When former Indiana star Cody Zeller was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the fourth pick in the 2013 draft, he was extremely nervous to talk with owner and hall of famer Michael Jordan.
Zeller wrote a column for the Player Tribune about his first conversation with the “greatest.”
After being drafted, Zeller’s agent handed him a phone, and the former fourth-overall pick talked with the president of basketball operations, the general manager and then Jordan…
I was imagining what I’d say to Michael. I’d tell him he was the best ever. I’d tell him how I watched him my whole life. I’d tell him how I admired his business skills. I froze. That meant it was Michael Jordan on the line. He had gone out of order. I scrambled to say, Thank you Mr. Jordan — or maybe I just said, OK. I have no idea. I had just rambled on for a minute to the best basketball player ever and I didn’t even know it was him.
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Zeller said the 14-year-old came out in him, and he couldn’t think of anything else to say to his future boss.
Since entering the NBA, the former NCAA All-American has averaged seven points and six rebounds during his first two seasons with the Hornets. Zeller’s playing time is in trouble after Charlotte drafted Wisconsin All-American Frank Kaminsky.
