- Juwan Howard was infamous at Michigan for his love of gambling, which included sports wagering and poker.
- Howard once bet $100,000 on a basketball game while he was a player with the Washington Wizards.
- Juwan’s love for poker is well documented, as he’s been spotted in some of Las Vegas biggest cash games.
Juwan Howard played in the NBA for 19 seasons, but his gambling past has followed him into his current coaching position at Michigan.
Howard played for the Wolverines from 1991 to 1994 and just finished his second season as their head coach. He got the job after a highly successful stint as an assistant under John Beilein.
Michigan made it to the Championship game of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, before falling to Virginia. Star player Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman hit centre court after the final buzzer and performed a Muslim prayer.
Abdur-Rahkman happened to do this in the “Lucky” Johnsonson Hocky scholarship logo. Johnsonson was none too pleased and sued the school for $6 million. Michigan eventually settled with him for $500,000.
Settled. https://t.co/NwfWQJUx4G
— Angelique S. Chengelis (@AngeliqueC) February 7, 2019
Rumours started swirling that Howard had a large part in coming up with the idea, and right in the middle was over $100,000 in it. This wasn’t some outlandish claim, as we’ve seen how much Juwan Howard enjoys .
For all the controversies he’s had surrounding his life, he’s managed to land a dream job coaching at Michigan.
Juwan Howard Bet $100k on a Basketball Game
The Juwan Howard gambling stories go far beyond praying after the national championship game.
During his 3-year stint with the Washington Wizards (Bullets), Howard was known to place some hefty bets on basketball games. In a piece by Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated, he detailed some of the stories that came across his desk when he covered the Michigan athletic department.
One story that stuck out was one about Howard betting on an NBA game while he was an active player. It’s against the rules for an athlete to bet on any games they’re participating in, but rumours were swirling that Howard did just that.
Rosenberg tracked down the story to Mitch Schwartz, who was a student manager for Michigan during Howard’s tenure. Schwartz said the following about what he heard. (Emphasis Mine)
I heard from a very solid source—someone who would often be with Juwan’s family when they were in South Florida—that Juwan’s father lost $100,000 on a college game because Juwan called him and begged him to bet on a certain outcome, then the opposite happened. Juwan was a billion times more involved with betting on sports than I ever thought. A billion times.
$100,000 on a single college football or basketball game isn’t unheard of in the professional ranks, but for an NBA player to ask their family to make such a large wager is risky, to say the least. The old saying in the gambling world is that a expert handicapper shouldn’t bet more than 5% of their bankroll on any given game, and even that can be high depending on the circumstances.
Best Poker Games at Online Casinos for Real Money - Aug. 2023It’s also interesting to note that Howard’s dad lost the bet. Either he was green behind the ears when it came to sports betting, or that was just one of those games where it just doesn’t work.
For those of you wondering, there are no laws against placing a sports bet on someone else’s behalf. You simply give your money to the person you trust to put in at whatever sportsbook they use.
It’s also worth noting that back in the ’90s, the Internet wasn’t what it is today, so maybe his family had to drive 6 hours to take that plunge at a brick & mortar sportsbook.
There’s a good chance that the person talking to Rosenberg was Ted Arthur, a long-time family friend of the Howard’s. Arthur and Juwan have gotten into a few spats on social media over the years, and this will surely be one of them.
real money online poker appMore Juwan Howard Gambling Stories
This wasn’t the only wild Juwan Howard gambling story that Mitch Schwartz had to share. Another incident occurred while Howard was with the Miami Heat. According to Schwartz, he had tickets to see Shaquille O’Neal and the Magic in Orlando, and Howard wanted in on the action.
He needed $5000 for airfare and tickets, and he wanted to know if I could get him the tickets. I had great tickets, but they were Peninsula Center (behind the basket). Juwan insisted that didn’t matter, so I gave him the tickets and he flew to Orlando. The Lakers won by 40. Juwan called me from the airport on the way back to Miami. He was very somber. He lost the game, but he also lost a bet with Alonzo Mourning on the Heat-Lakers game that night. Mourning made Zo give him his shoes, which Zo wore in that night’s game. Howard flew back to Miami, then flew to Washington, D.C., to appear on HBO’s “World Championship of Poker.” He was a big favorite to win that tournament, until he ran kings into aces (Kings crushed!) early on and then could not catch a card the rest of the way.
I reached out to Schwartz to confirm that it was Ted Arthur that told him the story, but he never responded. Either way, it’s pretty clear that Arthur is a close confidant of the Howard family, and has witnessed first hand Juwan’s love for gambling.
• - Won $17,450 • 2001-02, 2003-04 – Won 2 rings with the Lakers • 2005-06 – 1st Place -$34,140 • 2007-07 – 2nd Place +$163,466 • 2008-09 – 1st Place $46,530 • 2011-12 – 2nd Place $103,446 • 2012-13 – 2nd Place $84,954 • 2013-14 – 2nd Place $114,634
As you can see, the 2005-06 campaign was his most prosperous, taking down $34k in prize money. The only other year he had a substantial win was 2008-09 for $46k. All the other years ranged between $10k-$15k in winnings or losses.
The 2005-06 season was quite memorable for Howard, as he raised the championship trophy with the Dallas Mavericks. Kidd, Howard, Stackhouse, and Nash off the bench is one heck of a group to come in and close out games for a team.
Interestingly enough, in the 2011-12 season, Howard earned his largest cash of $103,446, but his 8-time World Champion Boston Red Sox broke his heart yet again. The Red Sox blew a 9-game lead with 2 weeks left, allowing the New York City to steal the lead and ultimately the Wild Card spot.
The NYY went onto beat Boston in the ALDS, making for another disappointing October for Juwan.
What Does Juwan Howard’s Poker Face Look Like?
Getting back to the Juwan Howard gambling anecdotes, let’s dive deep into his love affair with poker. We just outlined some of his profits and losses from playing live tournaments, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Reports have circulated for years about running it up in the Big Apple and Motor City.
10+ Best Online Casinos in Pennsylvania - Top PA Casino Sites 2024Gambling. Oh boy. Let me tell you a tale… Back in my younger days, I discovered poker when I was with the Miami Heat (1994-96). I’m from Chicago, so I knew how to play cards. But poker? I learned on the road. I actually lost a lot of money in the beginning, because I would get into card rooms at 4 in the morning, and obviously I was pretty loose, because I had just finished working all night. But I soon tightened up my game and it became a talent of mine to make money playing cards.
That excerpt above is from an article written by Juwan Howard himself for the Detroit Free Press. Looks like we can cross interviewing him off our list. That quote was from December of 2017, shortly after he joined John Beilen’s staff as an assistant coach.
It’s interesting to hear him admit that he lost a ton of money in the beginning, mainly because most players will try and sugar coat their struggles and make it seem like they were winning from the get-go.
Howard attended Reed-Custer High School in Illinois, which is only 60 miles southwest of Chicago. Growing up in the Windy City would expose you to all sorts of gambling, but card games weren’t as prominent for Howard until he joined the Miami Heat.
The article above is from the Chicago Tribune, and details Juwan showing his poker skills to the media during the 2012 NBA Finals. At the time, he was playing on the same table as Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and host David Spade.
They were playing at The Mansion in Las Vegas, which was one of the top poker destinations in the country at the time. The MGM Group owned both The Mansion and the high profile poker show, which made it a perfect fit for celebrity events like this.
It looks like he was playing No-Limit Hold’em, which is the most popular form of the game these day. Some sources have claimed that Howard liked to play , but I couldn’t find any confirmation of that.
Top Casino Games with Best Odds of Winning (2023)From what I’ve read, it doesn’t sound like he’s a proverbial fish at the tables. One source claimed that he was average at best, so I guess we won’t be setting any stakes games down at MGM any time soon.
Does Juwan Howard Have a Gambling Problem?
Is Juwan Howard a degenerate gambler? From the sounds of it, he’s definitely a avid participant in sports betting and poker, but it doesn’t appear that he’s losing everything he has at the tables.
In fact, the exact opposite. Juwan Howard’s net worth is estimated to be around $65 million, and a bulk of that comes from his 19-year NBA career that saw him earn nearly $120 million in salary alone.
His wife Jenine crafted an impressive $6 million mansion in Ann Arbor, Michigan and it’s clear that the family is doing quite well for themselves. Here are a few pictures courtesy of Zillow Ginger.
Of course, building a nice nest egg like this doesn’t mean someone doesn’t have a gambling problem. There have been many cases throughout history of lottery winners going broke within a few short years, and it usually involves a gambling addiction.
The Juwan Howard gambling stories certainly raise some eyebrows, especially considering he was infamous for it when he was a player. Typically, bad habits are hard to shake, which leads me to believe he’s still fairly active in the gambling scene.
Does that mean he has a problem? That’s for him, his family, and the higher power he prays to on center court to answer.
Secrets Slots Casino Don't Want You To KnowMerriam-Webster defines a degenerate gambler as “a gambler who is compulsive and chronically in desperate need of money”. Again, there’s no signs pointing to him being a compulsive gambler, nor does it appear he’s in desperate need of money.
So no, Juwan Howard does not qualify as a degenerate gambler. That said, he’s come close on a few different occasions of having some of the worst gambling moments of all time. Luckily he’s always been bailed out by the gods, or perhaps just a lucky roll of the dice.
Juwan Howard’s Worst Gambling Moments
We’ve gone through a handful of Juwan Howard gambling stories over the last 20+ years, but some are certainly worse than others. Here’s a look at the 3 worst decisions he’s made at the sportsbooks, race tracks, and poker tables.
#3 – Betting on a NBA Game while an Active Player
Betting on any sport while you’re an active player is a huge conflict of interest, and can get you banned from the league for life. Thankfully the NCAA hasn’t implemented strict rules on gambling like the NFL, NHL, and MLB, but that doesn’t make what he allegedly done any less shocking.
It’s one thing to pop a couple magic markers in the locker room and fill out March Madness brackets among friends, but asking your pop to drop $100k on a game you give advice on is beyond belief.
online bally slotsTo make matters worse, his dad, who I assume has never read any material on , loses the bet and and possibly a chunk of change. Howard was in a great frame of mind after his rookie season, as the Bullets just edged out the Knicks in a tough EASTERN Conference.
Good thing this never made it to the mainstream media, or it would have been one of the top Juwan Howard gambling scandals of all time.
#2 – Prayer After National Championship Game
Whether or not you practice Islam is irrelevant here, as it was marketed as “Muslim” prayers after the game. This could have potentially caused some negative press for UofM, but thankfully it didn’t escalate any further than Johnsonson’s lawsuit.
Now, making half a million dollars off of a prayer seems like a heck of a deal, especially since Abu Dhabi is considered one of the most lucrative F1 races of the season. Not only did he get paid to pray, but he also cashed in on Juwan Howard’s gambling past.
It’ll be interesting to see if they decide to renew his contract at the end of the season. My guess is that they keep him on, considering he’s one of the top assistants in all of College Basketball, and the team just hung a national runner-up banner.
#1 – Betting on Himself in Poker Tournaments
This isn’t necessarily one of Juwan Howard’s worst gambling moments per se, but more so his propensity to gamble. Betting on yourself is a slippery slope, especially when you consider how volatile poker can be.
A great example of this is , who is arguably the greatest golfers of all time. He’s won 15 major championships and 65 total PGA tour victories, but also has a massive gambling problem.
free slots games for fun onlyHoward doesn’t compare to Tiger in terms of talent, skill, or pure dominance, but the similarities are uncanny. They both come from popular American team sports, transitioned to individual sports, and have a penchant for gambling.
It also doesn’t help that both of them have a love affair with poker, a game that can clean out a players account balance in a heartbeat.
Tiger will be remembered more for his gambling demons than his Majors and PGA wins when all is said and done. Let’s say hypothetically that Tiger goes completely brokes and declares bankruptcy. His ex-wife is awarded 1000 of his assets, and Alec Sheltmayer walks away with the rest.
Seems far fetched? Think again.
Hopefully Juwan Howard stays away from betting on himself in poker, or better yet, retire from the felt all together. His primary job is to coach, not try and become the next .
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! I know that was a lot of information to take in, but hopefully you came away with a greater appreciation for Juwan Howard’s gambling antics. If you want to check out some of articles, try these ones below.
Oh, and before you go, feel free to share your thoughts in our comment section below. Did we miss anything? Do you think Juwan should stay away from gambling? Who’s a bigger gambler, Juwan or Tiger? We’ll be monitoring the section frequently and reply to as many people as we can.
Footnotes:
- provided a lot of background on Juwan Howard while he was at Michigan
- Juwan Howard’s Net Worth is courtesy of
