P.J. Tucker was five years old the last time the NBA All-Star Game came to Charlotte, NC. That was in 1991. The Eastern Conference team defeated the Western Conference team 116-114 (a common final score by today’s regular season standards), and a prime Charles Barkley was named MVP.

A lot has changed in the last 28 years, but Tucker’s sense of pride in where he comes from has not. North Carolina has some of the strongest basketball roots in the nation, and although Tucker was not a part of the All-Star festivities, he still received a tremendous honor from his home state.

While crowds roared in the Spectrum Center, Tucker was three hours away in Raleigh, where he was born and raised, for the retirement of his high school jersey. He was the very first player from Enloe High to have his jersey retired, and told The Athletic’s Kelly Iko exactly what that means to him.

My high school’s retiring my jersey. (Enloe High has) never retired anyone’s jersey, and they’ve had a lot of basketball players come through my school. It’s an honor. Anytime something like that from your own roots happens, it’s huge. So for All-Star to be here, and to do this at the same time, it just worked out perfectly.

Tucker was joined by Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan and North Carolina Central University head coach LeVelle Moton. All three graduated from Enloe–McMillan in 1982, Moton in 1992, and Tucker in 2003–and each had his jersey retired on Sunday.

Y’all it was a busy week here at the ‘Loe! Our Night of #legends was a great way to wrap things up this Friday!! Many thanks to our special guests @LeVelleMoton, PJ Tucker, and Nate McMillan!!! #GTiswhyIBatEnloe pic.twitter.com/hdPM3DHcWB — Enloe High School (@EnloeMagnetHS) February 17, 2019

Although Enloe has never before retired a jersey, Raleigh and North Carolina as a whole have a rich basketball history. For Tucker to be recognized in this way in his hometown is a milestone achievement.

“We had so many good players that didn’t make it pro, but they were great high school and college players,” Tucker told The Athletic. “It’s just one of those things — North Carolina basketball is like nothing else, man. I can’t even explain it to you in a way for you to understand.”