Everyone remembers that moment they met one of their idols. 

For Paul Pierce the year was 1997 and the idol was Michael Jordan.

Paul, then a junior at Kansas was about to enjoy a college basketball season that would catapult him to the NBA as a lottery pick. So when the Kansas basketball team got to watch MJ and the Bulls play in a preseason game and then met Michael afterward.

“I’m like, I can’t believe I have Mike in here. This dude, I had three posters on my wall when I was in high school, of Mike, and he’s standing right here. I had a chance to shake his hand, watch him play in a preseason game. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, just to be able to have that moment with him,” Paul said. “That was an awesome moment.”

Naturally, just nine months away from entering the NBA Draft, Paul said he sized Mike up a little, assuming he might play against him the next season. [Jordan would retire for a second time that offseason and did not return to the league until Paul was already a veteran]. But even The Truth admitted he wouldn’t dare talk trash to MJ back then.

“I remember I looked and I was like “Ok I’m a little bit taller than Mike now. I could match up with him. I’m saying that stuff in my head, because I knew I never would’ve said it to him as a college kid.”