The World Cup won with the 23. And that special meeting…

23 is the number that Michael Jordan wore six times to win the NBA title; 23 is the number I wore on my shoulders for fourteen seasons, and it would have been fifteen if I hadn’t found him busy at Everton. MJ represents everything to me: it was my childhood and my Saturdays in front of the TV, when there weren’t yet pay TV platforms. At the time in Perugia with Marco Negri we didn’t miss a game, while when I arrived at Inter in 2001, I cheered wildly for Christian Brocchi to leave and leave the “23” free. Luckily he went to Milan, I was the happiest man in the world. I also chose him for the national team and in 2006 I took him to the top of the world, it was the icing on the cake. If you remember my goals, there was something about Air Jordan.

That year I also had the honor of meeting him in Milan: I had prepared a lot of shirts to sign, but they told me he wasn’t the type, so I showed up empty handed. It was he who said to me: “Do you have something for me to autograph?” and I desperately answered no. A moment later I was on the phone with Nike to get me a signed shoe before he left Italy and I still treasure it today. Jordan is history, any child still today knows who he is, more than Kobe or LeBron, two other great basketball greats.

MJ is a planetary star, a leader, a driving force who has allowed the Bulls to win what no other team will ever be able to win. He was unique on a technical level, unbeatable in perseverance, a leader I’ve tried to emulate, even if I’m not presumptuous enough to compare myself to him. But I want to thank him, for this I am thinking seriously about creating a museum full of sports products and memorabilia, some of which belonged to the greatest ever.