Michael Jordan can and will talk trash to anyone – opponents, teammates, coaches, team executives, you name it. He’s the GOAT and you really can’t say much, so what’s a fresh-faced rookie to him?

Allen Iverson found that out in their first meeting in the 1997 All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, back when AI was a hotshot newcomer who’s starting to make a name for himself. Jordan, of course, was already a multiple-time champion and MVP winner at that point, months away from his fifth ring.

In and old resurfaced interview with Complex Sports, Iverson tells a hilarious story how he and MJ saw each other at the event, and how he got a ‘nice’ greeting from His Airness:

“The first time I talked to him was that year playing in the rookie game … I’ll never forget it because he said “What’s up, you little b****? … I looked at him, I said ‘Alright man.’”

Young AI did the right thing, because who wants to poke the bear, especially that early in your career? The interviewer had a good take: just take that verbal jab and move on.

The two went on to have good showing at the All-Star Weekend, with Iverson winning the MVP of the Rising Stars game, and Jordan becoming the first player in history to record a triple-double in the All-Star game.

A month later, though, AI got some sweet revenge. The Bulls visited the Philadelphia 76ers on March 12, 1997, and that was when his famous killer crossover bamboozled Jordan:

As ‘The Answer,’ that nice cross and jumper was also a great answer to Jordan’s “What’s up?”

 “I always knew that once I got to the league, I was gonna try my move on the best. So, he was just the victim that night.”

Weeks after the “crossover heard ‘round the world,” Iverson would again make quite the splash. He went on an insane scoring tear in early April as he averaged 43.6 points and 7.4 assists over a five-game stretch, beginning with a 44-point outburst in Chicago.