:06:00
So I believe in learning late...
:06:03
playing early, but learning late.
:06:07
Michael's love of the game was born...
:06:10
in his hometown of Wilmington,
North Carolina.
:06:12
during long afternoons
on the play grounds.
:06:17
His older brother, Lary,
helped Michael hone his game...
:06:19
in their epic battles of one-on-one
at their backyard hoop.
:06:23
But Michael's first hard lesson
would come...
:06:25
when he tried out for the
varsity team at Laney High.
:06:28
When I was a sophomore
in high school...
:06:30
like most high school kids...
:06:33
you get all the energy and all
the motivation and excitement...
:06:38
of making your varsity team,
which is a big thing.
:06:41
Status is a lot
when you're in high school.
:06:45
So you can imagine
the disappointment that I got...
:06:47
when I felt like
I should have made the team.
:06:50
but then didn't make the team.
:06:52
I'm crying,
I lost my emotions totally.
:06:55
My mother came to me
and said,"Use that energy...
:06:58
"to prove to the coach and to your peers
and your classmates...
:07:04
that they made a mistake."
:07:06
You give it your best.
:07:08
You try so hard
and you get to the point,
:07:10
"I know I can do it"
:07:12
And if you try one more time,
you are able to achieve it.
:07:15
It's going
one step farther.
:07:17
That's not giving up,
it's giving your best.
:07:19
I only will walk away...
:07:21
when I know I do not have
anything else to give.
:07:25
The disappointment
was so deep, like a cut,
:07:28
it struck the fire in me.
:07:30
to make sure that I never endure
that type of pain again.
:07:34
In these condround
of the playoffs...
:07:38
Michael returned home
with a vengeance.
:07:42
Playing the Charlotte Hornets,
:07:43
It would be Michael's last
professional appearance in North Carolina.
:07:48
It's always been a treat
to come back home...
:07:50
when you've grown up here and you go out
and become a man on your own.
:07:54
And then come back home to show
what's evolved of that person.