Duke Engineering Professor Defends Michael Jordan: 'The Ceiling IS the Roof'

During halftime of UNC's home game against archrival Duke on Saturday night, the most famous Tar Heel of them all took the mic to address the crowd and the team.

"I wish you guys nothing but the best," Michael Jordan said. "The ceiling is the roof."

The strange quote attracted a raucous reaction from the sold-out arena, but it was met primarily with memes on social media. 

We here at B/R wanted to dig deeper: Is the ceiling truly the roof? Our quest for the truth led us to Henri Gavin, a professor of civil engineering at Duke University. And before you accuse us of bias, please note UNC-Chapel Hill does not offer undergraduate degrees in architecture, construction or civil engineering.

Although Gavin had not heard Jordan's words, he was quick to defend the GOAT.

"So the traditional dictionary definition of a ceiling is the surface on the inside of the room," Gavin says. "That's what the ceiling is. The roof is the surface that covers the building. But an arena is one giant room, so the ceiling is the roof."

Still confused? Think about it this way: "If you look at the top surface of the arena from the inside, you would call that object the ceiling," Gavin said. "If you looked at that same object from the outside, you'd call it the roof. The ceiling is the roof."

Where's a smiling Jordan meme when you need one?

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.