Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce tricked a rookie into playing against Michael Jordan.
When Michael Jordan announced his return to the league, the NBA community was buzzing with excitement ahead of the 2001-02 season.
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. This year also marked the rookie year of future seven-time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson.
Johnson recently appeared on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s podcast “All the Smoke.”
During the conversation, Johnson revealed that his welcome moment to the NBA was playing against M.J., thanks to Pierce’s cheeky tricks.
“My rookie year was MJ’s first year back in the NBA with the Wizards. Yeah, we played them in the fourth game of the season.
“Eric Williams, our small forward, got injured in the second game of the season, so they started me and I was going to guard MJ,” Johnson began.
“Paul Pierce is like, ‘Hey, I’m going to get him in the fourth quarter. I want him to have the first three quarters,'” he explained. It’s okay, you can bet. So, hey, we got out there. ”
At the time, Jordan had been out of the NBA for three seasons and was a little rusty. However, Johnson accepted the challenge, not expecting his teammates to badmouth MJ.
“First of all, Toine (Antwone Walker) and MJ were talking about things to each other in the information,” Johnson revealed. “So MJ said to Paul, ‘I had to come all the way back to the NBA just to play pickup games with you, just to run with you.’
Despite being 38 years old, Jordan apparently took offense to the trash talk from Celtics players as he finished the game with 32 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Before the end of the game, Johnson asked his teammates to “calm down,” but it’s clear they didn’t listen.
“I mean, they’re going back and forth the whole game. But I’m like, ‘Hey, guys calm down.'” You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m the one who has to protect this guy,” he said.
To be fair, Johnson also had a memorable game, posting 16 points, 10 rebounds, and two assists. On top of that, the Celtics also beat the Wizards 104-95.