Marcus Jordan was 16 years old when he first beat his dad at basketball.

He was a sophomore in high school. The game took place in the gym of his famous father's palatial Chicago house. Marcus, now 22, doesn't remember the score.

"I was so caught up in winning," he says, laughing. "It was a great feeling. I was really excited. It was like, 'I do know what I'm doing!' The time I spent practicing – it's kind of paying off."

What was Dad's reaction? He quickly moved to the top of the key, checked the ball and started a new game. The old man won.

They haven't played since.

"He walked away on top," Marcus says. "I hope I get another chance."

This story probably doesn't surprise a lot of fans. Michael Jordan is competitive to the point of being sinister. Remember his Hall of Fame speech in 2009? He devoted a curious amount of time to pouring salt on old wounds, baiting Bryon Russell and Jeff Van Gundy. When he addressed his family, Jordan said, "I wouldn't want to be you guys."

He had a point. Marcus Jordan grew up playing a sport his father owned, revolutionized and then lorded over. He had to share his father's name and time with the world. Asked for his favorite memories of his dad on Tuesday, Marcus mentioned being in the locker room after the Chicago Bulls won their fourth NBA title. He remembers all the media and the Champagne in his eyes. He was 6 years old.

[Related: MJ's decision to play for Wizards doomed his legacy in Washington]

Marcus' moment – beating the greatest player who ever lived when he was only 16 – was greeted by another game, a loss, and then the end of a budding father-son rivalry. Typical MJ.

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While Michael famously got his late father an NBA championship trophy, which he clutched as he cried after winning it, Marcus has to figure out what to get the man who has literally everything. For his 50th birthday this weekend, Marcus is considering getting his dad a cigar torch.

"I want to get him something he'll use," Marcus says.

After the celebration, which will be at a Nike All-Star Game party in Houston, Marcus will be working on a business proposal for a clothing line he is calling Ordain. He wants his apparel to be edgy and comfortable, like Zara or H&M. He's going to present his plan to someone who has already revolutionized the fashion industry: Michael Jordan.

Yet a glimpse at Marcus Jordan is not a look at a bitter, put-upon young man. Marcus is excitable, personable, almost buoyant. His attitude today gives a hint of not only his life as Michael Jordan's son, but also a hint of a Michael Jordan that's more serene and compassionate than most of us imagine.

"Everyone thinks he's untouchable," says Tim Hardaway, Sr., another former guard who raised a basketball-playing son. "He's touchable."

Nobody knows that better than Marcus Jordan.

Marcus is out of basketball this season for the first time, after a solid but ultimately frustrating career as a guard at the University of Central Florida. Although he and older brother Jeffrey led their high school to their best-ever season, there was no NCAA championship for Marcus at UCF, no first-round NBA draft pick, no million-dollar contract. Marcus played well at UCF, averaging 13.7 points per game as a junior in 2011-12, and he led UCF to two of its biggest-ever wins, against Florida and Memphis, yet he didn't always have the best talent around him and didn't always have the best health.

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