NBA Player Who Gambled With Michael Jordan Got Way in Over His Head, Had His Life Threatened

A prominent NBA veteran reportedly gambled at a club with Michael Jordan, and got very deep into debt — to the point where his life was being threatened.

According to a story in The Undefeated, Jamal Crawford used to play pickup basketball with Jordan in the early 2000’s. Next door to the Chicago gym where the games were played, Jordan and others, including Crawford, would go to a backroom of a restaurant called One Sixtyblue where card and dice games took place.

The Undefeated’s story recounted a crazy two-day binge at the club in which Crawford lost tens of thousands of dollars.

Over what is believed to be a two-day span, he said, he lost in the neighborhood of $100,000. A person with intimate knowledge of the game claims Crawford lost several hundred thousand and Allen lost even more. And that, days after the dice game, a call was placed to Goodwin, Crawford’s agent, to inform him that Crawford had not yet squared his debt with one professional gambler.

“OK,” Goodwin said, according to the person with intimate knowledge of the game. “What does he owe? Jamal is good for it.”

“No, you don’t understand,” the go-between said. “If he doesn’t pay now, these guys will kill Jamal.”

Jordan, according to the report, was playing cards nearby while Crawford was sustaining these heavy losses. Crawford denied ever losing that much, and said he was aware his life was ever threatened. But he did admit to turning over the keys to his Mercedes-Benz to help settle a debt.

[h/t NBC Sports]

[image via wikicommons]

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