Michael Jordan bursts into laughter when asked about joining the 'traveling cocaine circus' Bulls in 1984 and recounts stumbling upon teammates' drug use in a hotel room
- During ESPN's docu-series, The Last Dance, Michael Jordan was asked about an old report claiming the Chicago Bulls were a 'traveling cocaine circus' in 1984
- Jordan, who was a rookie in 1984-85, laughed at the question, and while he didn't confirm the report, he did go on to discuss anonymous teammates' drug use
- The 57-year-old said the team was in Peoria, Illinois in 1984 when he stumbled upon 'practically the entire team' doing drugs with women in a hotel room
- Jordan, who was 21 at the time, said 'look man, I'm out,' he explained, because he knew he would look as guilty as everyone else if they were to get caught
- Several members of the 1984-85 Chicago Bulls went on to admit to cocaine use in later years, including Orlando Woolridge and the late Quintin Dailey
- The story illustrates how Jordan changed the culture within the Bulls. Not one of his teammates in 1984 was on the team when he won his first title in 1991
Not only were the Chicago Bulls a losing team when Michael Jordan arrived in 1984, but as he confirmed during ESPN's docu-series, The Last Dance, the club was also a hotbed of cocaine use.
In Sunday's premiere episode of the series, which chronicles his final championship run with Chicago in 1997-98, Jordan is asked about a report calling the Bulls a 'traveling cocaine circus' during his early days with the team.
'I never heard that,' Jordan said, bursting into laughter.
Given the chance to deny the claim, Jordan, instead, confirmed the allegation with an anecdote from a pre-season stop in Peoria, Illinois that year.
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In Sunday's premiere episode of the series, which chronicles his final championship run with Chicago in 1997-98, Jordan is asked about a report calling the Bulls a 'traveling cocaine circus' during his early days with the team
Given the chance to deny the claim, Jordan, instead, burst into laughter before confirming the allegation with an anecdote from a pre-season stop in Peoria that year
Michael Jordan in his rookie year talking about his teammates who were known as the “Traveling Cocaine Circus”
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'I think we were in Peoria, it was in a hotel, and I was trying to find my teammates,' Jordan said. 'I start knocking on doors, I get to this one door, and I could hear someone say, "shhh, someone's outside."'
'This deep voice says, "who is it?" I say, "it's MJ," and they say, "ah, f***, he's just a rookie. Don't worry about it."'
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At the time, Jordan explained, he was still an inward 21-year-old, more comfortable hanging out with his mother Doloris than going to clubs with teammates.
'I walk in and practically the whole team was in there,' Jordan said. 'And it was like, things I've never seen in my life, you know, as a young kid.
Jordan didn't go into detail about his own drug use, but as ex-teammate Rod Higgins (pictured) explained, that just wasn't his scene. 'Whatever somebody else might have been doing off the court, if it was partying or whatever, that wasn't part of what he wanted to do,' said Higgins. 'Orange juice and 7-Up was his go-to'
'You got your lines over here, you got your weed smokers over here, you got your women over here,' he continued. 'So the first thing I said, "look man, I'm out." Because all I can think about is if they come and raid this place, right about now, I am just as guilty as everyone else that's in this room. And from that point on, I was more or less on my own.'
Jordan did not go into any detail about his own drug use, but as former teammate Rod Higgins explained, that just wasn't his scene.
'Whatever somebody else might have been doing off the court, if it was partying or whatever, that wasn't part of what he wanted to do,' said Higgins, who played one season with Jordan. 'Orange juice and 7-Up was his go-to.'
The story does serve to show how Jordan changed the culture of a team that finished just 38-44 in his rookie season. None of his teammates from the 1984-85 Bulls were still with the team in 1991 when he won the first of his six NBA titles in Chicago.
Jordan did not name the guilty parties in Episode 1, but one of his former teammates, Orlando Woolridge, admitted to battling a cocaine problem in 1988.
Another teammate, Quintin Dailey, also battled a cocaine problem before dying in his sleep in 2010 at the age of 49. According to longtime Chicago Bulls beat reporter Sam Smith, Dailey had previously gone to rehab and was said to be clean for around 20 years at the time of his death.
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