:06:02
His older brother, Lary,
helped Michael hone his game...
:06:04
in their epic battles of one-on-one
at their backyard hoop.
:06:07
But Michael's first hard lesson would come...
:06:09
when he tried out for the
varsity team at Laney High.
:06:12
When I was a sophomore in high school...
:06:15
like most high school kids...
:06:18
you get all the energy and all
the motivation and excitement...
:06:22
of making your varsity team,
which is a big thing.
:06:25
Status is a lot when you're in high school.
:06:28
So you can imagine
the disappointment that I got...
:06:31
when I felt like
I should have made the team.
:06:33
but then didn't make the team.
:06:35
I'm cying,
I lost my emotions totally.
:06:38
My mother came to me
and said,"Use that energy...
:06:41
"to prove to the coach and to your peers
and your classmates...
:06:47
that they made a mistake."
:06:48
You give it your best.
:06:51
You try so hard and you get to the point,
:06:53
"I know I can do it"
:06:54
And if you try one more time,
you are able to achieve it.
:06:57
It's going
one step farther.
:06:59
That's not giving up,
it's giving your best.
:07:01
lonly will walk away...
:07:04
when I know I do not have
anything else to give.
:07:07
The disappointment
was so deep, like a cut,
:07:10
it struck the fire in me.
:07:12
to make sure that I never endure
that type of pain again.
:07:15
In these condround
of the playoffs...
:07:19
Michael returned home
with a vengeance.
:07:23
Playing the Charlotte Hornets,
:07:25
It would be Michael's last professional appearance
in North Carolina.
:07:29
It's always been a treat to come back home...
:07:31
when you've grown up here and you go out
and become a man on your own.
:07:35
And then come back home to show
what's evolved of that person.
:07:51
For fans who had watched him since his days
as a Carolina schoolboy,
:07:55
what emerged now was not just
the skill but the will power.
:07:59
Those who remembered his raw potential...