job, a family, who usually wins at poker can be considered an addict if he plays that poker every single day and can't function without gambling. Many drug addicts think they aren't addicted, but try separating them from their drugs and you'll see the truth.

Why people cant really just realized that fact? They are really that trying out to generalize that if someone is already that spending up tons of money into gambling which they would really be that automatically be
making out those conclusions that they are already that addicted to it without even trying to look at in regarding about someones situation on which we have seen that MJ is really just that fine in terms of finances and in terms of his own family relationship status or something that correlated to it. People are really just that loving to peek into someones life and really loves on making or drawing out with those conclusions without
even trying out to realize that it would be better that they should really be focusing on their own but well people do really love on seeing things and making out those conclusions.

But in the end, whether he's addicted or not with gambling or simply just playing for fun then its none of our business since he's been using up his own money.
No matter how big it would be then its not our business or concern for us to mind on. Lets mind on our own business and its better to gamble
with our own but well people would be always have to say. 

Definition of addiction is based on facts, not opinions. Healthy gambling?  MJ? He handles his responsibilities well, therefore gambling is fine. Is it ruining his life? Don't think so. A billionaire who runs empires still plays games. That's multitasking with an entertain, not addiction.

Addiction goes beyond doing something often. It's when something destroys your life. MJ? His life is stable. Family, enterprises, etc. If gambling was a wrecking ball, wouldn't cracks be visible? The beast of addiction destroys. MJ's trail: where? Show me the proof and we'll chat. Passion is not addiction. He thrives on challenges. Being alive and wanting excitement is not addiction. So who are we to judge? It's his business as long as he's in charge and not hurting others. Focus on facts, not rumors. MJ? Addict? Let's wait for proof before labeling.  

It is incredible to read things like; "... if you can afford to lose money, you are not an addict,"really!  it is total ignorance, I mentioned it in another Thread of these typical of addiction, it is not about having a balance of $1 or a balance of $1 million is a symptomatic condition.

Under this symptomatic condition it necessarily has its side effects that manifest under certain symptoms, then, a guy does not stop being a drug addict because he does not consume, hence, a gambler is the same and these types of pathologies lead to others mental problems such as depression.

To know if MJ is addicted, he must be diagnosed, there are such complex tests these days that determine it and in this case there is potential given his background, anyway it is not about running out of money or Spending money that you can afford to lose, I thought people understood that this popular phrase is used to contain subsequent economic problems is not a cure for gambling addiction.



^{#TBT topic with different contexts.
*Divorce, alcohol problems, and the fact that his ex-wife took more than 150 million from him, perhaps shaded his wife's comments regarding the subject of gambling. But that has nothing to do with being the best athlete of all time.}

But he is playing in a gambling platform (casino) any better words than the term gambler?  We all know if one person gambles in regular terms, he is called a gambler.  But being a gambler and a huge spender does not mean a person is a gambling addict.  It is that MJ has more money so he can afford to lose a huge sum to the casino.  Besides, there is no news about Jordan being a gambling addict.

We know that the media always wanted to sniff the negative side of a celebrity, but never I read or heard that MJ is a gambling addict.  A big spender yes, but never a gambling addict.

I get where you're coming from but I don't agree that being rich and looking successful means someone can't have addiction issues. Addiction can show up in different ways and impact anyone no matter their money situation. We should think about the feelings and thoughts tied to gambling not just how things seem on the surface or how much money someone has. Only MJ can answer if he is gambling addict or not.

I'd say he isn't an addict and the point you guys are bringing up is what makes the difference. Where's the line between someone who does something because he likes it and an addict. IMO the lack of control over what they're doing is the key, the way you can just like eating and being obese and sick from it. If you see someone eating a lot but still looking good and being healthy, is that really an addiction?

So if Jordan can manage a normal life, healthy mindset, a family and still gamble, good for him. I wouldn't criticize anyone for doing it, but you can quickly go from this to ruin, so watch out.

Rich man bored of his money might be more accurate a description since he is quite capable of betting all day if he likes and still being ok.   So long as he handled his prior earnings well he can spend the proceeds now however he wants.   I think its more about being an ex top sportsman who no longer has that challenge and adrenaline rush in his life anymore so he wants to bet and remain part of the game.   Hard to judge the man for how he chooses to spend his cash even if it seems excessive to the likes of us who are not millionaires with great incomes.

Not admit but diagnosed with such condition. Addiction is not something which usually comes to the awareness of the gambler or an individual. Not because a gambler is betting unbelievably huge amount means that he's addicted in an instant. There are criteria to consider when determining whether a person is addicted to something also with how the individual is affected with that obsession. Some people are just betting huge amount simply because that's their financial capacity of doing so. Likewise with Drake's betting habit if you guys are familiar. That man is also losing huge amount of money in a singlet bet but did we see him cry over it? Not because he is gambling for a long time means he's addicted to this activity.I view it more as an activity which he enjoys. It even seem that he's managing his bankroll in a better manner, 'coz it's been so long since he engaged with gambling activities.

You don't always become broke when you're addicted, look at Steven Tyler, Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne and many other legendary rockstars, they're addicted to cocktails of different drugs ranging from heroin, cocaine, nitrous, weed and crack but a lot of them didn't even go broke, maybe some of them did but the point is that you don't have to go broke if you're an addict, sometimes there's just a lot of money that you've got that you're having a hard time losing it all at once with your addiction. Now in regards to Jordan's gambling habit, I don't think he's there yet but he's hair's breadth to be considered a gambling addict, probably the only thing that's making him not being considered an addict in my opinion is that he's not a consistent gambler but if he's spending millions a night then I would somewhat consider him an addict.

Everyone likes winning just as MJ likes it, all I can say is that everyone is addicted to winning. But winning in gambling is not what all can do.

For people who have money and can't stop gambling, it's just called a hobby after all he didn't starve his wife and they still have lots of money regardless of how much he lost.
But for the people who have lost entire savings and their wives left them homeless, they are addicted and need intervention.

MJ isnt gambling, he is spending money on everything he wants If he would stop spending, his money would start to rotten from the bottom. Cant call him a gambler, this looks more like a hobby to me, or a time killer. If gambling would be his only activity, then we could have said that he is addicted, but since he is busy "all other different stuff", he isnt gambling addicted to me.

I don't think he's an addict because in my opinion an addict is usually synonymous with bankruptcy as long as he doesn't go bankrupt because of gambling and playing recklessly and irresponsibly so that he wastes money unnecessarily I think he could be called an addict, but if he is still considered rich and has many businesses I wouldn't call an addict, maybe we all know what an addict looks like.

Addicts are always synonymous with a messy life, for some reason we seem to be starting to recognize characteristics like that in films too where an addict always lives a useless and bankrupt life and doesn't even have anyone to be around him and even becomes poor because of gambling itself, MJ is a person who has wealth. so in my opinion he gambles just for fun or just entertainment. 

I’ve always thought with an addiction, gambling or some other habit could most likely bring financial problems. Cause when addicted to a particular activity, that activity would be foremost on your mind all day and you’ll spend whatever it may take to indulge in that activity.

With Michael Jordan, although he gambles, i don’t think he’s an addicted gambler. Although he gambles frequently, he doesn’t dedicate all his time and resources to gambling and he still has the money to take care of his and the family wants and needs. With a gambling addiction, money problems usually creeps up. In this case, it’s not likely to happen.
Michael Jordan is a frequent gambler and not an addicted one.

Talking about Michael Jordan, of course almost 99% of NBA gamblers and fans know, at least the background of MJ's life and activities, he has a history that the public knows about, this can be seen from one of his own sources. say it.


So from some data I've seen, MJ said the same thing, even though he argued so, I think Michael Jordan was addicted to the world of gambling.

    -   But from what I saw, even though he went through that before, it looks like he was able to catch up with his passion before, in my opinion. The really rich people don't really care if they throw money at them, no matter how much it is.

Whereas for others, before they can earn the money that the rich are losing, they will almost die, and it will take them to old age before they can get it. So this MJ, from what I noticed, overcame being addicted to gambling during the times he was addicted to it.

Personally I wouldn't want to out rightly see him as an addict because it literally haven't caused him any severe harm such that he has to seek for help or probably have to quit so he can get better and going by your wiki definition it's usually ending in a negative result or effect on the person who is addicted but with him I'm sure there's yet a thing as such in his case.

But then I don't know how persistent he is with his gambling habit because once you continually indulge in something consistently such that you literally don't stop there's an addictive tendencies even if it isn't harming you yet probably because you have the means readily available to fund the habit with little to no effect on you, I don't know if there's anything as a healthy addiction and if there's then I think he has such a case. He has the means and obviously he gambles for fun and never to get rich but whenever he wins, he turns out even richer because his stakes ain't small.

That's what he has and he is different because he has lots of money to waste and gambling for them is just a habit and for killing time. Just like other billionaires, they don't have any problem every time they lose some big money because they can easily get it back but that doesn't mean it's ok to be reckless like that. Everyone should be aware of his actions on where they will gonna bring them because every person has different capabilities and one cannot take another person's habit as his one because most of the time he lacks the resources and the necessary mindset to recover his lifestyle.

It's hard to affirm if he is an addicted gambler or have been addicted to gambling at some point of his life. What we know is that he his a very competitive person who doesn't accept losing, besides having a wealth estimated in billions of dollars, so naturally he can afford losing expensive bets without being considered an addicted gambler, because the sums of money he bets are still inside his budget.



Michael Jordan in interview for australian TV channel in 1993.

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"I took my punishment in that situation and I am done with it" - Michael Jordan opens up on gambling addiction in rare interview from 1993

As we can see, Jordan confessed back then he commited mistakes, like everyone else does, and pointed out that gambling was related to those mistakes, since it went out of proportion. He felt punished for that situation he faced and seemed to have learnt a lesson from this. On the other interview he said to be able to stop gambling if he wished, but mentioned being a competitive person, what looks to be an obstacle when trying to stop gambling, because if he did, he would be accepting his defeat to the house.

And it's really an important point to pay attention to. When we decide not going ahead chasing our losses, we are definitely accepting the casino can't be defeated, so we have to retreat. To play responsively and respecting personal limits is the acceptance we are in an unfavorable position against the gambling house, what can be extremely difficult for competitive and too proud person to do.

The question is, do people go ahead wagering because they are too stubborn or because they are addicted? Could stubbornness lead to an addiction development?