From the day he started watching basketball, Joe Courtney wanted to be Like Mike.
Courtney wasn't a sports fan growing up, but his parents wanted him to get involved in sports. He initially considered football, but learned it "wasn't his gig." So his mom suggested basketball. Courtney said he'd never seen a second of the game being played until his mom turned on the TV and found a Chicago Bulls game.
A sophomore at Callaway High School in Jackson at the time, Courtney couldn't take his eyes off a certain Bulls rookie phenom. Seeing Michael Jordan for the first time changed the course of Courtney's life.