How Michael Jordan's career almost came to abrupt halt due to North Carolina prison stunt

Michael Jordan has always been in the conversation for the greatest basketball player of all time.

Except for his rookie campaign, Jordan averaged at least 30 points a game during his time with the Chicago Bulls, leading them to six NBA titles.

An old Jordan remained an offensive force during his two-year run with the Washington Wizards, almost leading them to the playoffs on both occasions.

Even if some of his records have been eclipsed already, Jordan remains the consensus GOAT.

However, Michael Jordan might have not even made it to the NBA if he did not survive a particular incident.

Jordan basically introduced himself to some future fans not as a basketball legend in the making but as someone who was on the wrong end of a botched stunt that could have cost his life.

In 1982, Michael Jordan, just a few days after leading North Carolina to the NCAA title in his freshman year, joined former NFL player turned evangelist Bill Glass in a prison ministry event.

Also invited was a martial arts expert named Mike Crain, who wanted to do a samurai exhibition at the event.

Glass recalled in a 2012 ESPN interview that "Michael [Jordan] willingly climbed onstage."

In Crain's own account, he said that he teased Jordan into accepting the challenge.

So a large watermelon was placed on Jordan's belly, and Crain blindfolded himself before performing the stunt.

Crain successfully cut the watermelon, but so did Jordan's navel as a gash was eventually discovered.

Jordan needed three stitches just to close the wound, and while he survived the scare, imagine if Crain botched it further.

Could have been Michael Jordan's fellow UNC legend

To give you another idea of how scary the incident was: Glass initially asked Sam Perkins to join him instead of Michael Jordan.

However, North Carolina coach Dean Smith said Perkins was not available at that time, and eventually Glass agreed to bring in Jordan instead.

The decline eventually impacted Perkins' career too as he also became an NBA star like Jordan.