There are many stories told about how NBA legend Michael Jordan's ultra-competitiveness was unmatched, especially in his prime during the early 1990s.
Former Phoenix Suns forward Cedric Ceballos added another
anecdote during this appearance on All The Smoke podcast released Thursday, Oct. 1. He recalled how Jordan "outpartied" Charles Barkley in the Phoenix area when the Suns hosted the Chicago Bulls entering Game 2 of the 1993 NBA Finals.
Ceballos recalled how Jordan went with little sleep after his all-nighter and early golf round prior to that game.
He hung out with his friend Barkley, Ceballos and their teammates at former Scottsdale celebrity hotspot Jetz and Stixx, then managed to play an 18-hole round of golf the following morning in the Valley's June heat.
Unfazed, Jordan put up an astounding 42 points that evening after his golf round, adding 12 rebounds, nine assists and two steals in Chicago's 111-108 win that put Chicago up 2-0.
Barkley also scored 42 points in the game.
"Saturday, we go out, Jetz and Stixx. At that time Phoenix closed at 1 (a.m.), so we can shut it down," Ceballos said about tagging along with Barkley and Jordan. "We leave about 1:30, me, (him), Charles and a couple other cats, go to his hotel suite. They gamble and smoke. I left at 3. This dude (Jordan) gets up and walks 18 holes — in June, in Arizona at 7 a.m."
Ceballos explained that Jordan didn't take a golf cart to each hole. He walked each one, estimated that his round ended around noon or 1 p.m. Then Jordan likely boarded the latest bus from the Bulls' hotel at 2 p.m. to what was then America West Arena (now Mortgage Matchup Center) for the early evening tip-off in downtown Phoenix.
Ceballos drew a comparison to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
"I love Kobe, miss him so much, 'Bron, but they're technicians," Ceballos said. "They eat the best foods. Their nutrition, they get all that stuff, they get stretched ... But Mike was just naturally a beast, man."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Michael Jordan partied all night, golfed, then smoked Suns
