Michael Jordan once lost a 1v1 to millionaire CEO who paid $15k to play him and it was caught on camera
Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time but once lost a 1v1 to a millionaire.
Jordan revolutionised the sport during his iconic run, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls.
He was named NBA Finals MVP in all six of those championship seasons and holds the record for ten NBA scoring titles, including seven of those titles consecutively, before he was rightly inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jordan’s success on the court made him a commercial superstar, signing some of the biggest sporting deals in history with brands such as Nike and 2K.
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Back in 2003, just months after ending his tenure with the Washington Wizards, Jordan had organised Michael Jordan Senior Flight School camp which took place in Las Vegas.
The price to attend the camp was $15,000 and participants had a wide array of basketball experience. Jordan would call them out for one-on-one games, game to three.
The campers might have paid for the pleasure to play against one of the NBA greats but Jordan showed absolutely no mercy and aimed to ruthlessly play them off the court as quick as possible.
However, a huge shock occurred when millionaire CEO John Rogers raised his hand to face the iconic star.
It was Rogers’ third time at the camp and at the time he was five years older than Jordan (45) and six inches smaller than the 14-time NBA All-Star. Rogers was the CEO of Ariel Investments and was considered to be one of the country’s leading financial executives.
Rogers played for Princeton during college but played a total of seven minutes in just four games.
Shockingly, the CEO took a 2-0 lead against Jordan which sent the fellow campers into raptures, he was just one point away from beating the greatest basketball player of all-time.
He would face adversity though as Jordan charged back to level the score at 2-2 and took a sly dig at his opponent for wearing Adidas.
Both men traded misses before Rogers had another shot at glory and absolutely nailed it. Rogers recalled Jordan saying ‘oh no’ before the ball went in, according to AndScape. The crowd roared as the two embraced.
And the best part for Rogers, it was all caught on camera.
Speaking about his impressive feat, Rogers admitted he would have loved to make the Princeton basketball team when ranking his Jordan achievement.
He told AndScape: “Playing Jordan is right up there.
“But had I never made the basketball team at Princeton, I never would have had a chance to play for Coach Carril and none of what followed — the 3-on-3 tournaments, the Jordan camp, the friendships I made through basketball — would have ever happened.
On the footage, he laughed: “In all. I’ve watched it a million times.”
Topics: Basketball, Michael Jordan, NBA, Chicago Bulls
Marcus Banks