Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest player in NBA history—and one of the most iconic athletes of all time. With a career as decorated and intense as his, it’s only natural that it would be filled with unforgettable, and at times hilarious, stories. Former Chicago Bulls teammate Craig Hodges recently added another one to the legend.
Appearing on the All The Smoke podcast, Hodges claimed that Jordan once dropped 30 points in a game—while tipsy. “We were playing in Miami, and we were rolling at this time,” Hodges said. “The system was really running itself. You just show up to games and let it flow.”
According to Hodges, after a morning shootaround, Jordan asked to be dropped off at a local bar instead of heading back to the hotel. When the team picked him up later on the way to the game, something felt… off.
“MJ says, ‘Drop me off here,’ and we leave him at the bar. He says he’s going to have some beers,” Hodges recalled. “He tells us to pick him up on the way to the arena. When we do, he’s still in his sweats.”
“You know MJ always comes to games suited and booted. This time, he gets on the bus in his sweats and says, ‘Yeah man, I’m feeling good.’ You could smell the beer on him. Then he scores 30 by halftime. He goes through warmups and says, ‘I’m seeing three rims—I’m shooting at the one in the middle.’”
Jordan’s mythology: From the flu game to bar-time buckets
The “tipsy game” joins a long list of near-mythical Michael Jordan stories. Chief among them is the legendary Flu Game—Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals—where a visibly ill Jordan poured in 38 points to lead the Bulls to victory over the Utah Jazz. While some later attributed the illness to food poisoning, the image of Jordan leaning on Scottie Pippen in exhaustion has become an indelible moment in sports history.
There are also tales of Jordan manufacturing motivation—like the time he allegedly took offense to LaBradford Smith or when George Karl didn’t acknowledge him at dinner—using even the smallest slights to unleash dominance. Whether the provocation was real or imagined, Jordan always found a way to turn it into fuel.
Confidence as a competitive edge
What unites these stories is Jordan’s unmatched self-belief. While other stars played within the rhythm of the game, Bulls star dictated it. He didn’t just believe he was the best player on the floor—he knew it, and so did everyone else.
Whether ill, overlooked, or slightly buzzed, Jordan’s mentality never wavered. His confidence wasn’t arrogance—it was a combination of preparation, mental toughness, and a refusal to settle for anything less than greatness.
Scoring 30 points while tipsy might sound like a funny footnote, but in the broader context of Jordan’s career, it’s another example of how his mindset often mattered just as much as his physical gifts.