In episodes 7 and 8 of the ESPN documentary "The Last Dance," it was mentioned, and later denied, that Michael Jordan's retirement in 1993 was due to gambling (Jordan later returned to basketball after playing professional baseball). Jordan's father died tragically in August 1993, and it was this and a lack of interest in playing that led Jordan away from the sport (opens in new tab). Throughout his long and illustrious career, however, questions about his gambling remain. Jordan states that he does not have a gambling problem and instead counters with this: "I have a competition problem." The series delves deeply into Jordan's competitive spirit in all things (which, by the way, is worth watching even if you don't like sports).

Jordan has an established history as a betting man, big or small (open in new tab). In high school, he apparently wrote a letter to his prom date about betting. In college, checks written by Jordan after losing a pool game were auctioned off; once in the NBA, Jordan often bet very large sums with anyone who would play with him. He bet with stadium security guards on Jumbotron cartoon races and with teammates like Scottie Pippen on playing cards.

When Jordan retired in 1993, seemingly at the pinnacle of his career, he explained that he had "no desire (open in new tab)" and "nothing else to prove."

Despite his (absolutely legitimate) reason that a personal tragedy led to his absence, the unfounded theory remained: according to Sports Illustrated (opens in new tab), Jordan "admitted to having lost a considerable amount of money gambling," and the NBA had been forced to pay former appointed federal judge Frederic Lacy to investigate Jordan's bets.

Legal gambling is not prohibited by the NBA; the problem is that Jordan failed to disclose some of his bets. Jordan had to testify that he wrote a check for $57,000 to "Slim" Buehler, an alleged gambler and drug dealer. (Richard Eskinas wrote a book in 1993 called "Michael and Me: Our Gambling Addiction.... He wrote a book called My Cry for Help. He claimed that Jordan owed him $1.25 million for golf gambling and that the two had settled for less. Jordan flatly denied the claim (opens in new tab)-and if Eskinas' allegations were correct, he would not have been charged with more than a misdemeanor, but gambling is strictly illegal in Hilton Head, where much of the golf was played.

The NBA eventually cleared Jordan of any wrongdoing. Apparently, Jordan continued to place bets, including on card games, and openly bet on providing free sneakers to basketball camps.

Since then, however, he has largely stayed out of the limelight.

Watch "THE LAST DANCE" on ESPN+ (opens in new tab)

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