LAS VEGAS—Guaranteeing they couldn’t “hack it” back in the ’80s and ’90s, former NBA star Michael Jordan spoke out Tuesday blasting the weakness and lack of drive in modern blackjack players. “These soft and coddled blackjack players today, who come into the Bellagio and stand on a jack and a five, they could never compete with the guys I went up against every single night,” said Jordan, complaining that today’s competitors lacked the killer instinct necessary to thrive in the clutch and single-handedly take over a card game when they were down by 20 or 30 grand. “Blackjack used to be about toughness. There was one night I busted out on 20 straight hands, but I kept grinding. These young players just expect to be handed a 21, they don’t want to fight for it. Back in the day, I knew hardcore guys who would hit on 17 all the time—they had grit and just wanted to dominate.” Jordan added that despite being 55 years old, he was confident that he could take any blackjack player in the world one-on-one.

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