‘Relished That Moment’: Seven-Time NBA All-Star Names His Favorite Michael Jordan Highlight Ever

Joe Johnson took the NBA by storm upon making his debut in 2001 with the Boston Celtics. The high-flying swingman has played against several great competitors in his long-standing career; the list includes the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. However, Johnson’s favorite NBA moment came when he competed against a 38-year-old Michael Jordan! 

Michael Jordan played 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls and won pretty much everything as a player. The six championships speak for themselves along with the collection of league MVP and finals MVP awards. 

However, a second chapter beckoned Jordan when he joined the Washington Wizards’ front office. This position later forced him to lace up for two seasons in Washington, where once again, he stood out with his individual performance. 

Joe Johnson treasures the time when he faced Michael Jordan as a rookie

Joe Johnson has been in the NBA since 2001. He’s amassed plenty of achievements, including playing in seven All-Star games. However, the 39-year-old picked his rookie season duel against Michael Jordan as his favorite NBA highlight during a recent interview. 

“It would definitely be playing against the GOAT Michael Jordan. When he came back and played for the Wizards, it was my rookie year and I relished that moment because I knew it was gonna be huge,” Johnson told entertainment brand Whistle. 

“I have countless numbers of pictures from the time that I played against him, and it was fun. I enjoyed it. MJ scored, I think he had 28 that game, they came back, he was 40 years old, I guess he had 28, I had 16 and 10,” Johnson mentioned. 

While one can easily assume that Joe Johnson is an ardent fan of Michael Jordan, he wasn’t exactly precise with the details he gave out about his rookie year game against MJ.

While Johnson was correct about his stat line, he reduced Jordan’s point performance as the latter actually scored 32, not 28. It was 38-year-old Michael Jordan’s second 30-point performance for the Wizards in just five games into the 2001-02 regular season. 

In fact, a lot of fans often ignore how good Michael Jordan was with the Wizards. Not often do you see a 38-year-old averaging 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in the course of a season! 

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