As a youngster, NBA veteran Jamal Crawford had the ultimate honor of having to play the role of the great Michael Jordan in a TV commercial.

It was an unforgettable experience for the three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year winner, something that he cherishes to this very day.

“I can’t even say it was a dream come true because I never even dreamed that,” Jamal Crawford said, via Roderick Boone of The Athletic. “You don’t dream stuff like that. So I just couldn’t believe it. To this day, it still doesn’t feel real. But I remember him [Michael Jordan] wanting me to play him in the commercial, and I was like, ‘Well, what do I have to do?' And he’s like, ‘We just play one-on-one. Read a couple of lines and we play one-on-one.'

“He was really talking trash and we played and it was just a fun time. We shot it at the United Center, which I was very familiar with because that’s where our games were. And I actually got paid for it. I’m like, ‘Man, I get paid to be in a commercial with him?' I would’ve paid him and just said let me anywhere on set.”

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The fact that it was Jordan himself who had personally asked Crawford to take on the role made the experience even more amazing. The message here was that Jordan saw a little bit of himself in Crawford, which was the highest form of praise coming from the Chicago Bulls icon and NBA legend.

Here is the aforementioned Gatorade commercial from 2002:

During this time, Crawford was a young 21-year-old playing in his second season in Chicago. He hadn't even gotten his feet wet — so to speak — so surely, this was one of the most memorable moments early in his NBA career, perhaps even ever.