Jack McVeigh remembers a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was actually the final NBA game he played in, and there was a stretch of basketball that he hasn't forgotten. And, no, it's not a flurry of shot-making we're used to seeing from the talented and driven Australian forward.
"They bring me up into an on-ball eight possessions in a row, and me and Austin Rivers dance for eight possessions," McVeigh told ESPN.
"He scores on a lot of them."
McVeigh may have an enviable confidence in his abilities, but that masks what's clearly a very learned and self-aware individual.
"It's just a different game over there," he said.
"Certain skills I have here don't necessarily translate as well. For example, I think I'm a really good team defender in the FIBA game; I'm in the right spots every time, I'm leading guys, I'm directing guys. That skill isn't as important in the NBA compared to your ability to sit down and play [one-on-on defence]."
"I think I'm good enough. I got feedback from a bunch of GMs that have said: offensively, you're an NBA player; your ability to play with poise, get two feet in the paint, shoot threes, you've got that side.
"For me, this year, it's continuing to work on the defence, and then winning games. That takes care of it all."
It's the main reason he decided to shock the Australian basketball community by signing with the Cairns Taipans. In essence, he asked himself: what will provide me with the best opportunity to show my worth and get back to the NBA?
A conversation with Adam Forde -- and a two-year, $2 million deal, according to his agent - was enough to convince McVeigh that the road runs through Cairns
"I was lucky and privileged enough to have some great conversations with a lot of teams: Europe, Japan, the NBL," McVeigh said.
"I sat down with Fordey and was like: let me hear your vision. What does that entail? What does it look like? How will you use me? Especially recently in America, I was playing the three-two, a little bit of four. I'm a four-man; that's where I feel most comfortable. I can play the three... and I will play the three a little bit with the ball in my hands, but he said [I'm] the four, this is where we see you, this is where we wanna play you. It fit with that, and culture, and felt like the right place to be."
McVeigh joins a Taipans team that's coming off a last-placed finish, but has had an injection of funds that's allowed the franchise to, for the first time, spend up on its playing roster.
The one-time Olympian headlines a starting unit, for example, that has the potential to be unbelievably potent, playing alongside Kiwi big-man Sam Waardenburg in the frontcourt, flanked by former NBA wing Admiral Schofield and a talented scoring backcourt in Andrew Andrews and Reyne Smith.
The last time we saw McVeigh in the NBL, he was leading a Tasmania JackJumpers team to a title, averaging 17.3 points per game and walking away as the Championship Series MVP. The 29-year-old naturally expects to continue his scoring exploits, but there's a level of excitement because, for the first time in his professional career, he's the go-to guy on a team.
"Now, I'm not saying this year's my team, but, for the first time ever in my career, I was having plays run for me at the start of an offence... at the start of a set," McVeigh said, referring to his first hit-out with the Taipans at the NBL Blitz.
"You become the decision-maker rather than the shooter at the end. I definitely made some horrible decisions at the first game in the Blitz, so that's something I'm looking forward to learning... when to pick your poison to attack. For most of my career, it's been: I get the ball with six seconds left on the shot clock... make a play, make a play, make a play. Getting plays called for me is something I'm looking forward to.
"...it's also something I've been working on for a long time. A basketball player I look up to and admire is Xavier Cooks. What makes him such a great player? It's not his ability to score over the top; it's the ability to get two feet in the paint and find guys. It makes him harder to guard, it makes his team better, and that is something I wanna be.
"Don't get me wrong, my favourite part of basketball is getting a tough bucket. But, I wanna be a winner first, get a tough bucket second."
McVeigh will lead the Taipans when their season begins on September 20 against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but his contagious energy is already having an impact on his teammates in the lead-up.
"You guys all know: Jack is a ray of sunshine," his teammate Marcus Lee told ESPN. "He's got that ability, when he walks into practice, he brings everybody up a notch. You get excited going into practice to be with him, to get better with him, to battle with him."
There'll be external pressures on McVeigh that he's yet to experience in his professional career. He joins the Taipans as the team's highest-profile player, and his million-dollar salary is public, so there are expectations that naturally come with being in that position.
In response to that, McVeigh is taking the road of putting his basketball career into perspective.
"I'm 29 years old, I'm having a baby in December, I'm excited to be a dad, I'm excited to help the younger fellas be better leaders," McVeigh said.
"The reality of sports is, it doesn't matter how well you do, you're gonna disappoint people. No matter how bad you do, some people are gonna love you. Don't get me wrong, you see comments, you see what people write... at times, it does affect you. At times, I've got to get off all social media and lock in and ground myself.
"For me, I'm focused on the people around me, the people that love me, enjoying this journey. I'm grateful for the opportunity. When I came in as a rookie with the Adelaide 36ers... [this] is what I dreamed of, and I'm living that, I'm getting to do that.
"Yes, I'm gonna disappoint some people. Yes, I'm gonna let some people down but, man, my life's pretty cool."