Eddie Johnson, a renowned NBA sharpshooter, recounts one of the most memorable nights of his career
The Chicago Bulls were playing the Phoenix Suns.
Before the game, Johnson was hanging out with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Tom Chambers, caught up in a lively game of Tunk. The cards were flipping, the trash talk was flying, and the group was loose.
Then, all of a sudden, Jordan stood up.
“You tell that boy Dan Majerle I got something for him tonight,” he said.
Johnson could barely move—he was stiff and sore from playing the night before and traveling that day,
“I’m giving your boy 40,” Jordan told Johnson and Chambers.
Johnson brushed it off. “Okay, whatever,”.
Jordan wasn’t done. “Bet a hundred. Bet two hundred,” he said.
Johnson and Chambers took the bet.
Then the game tipped off—and Jordan went to work.
Johnson, still feeling the effects of back-to-back games, watched MJ torch Majerle, piling up points with cold precision.
At one point, Johnson and Chambers exchanged looks—Jordan was playing on another level.
With 34 points already in the books, Jordan walked over to the Suns’ bench, caught the ball, and turned to them with a smirk.
“Get that money ready,” he said.
Next play, Majerle played him tight. Jordan hit a reverse pivot, forcing Dan to back off. That was all he needed. He exploded to the rim—tongue out—and hammered home a vicious dunk.
As he landed, he turned back toward Johnson and Chambers, holding up four fingers.
Four hundred.
All Johnson could do was laugh.
That was Michael Jordan—calling his shot, making a bet, and delivering in the most dominant way possible.