Michael Jordan’s Aura “Like Bruce Leroy” According to Legendary Celtics Duo: “Had That Orange Joint”

This week on KG Certified, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were reduced to over-enthusiastic fanboys over their favorite players. Before they were the most formidable combination for the Boston Celtics, The Big Ticket and The Truth were rookies before a Michael Jordan. The first time they were in the legendary presence of His Airness, they felt that was the closest they were to the sun.

The duo were eager to talk about the first time they played against a star player of the NBA they looked up to. For KG, the most memorable first encounters were with Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Charles Barkley. Pierce asked him when he saw MJ for the first time, “Did he have a glow?” Garnett’s answer left the studio in splits.

“I swear to god, he had that orange joint!” To emphasize, he even drew a halo in the air. KG started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995, when Michael Jordan was fresh out of three championships and a first retirement. And he had the aura to go with his comeback. KG described looking at Jordan was like looking directly at the sun (which he warns not to do) and seeing green specks.

“[Michael Jordan] walk out here, I swear to god, it seem like everything is stopped. This n**** is moving in slow motion. Every motherf*ker in here looking at him and he know it. Never seen anyone own the stage like bro,” Kevin Garnett colorfully described.

University of Kansas alum, Paul Pierce had a similar sentiment but it predated his NBA career. He didn’t have a match with Jordan then but he got to bask in that Black Jesus aura. When Pierce met MJ the first time, he felt like he’s looking at the awesome protagonist of an action movie. “He came up in his suit. I swear, it was like looking into this light [he referred to a studio light], dead into this light when he walked in the room and you couldn’t like, he was just glowing like Bruce Leroy.”

Pierce is referring to the character in The Last Dragon played by Taimak who exuded those Bruce Lee vibes. And MJ embodied that confidence himself.

Paul Pierce says The Truth on Michael Jordan

Pierce relayed to Garnett that the first time he was up close and personal with the Michael Jordan, he was still a college student. He played for the Kansas Jayhawks from 1995 to 1998. During that time, Jordan&Co. were playing a preseason game against the Seattle Supersonics.

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 The young NBA fan even had the chance to get the MJ fairy dust. “Damn, that’s Mike. I’m in college too. So, I got to shake his hand and take a picture with him and all that. But I don’t know if I ever met another person like that in my life,” Pierce said.

Pierce and Garnett were similarly starstruck with the entire Dream Team and traded bragging points about who they played against. While Pierce is jealous that Garnett played against Magic Johnson, which of them is the bigger MJ fanboy?

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