Michael Jordan says he rejected drugs, hotel party with Bulls teammates

April 20 (UPI) -- Basketball legend Michael Jordan said in his new documentary that he walked out of a hotel room party that included drugs and many of his Chicago Bulls teammates while he was a rookie.

Jordan, 57, made the comment during the first episode of The Last Dance, which aired two episodes Sunday night on ESPN. The series features never-before-seen footage and interviews with more than 100 people who were close to the Bulls in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jordan was asked if it was accurate to call the team a "traveling cocaine circus." He laughed at the question before telling a story about the team using drugs.

The six-time NBA Finals champion said the Bulls was staying at a hotel in Peoria, Ill., during the pre-season of his 1984 rookie campaign. He said he left his room to find his teammates.

"So I start knocking on doors and I get to this one door and knock on the door and I can hear someone say 'Shh. Someone's outside.' And then you hear this deep voice [say] 'Who is it?' I said 'M.J.' And they said "Ah, [expletive], he's just the rookie, don't worry about it.

"So they open up the door, I walk in and practically the whole team was in there, and it was like, things I've never seen in my life as a young kid. You've got your lines [of cocaine] over here. You've got your weed smokers over here. You've got your women over here.

"So the first thing I said was 'Look man, I'm out.' Because all I could think about was if they come raid this place right about now, I am just as guilty everybody else that's in this room. From that point on, I was more or less on my own."

The Bulls selected Jordan out of North Carolina with the No. 3 overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft. Chicago posted a 38-44 record in 1984 before revamping the roster. The Bulls had two more losing seasons in 1985 and 1986 but posted winning records every year from 1987 through 1997. Chicago won six championships from 1990 through 1997.

Episodes 3 and 4 of 10-part The Last Dance series air at 9 p.m. EDT Sunday on ESPN. The series initially was set to air in June, but was moved up to entertain fans during the coronavirus pandemic.