Richard Esquinas’ life is yoga now. He’s a yogi, teaching and spreading the practice in Palm Springs, Calif. It’s how he fills his time.
But he is known for far more famous reasons – as the man, a one-time president and general manager of the San Diego Sports Arena, who took $1.2 million off Michael Jordan on the golf course, as revisited in “The Last Dance,” the ESPN documentary about Jordan, and Esquinas’ book, “Michael & Me: Our gambling addiction … my cry for help!”
The two met in August of 1989, at an exhibition game for NBA players. They met afterwards and bonded over their love of golf and gambling.
“Gamblers have a way of honing in on each other,” Esquinas would write in his book. “I knew he was a player and he knew I was a player. It’s an instinctive thing.”
The following day, the two hit the links and Jordan won $2,500. It was only the beginning. They played over 100 rounds together over the ensuing three years. Sometimes they played 36 holes. Once they played 45. It was $1,000 a hole. When one of the players trailed, they agreed to side bets. One day Esquinas had a pair of $98,000 checks, one to pay what he owed and the other if he lost a double-or-nothing wager.
“It got out of control,” Esquinas told the San Diego Tribune.
As time went on, Jordan began losing, and losing a lot. His bill went up to $1.252 million. It lowered to $902,000, before they stopped. A mutual agreement was made for Jordan to pay Esquinas three $300,000 installments over three years. He only received $200,000.
“I was in the process of finishing off all the payments, but when he pulled this stunt — we never had a written agreement, I was more or less going off my honor — I felt he dishonored me, so I don’t owe him any more honor. What’s the balance? Zero, in my book,” Jordan said in a 1993 interview with ABC.
Esquinas’ tell-all book, released during the Bulls’ run to the 1993 NBA title, was the stunt. Several people didn’t believe him. Nike co-founder Phil Knight wrote him a nasty letter. So did actor Tom Cruise.
“There was a little bit of a cloud — and this is a total public relations maneuver — where he cast it as, in that era, there [were] a lot of people around that he shouldn’t have been around, and I was part of that,” Esquinas said.
These days, his life has changed. He’s 65 and while he still plays golf, a life of gambling is been toned down significantly.
“I’m a yogi,” he said. “That’s it, that’s the whole thing. What’s a yogi? Somebody dedicated to teaching and spreading the wisdom of yoga. I felt like this is natural, this is what I want to do, I think I can help people. It’s to serve and share my passion for yoga, to help people sharpen their sword.
“But I still look pretty good in a suit, brother, if I ever put one on.”
