Some kids cling to stuffed animals or dolls or actions figures. Irene Liao stuck to her life-size Michael Jordan cardboard cutout.
This 20-year-old college student is going viral after posting pictures of her 8-year-old self hanging out with a flat Gatorade ad.
in the third grade i was obsessed with michael jordan so i carried a cardboard cutout of him around for a month pic.twitter.com/YaZ53Whbel
— irene (@ireneliiao) September 19, 2016
Irene Liao was attending an international school in Taipei, Taiwan, when she met inanimate His Airness.
"One day after class, I walked into a Nike store with some of my friends and I saw the cardboard cut out of him," Liao told Select All. "I asked how much he was and ended up paying 200 NT$ (about six US dollars) and dragged him out."
my grandpa teaching me how to play piano so i can write a song to serenade mj pic.twitter.com/tRGD3DbsRl
— irene liao (@ireneliiao) September 20, 2016
For a month, Liao went everywhere with Jordan – school, Starbucks, the train station, piano lessons with her grandpa, etc.
"It was one of the first few months of school and I remember dragging him into my gym class and everyone thought I was so cool," Liao wrote to Select All via Twitter DM. "I think I wrote a song for him. Whenever my teachers asked me to choose a partner in class, I would be like MJ is my partner. SMH."
According to Deadspin, "Liao's parents did not treat cardboard M.J. as an actual person, although they didn't have a problem with him."
Liao's teachers were not amused.
"My teachers sent home a note to my parents and were like this is such an unhealthy phase," Liao says. Liao's parents promised her a Jordan poster if she threw out the cutout, although, she says she never got the poster.
when u skip school to watch space jam at your friends house pic.twitter.com/dH2QjxkZsh
— irene liao (@ireneliiao) September 20, 2016
This all happened around 2004, a year and a half after Jordan's third and final retirement. So, Liao barely even saw Jordan play.
Oh, and by the way, the story isn't over.
"Honestly, if I can find another MJ cardboard cut out I'll bring him around to my classes [at college]," Liao says.
DO IT.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.