Michael Jordan’s fiercely competitive game of dominoes with Anthony Anderson
Michael Jordan has never shied away from a wager — and things got heated when the NBA great took on a television star in a friendly game.
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It’s no secret Michael Jordan loves to gamble.
The NBA icon has never shied away from a wager, and his passion for victory was laid bare in docu-series The Last Dance.
He was fiercely competitive on the court, but that unrivalled competitiveness was by no means limited to the NBA. Just ask anyone who played 18 holes with the basketball great.
And American television star Anthony Anderson has detailed how a vicious game of dominoes ignited his friendship with Jordan.
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Speaking on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Anderson said his first encounter with Jordan was in the Bahamas when he offered to play a “friendly game of bones” with a custom Jumpman dominoes.
“(Jordan) said, ‘How did you get those?’ I was like, ‘Don’t worry about how I got them. I got them because I consider myself to be the MJ of dominoes, and I’d like to play you’,” Anderson said.
“And he turned to my wife, and he said, ‘Sweetheart, I suggest you go to the bank and take out as much money as you can. Because after I whip his ass, he will not be able to provide for you and your children’.
“I just wanted a friendly game of bones with my basketball hero!”
The six-time NBA champion promptly began sledging his opponents as he edged ahead in the contest.
“I’m not talking trash. I’m just excited to be in the awe of this man,” Anderson said.
“MJ is talking cash s**t. He’s talking about my momma. He’s talking cash trash, and I have to sit there and just take it.”
But the momentum quickly shifted as the game approached a climactic conclusion.
READ MORE: Classless act still irks Michael Jordan
“Now the gloves are off. I’m no longer in awe of this man. He’s been up here talking about my momma. I’m like, ‘F**k him’,” Anderson said.
“I commenced to whip his ass in dominoes. He doesn’t score another point. I’m talking so much trash that before I domino, I say, ‘Oh my God, MJ, I wish me and my wife could go upstairs and make another baby right now because we would name him or her MJ just so we could relive this moment right now.’ And my baby, when it got older, would say, ‘Daddy, why did you name me MJ?’ And I’d say, ‘To relive the moment that I just whipped your ass’. Boom! Domino, motherf****r!”
Anderson and Jordan remained on the Bahamas island for the next three days, and the Chicago Bulls icon apparently refused to speak to the victor.
“Whenever we’re taking a group photo or picture … he tells me to get out of the picture,” Anderson said.
“Nobody would know who I was anyway. So, that’s how he treated me for the next few days, and that’s how our friendship started.”
Originally published as Michael Jordan’s fiercely competitive game of dominoes with Anthony Anderson
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