Back in the 1990s, if you were a young NBA player, your dream was to go up against Michael Jordan and try to get the best of him. At the time, Jordan was far and away the best player in the league and if you wanted to prove your worth, you had to put up numbers against the greatest of all time. In 1996, Ray Allen experiencing his very first tastes of NBA basketball while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. In a recent interview with Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, Allen explained the first time he got to play against Jordan and what the Bulls superstar said to him.
“The second preseason game of my career,” Allen said when asked about what moment made him realize he had arrived in the NBA. “October 15, 1996. United Center. Michael Jordan. He said ‘welcome to the NBA’ at jump ball.”
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Allen didn't have much else to say about the encounter and whether or not he was able to perform well that night. As we know by now, Jordan is an incredibly competitive individual and would never let a rookie like Allen get the best of him. This story certainly lines up well with what Jordan was known for.
Just like Jordan, Allen is now in the Basketball Hall Of Fame and even has a championship to go with his other accomplishments. Of course, by the time Jordan played Allen for the first time, he already had six rings to his name. What a way to start your career.
[Via]