Daniel Negreanu has had a busy schedule this summer. He's been busily grinding World Series of Poker bracelet events in the 2021 WSOP Online Series in Las Vegas, Nevada and the 2021 GGPoker Online Bracelet Series in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He even came close to winning his seventh career WSOP bracelet with a third-place finish in Event #22 in July. But despite his busy schedule, Negreanu still found the time to troll the internet with a hilarious poll about Michael Jordan on Monday.
“At age 58, if Michael Jordan could train for two weeks,” Negreanu posted on Twitter, “how many points would he average in the NBA this season if healthy?” The six-time WSOP bracelet winner added a poll and gave four options: “20 [points]”, “25”, “30”, or 40+”.
There were two clear giveaways that this was meant to be a joke. First of all, the “train for two weeks” bit was a clear tongue-in-cheek callback to when Negreanu once infamously stated that he could beat $25/$50 online poker with two weeks of training. Secondly, the lowest selection available was 20 points. Any serious hypothetical poll about a 58-year-old who has been out of the league for nearly two decades would have to include some options lower than 20 points per game.
Negreanu flamed the fire
“Where’s the less than 10 option?” asked someone on Twitter. “It’s Michael Jordan. I felt I may insult him by making the floor as low as 20.” Negreanu responded. “Dog you clearly don’t understand basketball, he couldn’t make a team,” another person responded to Negreanu’s poll. “Not right now obviously,” Negreanu responded, “but I said he gets two weeks to get in game shape. After two weeks I imagine he starts slow just 25-30 a game and goes from there.”
The poll received 795 comments, 410 retweets, and 167 likes. Just under 29,927 votes came in with 67% of voters taking the lowest option available at 20 points per game. 12.2% of respondents voted that Jordan would score 40+ points per game in his return to action.
The comment thread was good clean fun across the board. Some people were clearly in on the joke. A surprising number of people weren’t, and began actively debating whether or not a 58-year-old Jordan would have success in today’s NBA. Many commenters matter-of-factly posted low score projections or pointed out that Jordan wouldn’t earn playing time. Others argued that in today’s soft and foul-driven league, Jordan would easily rack up points even in his advanced age.
When it was all said and done, Negreanu basked in the glory of his great trolling effort. “This might have been my best work ever. Truly. The comments are fantastic! Better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you all.”
He’s not wrong. The comments really were fantastic. And a nice break from the usual toxicity that is so prevalent on Twitter nowadays.
Featured Image Credit: Flickr - World Poker Tour
