Michael Jordan Went To Bar And Drank Beer Before Scoring 37 Points Against Heat In 1992: ‘I’m Seeing Three Rims, Imma Shoot At The One In The Middle’

According to Craig Hodges, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan went to a bar and drank beer before scoring 37 points against the Miami Heat during the 1991-92 season. 

The game took place on March 16, 1992.

“We leaving shootaround and we on the bus and MJ like, ‘Man drop me off here.’ And (we) dropped him off at the bar,” Hodges said on the All the Smoke podcast. “He said he gonna have some beers. He tells us to pick him up on the way back to the game. We pick him up, he still got his sweats on. And you know MJ come to games suited and booted.

“Still got his sweats on. We pick him up, he gets on the bus, ‘Yeah man, I’m feeling good.’ Right? Bubbly. You could smell the beer on him. Got 30 at half. Going through warmups, ‘Man, I’m seeing three rims, Imma shoot at the one in the middle.'”

The Bulls beat the Heat by a final score of 116-100. Jordan played 39 minutes. He finished with 37 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists while shooting 15-of-27 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

Jordan had two stints with the Bulls. He won one Defensive Player of the Year Award, three steals titles, 10 scoring titles, five MVPs, six championships and six Finals and made 12 All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams and nine All-Defensive teams. 

In 930 games with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks. He guided the franchise to two three-peats and went undefeated in the NBA Finals (6-0).

Jordan came out of retirement for a second time in 2001 and played two seasons with the Washington Wizards. He averaged 21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in 142 games with the Wizards. 

Arguably the greatest player in NBA history, Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also named to the 75th Anniversary Team in 2022. 

Jordan is first in NBA history in points per game in the regular season and postseason. He averaged 30.1 points in the regular season and 33.4 points in the playoffs.