Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Guo Ailun grew up in the rural, northern Chinese city of Liaoyang, and remembers the first time he encountered NBA star Michael Jordan -- or at least a piece of him -- in the early 2000s.
"The first time I remember Jordan was on a Japanese cartoon called Slam Dunk," he said. "One character on the show was a basketball player and he was wearing the Air Jordan 1. Ever since then, I loved Jordan."
Jordan the player had already cemented his legacy in the sport as a globally recognized superstar well before the time he last played for the Chicago Bulls in 1998.