CHICAGO -- Brooks Boyer has a detailed and truly touching Michael Jordan story to share while the 10-part docuseries “The Last Dance” runs on Sunday evenings on ESPN.

Boyer is in his 17th season with the White Sox, holding the position of senior vice president of chief revenue and marketing. But he was part of the Chicago Bulls corporate partnerships department for 10 years, including the second championship three-peat, from the 1995-96 season through the 1997-98 season.

In fact, the 1994 Notre Dame graduate and one-time basketball standout advanced from intern to full-time employee following the first three Bulls’ championships and Jordan’s initial retirement and brief move into baseball with the White Sox.

“There were people in the office who thought, ‘This run is over. They had a good run, won three championships, and Jordan is not coming back,’” Boyer said. “All these full-timers leave, and there were a bunch of us interns sitting there, and it was like, ‘Do you guys want full-time jobs?’

“So, Jordan playing baseball actually got me in full time into this industry. And then I’m selling sponsorships for the Bulls and Jordan’s playing baseball and swinging at curveballs. Thank God he was missing all of them.”

Jordan’s NBA return eventually leads to this Boyer story, when he was selling sponsorships for preseason games being played in markets such as Albuquerque, N.M., or Lincoln, Neb. The contest in question took place in Memphis, Tenn., with Boyer having sold the title sponsorship to AutoZone based in Memphis.

The AutoZone title sponsor called Boyer the morning of the game and told him of a terminally ill 12-year-old child and his family who would be in a private room 30 feet away from the Bulls' locker room at The Pyramid and would it be possible for Jordan to come say hello. Boyer couldn’t make any promises, but said he would try to arrange something.

Later that morning, when the team was flying out, Boyer noticed tension among the players, and nobody was talking. He learned that coach Phil Jackson and Jordan had gone at it during a rough morning practice.

But Boyer still planned to approach Jordan on the plane ... until Jackson walked over to Jordan and a shouting match ensued. Boyer waited, and instead approached Jordan in his corner spot in the locker room.

“I walk over to him and say, ‘Hey, MJ. What are the chances … ’ and I explained the situation to him,” Boyer said. “He’s like, ‘You promised me. You promised I’d be there. What are you doing?’ Just sort of like how he talks. How he’s talking is how he talked. ‘How did you promise me. Don’t ever promise,’ and I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, I didn’t promise you. You don’t have to do it.’

“I’m like, ‘I get it, no problem.’ I turn and start to walk away. All of a sudden, something hits me in the back. It’s one of Jordan’s shoes. He looks at me and goes, ‘You find me a pot of coffee, and I’ll do it.’”

An extensive search for coffee led to Boyer finding an old coffeemaker in a maintenance work room and tiny Styrofoam cups. After drinking a few cups, Jordan walked with Boyer in his warmups to visit the family while giving Boyer a little extra guff for promising him.

When Jordan got to the room, though, everything changed. He shook hands with the CEO of AutoZone and thanked him for sponsoring the game. He sat with the family and addressed the terminally ill young man by name, making him feel completely comfortable.

“His little sister comes over, who is probably 7 or 8,” Boyer said. “She says, ‘You are the guy from Space Jam,’ and Michael’s like, ‘Yep! I have a daughter your age.’ He lights up this room. There’s not a dry eye in the room. He’s magical.

“I’m now standing in the back just watching all this happen and just seeing the mom is in tears. He signs whatever they want, and I kept telling him, ‘Just two minutes. Michael has to warm up.’ He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m good. Don’t worry about it.’ He probably stayed in there for 10 minutes. Made time for every single person. Made this kid feel great.”

Boyer was overcome as he walked out with Jordan, sharing with the world-renowned superstar that it was one of the coolest things he had ever seen.

“He looked at me and put his hand on the back of my neck like you are patting someone on the back walking down the hall, and he’s like, ‘Come on, Brooksie. It’s all good. It’s what we do,’” Boyer said. “He had this big smile on his face.

“I’ve seen some really cool stuff in my 25 years of being in pro sports, but I’ve never seen anything like that. That game he makes a shot, runs down the sideline and gives the kid five because the kid was sitting courtside. After the game he goes and gives the kid his shoes.

“I got a letter, like, a year later because the kid only had, like, three to six months to live. A year later the kid had died. They said, ‘Look, we think he lived an extra six months because of that experience with the Bulls and Michael Jordan.’ That one has stuck with me forever.”