Agitated by what he described as an attack on his private life, Michael Jordan acknowledged today that he traveled to Atlantic City Monday evening, the night before Chicago's Game 2 loss to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jordan characterized his trip as a quick escape from the hostile environment of New York and the disappointing loss in Game 1, and as a chance to spend some leisure time with his father and friends that did not affect his preparation for the game Tuesday night. But he disputed reports that he had been at Bally's Grand casino as late as 2:30 A.M. on Tuesday and that he had lost $5,000 playing blackjack.
Jordan said he had gambled and lost, but not an amount anywhere near $5,000. He said that after a 90-minute return trip from Atlantic City to midtown Manhattan, a driving distance of about 110 miles, he was in bed in his hotel room at 1 A.M., allowing for eight hours of sleep before a shootaround on Tuesday morning.
"Let me see one person say I was there at 1 o'clock," Jordan said, "and they'd have a lawsuit."
Surrounded by a tightly packed group of reporters and television cameras after practice at the team's facility here, Jordan explained the reason for his trip.
"I'm just trying to get away from the city of New York and relax," Jordan said, "instead of sitting there listening to the media hype up about the first game -- our mistakes, Scottie Pippen didn't play well, Michael Jordan didn't play well. I'm just trying to get away from it, instead of staying in a room, which is four walls already."
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