For most Americans, the name Gianmarco Pozzecco likely doesn’t ring a bell. Ponzecco is a former Italian professional basketball player who played for several teams throughout Europe. In 2001 he tried to join the NBA and was playing for a contract with the Toronto Raptors in the Summer League, but wasn’t able to make the cut.
Coming back to Italy, the point guard led the league in assists for seven seasons, and also played for the national team for which he was part of the silver medal winning squad in the 2004 Olympics.
Pozzecco, who is a coach now, joined Italian football legend Christian Vieri on an Instagram live a while back, and revealed an insane story about Michael Jordan hustling Jamal Crawford from the first car he bought with his first NBA salary. Crawford, who celebrates his birthday today, initially challenged Jordan, who was working on his second comeback at the time, to a three point contest, but Michael flipped it around, leaving young Crawford car-less.
“Jamal Crawford challenged Michael Jordan to a 3-point shootout for $1000. Jordan won and said that $1000 is for babies and upped the wager to $5000. This time, Jamal won. Michael Jordan then asked Crawford: “What car did you drive here with?” Jamal replied: “Mercedes” Jordan then said: “I came with a Ferrari, let’s bet our cars.” Crawford agreed and Jordan went 5 for 5, removed Crawford’s personalized license plate and left with the Mercedes.”
.@theoriginalpoz & @vieri_bobo: “Jamal Crawford challenged MJ to a 3-point shootout for $1k, MJ won, Crawford upped to $5k and won. Then MJ asked “what car did you come here with?” “Mercedes” “I came with a Ferrari, let’s bet our cars.” MJ went 5 for 5, and left in Jamal’s Benz. pic.twitter.com/PeWi5hV8AY
— OpenCourt-Basketball (@OpenCourtFB) May 6, 2020
