Therewerealreadysignsthathehadagooddealoftalent.HarvestSmith，aclassmateandclosefriendwhointhosedaysplayedbasketballwithhimpracticallyeveryday，thoughthewasthebestplayerontheirninth-gradeteam—hewassmall，buthewasveryquick.“You’dseehimgetashotoff，andyou’dwonderhowhedidit，becausehewasn’tthatbig，”Smithsaid，“butitwasthequickness.Theonlyquestionwashowbighewasgoingtobe—andhowfaruphewouldtakehisskilllevel.”
Thesummerafterninthgrade，JordanandSmithbothwenttoPopHerring’sbasketballcamp.Neitherofthemhadyetcomeintohisbody，andalmostallofthevarsityplayers，twoandsometimesthreeyearsolder，seemedinfinitelystrongeratthatmomentwhenayearortwoinphysicaldevelopmentcanmakeallthedifference.InSmith’smindtherewasnodoubtwhichofthetwoofthemwasthebetterplayer—itwasMichaelbyfar.Butonthedaythevarsitycutswereannounced—itwasthebigdayoftheyear，fortheyhadallknownforweekswhenthelistwouldbeposted—heandRoySmithhadgonetotheLaneygym.Smith’snamewasonit，Michael’swasnot.
ItwastheworstdayofJordan’syounglife.Thelistwasalphabetical，sohefocusedonwheretheJsshouldbe，anditwasn’tthere，andhekeptreadingandrereadingthelist，hopingsomehowthathehadmissedit，orthatthealphabeticallistinghadbeendoneincorrectly.Thatdayhewenthomebyhimselfandwenttohisroomandcried.Smithunderstoodwhatwashappening—Michael，heknew，neverwantedyoutoseehimwhenhewashurt.
“WeknewMichaelwasgood，”FredLynch，theLaneyassistantcoach，saidlater，“butwewantedhimtoplaymoreandwethoughttheJVwasbetterforhim.”HeeasilybecamethebestplayerontheJVthatyear.Hesimplydominatedtheplay，andhediditnotbysizebutwithquickness.Thereweregamesinwhichhewouldscorefortypoints.Hewassogood，infact，thattheJVgamesbecamequitepopular.TheentirevarsitybegantocomeearlysotheycouldwatchhimplayintheJVgames.