In a 2016 interview, Northwestern University head coach Chris Collins reveals his first interaction with Michael Jordan.
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There are know two ways about the fact that NBA legend Michael Jordan could make heads turn wherever he went. The Bulls guard had a mystic aura about him, with people, including his peers, addressing him as Black Jesus and His Airness.
There will never be another superstar of MJ’s magnitude, having his opponents beat with his mere presence. In the past, we’ve heard stories of multiple-time All-Star players like Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups revealing their first meeting with Air Jordan, and being starstruck.
That’s the attention the six-time champion commanded, having everyone tongue-tied when they first met him, including his entourage. MJ’s rise came at a time when nations had opened their borders to globalization and liberalization, increasing the Bulls guard’s popularity by ten-folds.
In a 2016 interview with The Athletic’s Seth Davis, Chris Collin revealed his hilarious encounter with MJ in the locker room.
“I was tongue-tied, I didn’t know what to say, it was Michael Jordan”: Chris Collins recalls meeting the Bulls legend as a 12-year-old.
Anyone, who has followed MJ’s career, knows of his close association with Coach Doug Collins. The former Sixers player played a significant role in shaping Jordan’s flawless career, even ignoring the holistic approach of winning games, something for which he would end up getting replaced by Phil Jackson.
Nevertheless, being the son of veteran and former Bulls coach Doug Collins, one would imagine Chris to be well-versed with the NBA world. However, this wasn’t the case when it came to Michael Jordan, revealing an embarrassing moment, having him red-faced in front of the fourteen-time All-Star.
“My first game as a ball boy, I’m in the locker room, I’m kinda standing on the sides, said Chris. He (MJ) rolls in, and about 90-minutes before the game and he had the ritual of wearing new pairs of shoes every game and custom-made Jordans they were molded, and then he would give away that pair to charity after the game he would sign them, but I didn’t know any of this.”
The former Duke University associate head coach added,
“So I’m like this little 12-year-old in the corner, he (MJ) doesn’t say anything, I’m just kinda staring at him not saying a word, he takes the brand new pair of Air Jordans and he just like jams them right in my chest, I thought he was giving me the shoes, so this is great I get a pair of Air Jordans, so I take the box of Air Jordans. I start to put it in my backpack that I bought to the game, he (MJ) goes like, ‘Hey what the hell are you doing’, I said, what do you mean sir? He goes, ‘I want you to lace them up for me so I can play with them tonight, he goes like you’re gonna be my guy to lace my shoes up’ and that became my job every game.”
Truly, there will never be a more charismatic personality in the history of American Sports than Michael Jordan.
