Michael Jordan apparently wasn't above hustling Chicago Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen out of his money.
Jordan pulled a season-long con on Pippen (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) by correctly picking the winner of an animated bull race that was shown on video boards of Chicago home games. What Pippen didn't know is that the races were "prerecorded," and that Jordan would find out ahead of time who would win the race.
The story comes from ESPN's Amin Elhassan, who told the story on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast.
Jordan apparently showed up to the arena one day to get some early shots in and found some game operations staff members going through the bull race, which would be played later that night at the game.
"Mike is watching this and says, 'You guys already know who's going to win?' And the guy says, 'Yeah, it's all prerecorded,' " Elhassan said.
Jordan used his knowledge of the race -- which played during a break in game action -- to get $100 from Pippen. Jordan further used that knowledge to get money from Pippen the rest of the season.
Pippen never caught on and was astounded at how Jordan knew how to pick the correct bull each time, Elhassan said.
Has to be the shoes
Stephen Curry may have been able to silence critics on two fronts Friday night.
After coming through with a breakout performance in the NBA Finals when he scored 38 points in a Game 4 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Curry also addressed critics of his new Under Armour shoes.
The nearly all-white, simplistic Curry Low 2 "Chef Curry" sneakers were roasted on Twitter for looking like, as some thought, sneakers worn by senior citizens. For instance:
• "I bet these are going to be very popular in nursing homes this year. #Curry2"
• "#Curry2 'I've fallen and I can't get up' edition"
• "The #Curry2 really is a mall walker shoe."
When asked after the game about the criticism of the shoes and whether he considered wearing them for Game 4, Curry told reporters:
"Yeah, if I had them in the road bag I would have definitely worn them and showed you how fire they are," Curry said. "I love the nicknames they came up with."
It's a 24 thing
The Seattle Mariners found a new way to honor Ken Griffey Jr., selecting the Hall of Famer's son, Trey Griffey, on the final day of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft.
The Mariners selected Griffey in the 24th round out of the University of Arizona, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com.
Johns also noted the Mariners listed Griffey as a center fielder, while mentioning there was likely a reason he was taken in the 24th round.
Trey's father wore No. 24 with the Mariners from 1989 to 1999 before they traded him to the Cincinnati Reds.
In January, the Mariners announced they were going to retire Griffey's No. 24 on Aug. 6. The team made that news official 24 hours after the 1997 American League MVP was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with the highest percentage of votes ever.
Trey Griffey is a football player who quit playing baseball in 2006.
"Baseball will always be in my genes," he said in 2012. "I'll always know a lot about it because of my father and grandfather. But I don't really have the love for it that I do for football."
Sports on 06/12/2016