Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce tricked a rookie into facing Michael Jordan.
The NBA community was buzzing with excitement ahead of the 2001-02 season as Michael Jordan announced his return to the league.
After winning six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan wanted a new challenge in his career and joined the Washington Wizards.
When MJ announced his return, the Boston Celtics had a superstar in Paul Pierce. At the same time, it was the rookie year of future 7x NBA All-Star Joe Johnson.
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesPaul Pierce convinced Joe Johnson to guard Michael Jordan
Johnson recently made an appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s ‘All the Smoke’ podcast.
During the conversation, Johnson revealed his welcome to the NBA moment was against MJ, thanks to a cheeky trick played by Pierce.
“My rookie year was MJ’s first year back in the NBA with the Wizards. Yeah, we played against them [in] the fourth game of the season.
“Eric Williams got hurt [in] the second game of the season, small forward. So they started me, and I got to guard MJ,” Johnson began.
He explained: “Paul Pierce is like, ‘Man, I’m going to get him in the fourth quarter. I need you to give him the first three.’ I’m like, all right, bet. So, man, we got out there.”
At the time, Jordan was a bit rusty as he had been away from the NBA for three seasons. However, Johnson accepted the challenge, but he didn’t expect his teammates to talk trash to MJ.
“First off, Toine [Antoine Walker] and MJ were talking stuff to each other on the tip,” Johnson revealed. “So MJ, tells Paul, ‘I got to come all the way back to the NBA just to get a pickup game with you, just to get a run with you.’
Paul Pierce set up his own rookie against Michael Jordan 😳
Joe Johnson relives his “Welcome to the NBA” moment going one-on-one with Wizards MJ.
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Joe Johnson asked Paul Pierce to ‘chill’
Despite being 38 years old, Jordan seemingly took offense to the Celtics players’ trash talk as he finished the game with 32 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Before the end of the game, Johnson asked his teammates to ‘chill,’ but it’s obvious they didn’t listen to him.
“So they’re all going back and forth the whole game. But I’m like, ‘Man, y’all got to chill.’ You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m the one that’s got to guard this man,” he stated.
To be fair, Johnson also had a memorable game as he contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists. On top of that, the Celtics also walked away with a 104-95 win over the Wizards.