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Arguably the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan is the biggest inspiration for the current generation of basketball players. With hordes of fans and supporters, the boy from North Carolina receives respect from nook and corner of this world. On the opposite side, do we know who Michael Jordan looked up to?

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In 2020, a Netflix docu-series ‘The Last Dance’ got released and the NBA world excitedly relived MJ’s era. One particular scene caught the viewers’ attention wherein Michael Jordan is posing with a poster of Marques Johnson in his North Carolina dorm room. It was an Adidas campaign poster of Johnson, with a quote stating, ‘What goes up goes in.’

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Michael Jordan is surprised with Johnson’s dunk

It came as a surprise to many that the GOAT looked up to Johnson in his early days. In response to this episode, Marques Johnson shared a hilarious incident that happened on the sets of Space Jam featuring Michael Jordan.

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There was Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, Grant Hill, and many more gracing the star-packed movie. One of the days, they were all up for a 3-on-3 and Michael was part of Johnson’s team. “After we get through playing, a game point I think I catch it inside and I do a little dunk. So, Michael’s like, ‘Hey old man, don’t be trying to dunk out here, you’re too old you never did that when you played.”

READ MORE: ‘Wrote Letters to 14 of the Chicago Bulls Players’: How Tim Grover Went From Training Housewives to Michael Jordan

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Marques Johnson has a witty comeback for MJ

Johnson is still chuckling about this day, as he responded MJ with the wittiest answer. “I looked at Michael I said, ‘Whatever I did when I played, you had my poster on your wall in college brother. So I must be doing something right.’ He just got all embarrassed and blushing. ‘You right about that I loved your game.’ That gave me a chance to one-up Michael.”

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Marques Johnson is a former 5-time NBA All-star. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks for the most part of his career. And now he is a renowned Bucks analyst at Fox Sports Net.

Michael’s connection with Marques Johnson dates back to his years as a sophomore. Johnson was the initial reason why Michael wanted to sign with Adidas. Eventually, he made a deal with Nike, but first preferences were set for different reasons.

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Pavni Ahuja

536 Articles

Pavni Ahuja is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Housing a keen interest in sports journalism, she is pursuing an undergraduate Journalism degree from Christ University. Pavni is an ardent fan of the NBA, with prior district-level playing experience in basketball. A dash of proficiency in the art of the written word and sports fever is what pulls her into contributing to the field of sports journalism day after day.

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