{"id":11669,"date":"2026-04-22T04:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/11669\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T04:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:25:14","slug":"hbcu-coach-tells-michael-jordan-story-in-new-ai-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/11669\/","title":{"rendered":"HBCU coach tells Michael Jordan story in new AI series"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Carolina Central<\/a> head coach LeVelle Moton is bringing storytelling to life in a new way\u2014and one of his latest basketball stories involves none other than Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n

Through his new AI-powered storytelling series on social media, Moton is revisiting memorable moments from his basketball journey. One story in particular is quickly gaining attention: a late-night pickup game featuring the greatest player of all time. Sorry Lebron fans.<\/p>\n

A Midnight Run with Michael Jordan<\/p>\n

Moton said the moment took place in the summer of 1996 in North Carolina, where competitive pickup games were a staple during UNC basketball camp season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese classic pickup games always happened around midnight,\u201d Moton explained.<\/p>\n

On one of those nights, Michael Jordan walked into the gym.<\/p>\n

At first, players tried not to be starstruck. But the dynamic quickly shifted once the games got competitive.<\/p>\n

Why Nobody Wanted to Play With MJ<\/p>\n

According to Moton, something unexpected happened during those runs\u2014players didn\u2019t want to be on Jordan\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

The reason? Pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody really liked being on his team because they didn\u2019t want the responsibility of the last shot,\u201d Moton said.<\/p>\n

With defenses collapsing on Jordan late in games, teammates knew the ball might come to them for a game-winning shot. And if they missed, they\u2019d be the one blamed.<\/p>\n

Moton saw it differently.<\/p>\n

\u2018That Wasn\u2019t Me\u2019 \u2014 Moton Embraces the Moment<\/p>\n

While others avoided the spotlight, Moton leaned into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t me. I wanted the big moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One night, he got exactly what he wanted.<\/p>\n

Playing on the same team as Jordan, the game came down to the final possession. As expected, Jordan drew a double team\u2014and kicked the ball out.<\/p>\n

To Moton.<\/p>\n

Game Winner\u2026 and a Moment That Changed Everything<\/p>\n

Moton didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cMJ kicked it to me\u2026 splash. Game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After knocking down the game-winner, something even bigger happened.<\/p>\n

Jordan called his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Hell yeah, Velle!\u2019\u201d Moton recalled.<\/p>\n

For Moton, that moment carried more weight than just the shot.<\/p>\n

It was validation.<\/p>\n

Confidence That Carried Into His Career<\/p>\n

Moton said hearing Michael Jordan acknowledge him changed his mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the first time I had heard Michael Jordan call my name,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

From there, his confidence skyrocketed.<\/p>\n

He went on to return to North Carolina Central and elevate his game, winning CIAA Player of the Year honors over Ben Wallace from Virginia Union.<\/p>\n

A New Way to Tell HBCU Stories<\/p>\n

Moton\u2019s AI storytelling series is quickly becoming a unique way to connect fans with untold stories from the HBCU basketball world.<\/p>\n

Blending technology with personal experience, the series gives insight into the moments that shaped his journey\u2014from pickup gyms to leading North Carolina Central University.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, those stories include unforgettable moments with legends like Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Carolina Central head coach LeVelle Moton is bringing storytelling to life in a new way\u2014and one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,155,9419,9420,9421,9422,9423,9424,9425,9426,9427,75,9428,814],"class_list":{"0":"post-11669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ai","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-featured","11":"tag-goat","12":"tag-hbcu","13":"tag-hbcu-sports","14":"tag-levelle-moton","15":"tag-meac","16":"tag-michael-jordan","17":"tag-mj","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-nccu","20":"tag-north-carolina","21":"tag-north-carolina-central","22":"tag-unc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}