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PARK CITY — Michael Jordan's former personal trainer recently suggested the famed NBA star was poisoned, perhaps intentionally, during his stay in Park City for the 1997 Finals.
The game has been dubbed the "flu game," but Tim Grover, Jordan's former trainer, said it was bad pizza delivered to their hotel room that made Jordan sick.
"100 percent" Grover said in an interview with TrueHoop TV. "He was poisoned for the 'flu game.' Everyone called it the flu game, but we sat there. We were in the room."
Jordan was sitting his his hotel room and got hungry, but couldn't find anywhere to eat. Grover said at the time, the hotel where they were staying was one of few in Park City, so people knew where they were.
He was poisoned for the 'flu game.' Everyone called it the flu game, but we sat there. We were in the room.
–Tim Grover
When they ordered the pizza, five people came to the door to deliver it and Grover's gut feeling said something wasn't right.
"I take the pizza and tell them: 'I've got a bad feeling about this ... I've just got a bad feeling about this,'" Grover said, recounting the night.
Jordan was the only one in the room who ate the pizza, and he was the only one who got sick. At around 2 a.m. Jordan called Grover to his room and he immediately said it was poisoning, not the flu.
Regardless of whether it was the flu, food poisoning or intentional poisoning, Jordan still managed score 38 points for the Chicago Bulls in a 90-88 win against the Jazz.