Michael Jordan was a relentless competitor on the basketball court.
His six NBA championship wins, in which he was named the Finals MVP for the Chicago Bulls on every occasion, prove that.
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As do his 10 scoring crowns, two Slam Dunk Contest titles and the fact that the league’s MVP trophy is named after him.
Truly, we may never see a competitor like ‘His Airness’ again.
And it turns out that MJ was just as intense off the court as he was on it.
Just ask David Blaine.
The revered magician, illusionist and endurance performer once crossed paths with Jordan, and invited him to participate in a card trick.
Many would just be excited to watch some magic unfold up close, but not MJ.
He tried to trick Blaine back.
In a resurfaced clip, the magician instructs Jordan to shuffle the deck of cards behind his back.
Blaine then takes the cards back, mixes them up a bit more, and asks the basketball legend to pick any of them.
MJ chose the three of hearts, and the illusionist then asks someone else who was watching to pick a number between one and 30.
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That number was 27, and Blaine then asked Jordan, who once won a bet with Chris Paul that denied kids free shoes, to count out 27 cards.
But his competitive spirit, it seems, got the better of him moments before that.
“You said three of hearts? You shuffled behind your back?” Blaine asks him.
“It seemed like I shuffled, but I tried to trick you,” Jordan responded, sparking laughter.
Blaine then fired back: “Look at the card there.”
Taking a peek, MJ initially refused to turn it over for everyone else to see, before finally caving with a smile.
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Lo and behold, the 28th card, sitting at the top of the deck, was the one MJ called — the three of hearts.
“I didn’t shuffle the cards, that’s what he wanted me to do,” the basketball icon, who famously ‘violated’ the NBA’s 51% rule, added.
The footage of MJ trying to trick Blaine has been viewed more than five million times since resurfacing earlier this year.
Many fans were left amused by the lengths Jordan went to, to try and get the upper hand in their exchange.
“From that day forward MJ sought out to be the greatest magician of all time,” one person joked.
“Mike is sick. This mf tries to win CARD TRICKS!” another fan said.
“It was hard for MJ to turn the card over. The man was born to compete,” a third responded.
“Michael so competitive he probably slashed David’s tyres after this and took three of his dust caps just to be petty,” a fourth joked.
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All it takes to beat Jordan, it seems, is a bit of magic.
It’s just a shame there were no magicians in the NBA when he was dominating during the 1990s.
