When Michael Jordan Scored 52 After 10 Beers and 36 Holes

Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick tells an insane story of golfing with the GOAT

Jeremy Roenick: Michael Jordan Scored 52 After 10 Beers and 36 holes
Michael Jordan jumps and shoots near the net against the Cavaliers. (Focus on Sport via Getty)
Focus on Sport via Getty Images

It’s not quite at the level of the Wade Boggs cross-country flight beer story, but if Jeremy Roenick is to be believed Michael Jordan has a pretty amazing alcohol anecdote of his own.

During an appearance on the McNeil & Parkins Show, the former NHL star told a story about going golfing with Jordan outside Chicago during the ’90s while he was playing for the Bulls and Roenick was playing for the Blackhawks.

According to Roenick, Jordan told him to meet him at the Sunset Ridge golf course early toward the end of either the 1992 or 1993 season so the two star athletes could get in 18 holes before the Bulls played the Cavaliers that night.

“We played a round,” Roenick said. “I beat him for a couple thousand [dollars] and got ready to leave … Now, the Bulls are playing that night. They played Cleveland that night. I’m thinking he’s leaving, it’s 10 o’clock. He goes, ‘No, let’s go play again.’”

He continued: “So we go and fill up a bag full of ice and Coors Light and walk again. We roll around another 18 and I take him for another couple [thousand dollars]. Now we’ve been drinking all afternoon and he’s going from Sunset Ridge to the stadium, to play a game. I’m messing around. I’m like, ‘I’m gonna call my bookie. All the money you just lost to me, I’m putting on Cleveland.’ He goes, ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll bet you that we’ll win by 20 points and I have more than 40 [points].’ I’m like, ‘Done.’ Son of a gun goes out and scores 52 and they win by 26 points or something. He had maybe 10 Bud Lights. The man, Michael Jordan to me, is probably the best athlete that I’ve ever seen.”

Though there isn’t a game from ’92 or ’93 that matches the criteria Roenick laid out in his story, His Airness did put up 44 points in a 24-point win over Cleveland in March of 1992.

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.

Win the Ultimate Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix Experience

Want the F1 experience of a lifetime? Here’s your chance to win tickets to see Turn 18 Grandstand, one of Ultimate Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix’s most premier grandstands!