Hall of Famer and legend Michael Jordan will forever be known as one of, if not the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan’s on-court exploits were legendary with six NBA titles, six NBA Finals MVP’s and five NBA MVP Awards, and as we’ve seen from the series “Last Dance”, Jordan’s off-court escapades are of equal legend – including casino gambling. As documented during the series and at the time, Jordan went to Atlantic City for a gambling excursion following the Bulls’ Game 1 loss of the Eastern Conference Finals to the New York Knicks. It was reported that Jordan spent time gambling until the wee-hours of the morning. With the New York tabloids in full force, Jordan was hounded for the rest of the series, especially after the Bulls dropped the next game to the Knicks and Jordan’s play seemingly affected. In vintage Jordan fashion, he and the Bulls rebounded to stun the Knicks to win the next four games to complete their first of two three-peat title runs. It has been speculated that this incident and the resulting scrutiny, along with the death of his father, led Jordan to retire from basketball following the 1993 NBA Finals.

Jordan made his historic return late in the 1995 season, and while his Bulls came up short in the Eastern Conference playoffs, Jordan and the Bulls began another run of three straight titles the following season. Goldin Auctions is proud to offer what is the first casino marker of Michael Jordan to ever hit the market. This offered $15,000 check was made out to “TRUMP INDIANA, INC.” on February 16, 1998. Jordan visited the casino that was owned by current President of the United States Donald Trump. The Trump Riverboat Casino in Gary, Indiana opened in June 1996 and was owned by President Trump, with an additional hotel that opened in 1998 that hosted the USA Pageant in 2001 and 2002. This casino was owned by Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts from 1996-2005. The riverboat is currently named the Majestic Star II under different management.

The check was drawn from “CRESTAR BANK MD” of Bethesda, Maryland and Jordan signed his name in black pen on the signature line with “JORDAN, MICHAEL J” pre-printed in black below the signature line. What’s interesting about this check is the timing in which Jordan visited Trump’s casino in Gary, Indiana. Jordan and the Bulls played two home games against the Detroit Pistons on February 15 where Jordan had 21 points in the Bulls 99-90 victory and the Indiana Pacers on February 17 where the Bulls won 105-97. Jordan had a team-high 27 points in the victory as Chicago improved to 39-15 on the season. Jordan’s visit to the Trump Casino was sandwiched in between these two games with the time stamp on the check at 3:30 PM. To put this signed Michael Jordan gambling marker in perspective, a Michael Jordan 1986/87 Fleer Rookie Card with a PSA 10 grade recently sold for $96,000 and there are 312 PSA 10 graded Jordan rookie cards that are known to exist. This piece is a one-of-a-kind item whose value will surely outweigh the amount of this check by several folds and should easily rival the aforementioned rookie cards in terms of significance. This comes with a LOA from Beckett Authentication that covers Jordan’s signature. Here’s your chance to own a truly one-of-a-kind Michael Jordan signed item from his casino visit tied to the current President of the United States.

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