In a new interview with Men’s Health, Common looked back at some stories throughout his life and career. One of which was when Michael Jordan critiqued his basketball skills after watching him play in the 2010 NBA All-Star Celebrity game.
The two had crossed paths before, but reunited several times after that.
“I had met Michael before because I was a ball boy for the Bulls when I was a kid,” Common said. “He doesn’t remember me from those days, but he also had come to one of my shows in Chicago at the House Of Blues. Mike was watching my show, but I didn’t let people know he was there ’cause he was up in the balcony. Until my last song.”
“When I did, everybody just watched him and just forgot I was on stage,” he added.
Sometime later, the two talked about Common’s role in the NBA game.
“I just played in the celebrity game and hit the last free throws to seal the game,” Common said. “In this picture, when I greeted him, he told me to stick to rapping. He grounded me in this picture, for sure.”
“I couldn’t believe that he didn’t recognize that my game was actually a good game,” he joked.
Check out the full interview above.