FanNation

By Chris Ballard

What would it be worth to you to be able to utter the greatest barroom boast ever? What if the next time the fellas are sitting around playing Can You Top This?, you could blow away their tales of high school homers and once-sorta-dated-a-sorta-model with this bad boy: "I beat Michael Jordan one-on-one."

I first heard rumor of the feat from a friend in Chicago. The details were hazy: It (probably) occurred at MJ’s basketball camp (about) five years ago, when he lost to a camper for the first time -- an old(-ish) guy who threw up a (musta-been) crazy lefty hook to which Jordan (undoubtedly) yelled, Nooooo!

What’s more, my friend said, the whole thing was (purportedly) videotaped.

A call led to a call led to a name, John Rogers Jr. Now 49, Rogers is a Chicago rainmaker: Princeton grad; founder and CEO of Ariel Mutual Finds, the nation’s largest minority-run mutual fund; friendly with Oprah; even friendlier with Barack Obama (who has used Rogers’s conference room for mock debates). Most important, he could afford Jordan’s Senior Flight School, a three-day summer camp in Las Vegas for the 35-and-over-and-affluent crowd that ran 15 grand, or more than twice what it would cost to go to, you know, actual flight school.

Simply put, Rogers is in love with the game. Despite knee surgery three years ago he not only plays but also practices regularly. How many pickup players actually practice in their free time? (For that matter, how many NBA players do?) And while Rogers was captain of the 1979–80 Princeton team, he’s six feet tall, a tad nerdy-looking and not too athletic. As Rogers puts it, “Coach [Pete] Carril always said I wasn’t a good dribbler and I was a terrible passer, but I could finish.” To watch him now, rec-specs on nose, moves equally herky and jerky, is to see bits of every middle-aged guy at every YMCA, juiced on pregame Advil and hoping that this time his ball fake will work on a younger, springier defender.

Before we get to the one-on-one video, shot by camp staffers, some caveats. For starters, the game is short: first to three, make-it-take-it, no rebounds. And this is not vintage MJ but rather the Floor Jordan model after his final final season, 2002–03 with the Washington Wizards. Even so, bear in mind that 1) MJ had never lost to a camper in the seven years of Flight School, and 2) this is Michael Jordan we’re talking about, the most competitive life form on the planet. As former Chicago Bulls guard Steve Kerr says, "I played with Michael for [five] years, and I never beat him one-on-one."

The game begins, fittingly, with Jordan still ribbing a previous victim. "Don’t be mad at me, I'm just too good," he booms. "What, you think I had this camp just so you all could beat me?" Taking the ball first, Rogers drives right and lofts in a runner. Then he goes left to hit a leaner. The crowd of 150 or so -- campers but also coaches like John Thompson and Mike Krzyzewski -- begins to murmur. Predictably, Jordan evens it, and the end appears imminent until... Michael misses a jumper. Then he clangs another!

So Rogers again hurtles left and, nearing the hoop, jumps off both feet. Jordan, clearly into it now, times his leap to swallow up the shot. Only Rogers, in a move he’s practiced a thousand times but that still appears impossibly awkward, leans away from MJ as if eluding the curl of a crashing wave. He spins the ball up, up, up and over Jordan’s fingertips, off the glass and in. On the video the first thing you hear is Jordan ("Oh, no!"), followed by comedian and camper Damon Wayans, who jumps at the chance to mock MJ. (Lest you think Jordan had lost his edge, he ­immediately brought Wayans onto the court and ­humiliated him 3–0.)

Naturally, Jordan demanded a rematch with Rogers, right? Actually, he didn't. ­Instead he hugged Rogers -- the two go back a ways from Jordan’s days in Chicago -- and said, not so huggably, "Next time we're on the court together, I’ll show you what it’s like to play in the NBA." But that has yet to happen. Rogers ­hasn't been back to Flight School, and MJ stopped playing campers a few years ago. As for Rogers, he had DVDs made from the tape and dispensed them to friends and employees, because, well, wouldn’t you?

It's tempting to take away an inspirational morsel: On the right day Everyman can take down Super­man -- provided, of course, Everyman is loaded. Still, Rogers did beat Jordan, and for that, all the creaky-kneed, bald-spotted dreamers thank him.

They likely all want something from Rogers now too: The chance to play him. Because, with luck, they could be the guy who beat the guy who beat Jordan.