Micheal Jordan

MICHAEL JORDAN
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17,

1963), is an American former professional
basketball player who is the principal owner
and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the
National Basketball Association (NBA). He
played 15 seasons in the NBA for the
Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His
biography on the official NBA website
states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is
the greatest basketball player of all time."
He was one of the most effectively marketed
athletes of his generation and was
considered instrumental in popularizing the
NBA around the world in the 1980s and
1990s.
Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean

Smith at the University of North Carolina.
As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar
Heels' national championship team in 1982.
Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third
overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a
league star and entertained crowds with his
prolific scoring. His leaping ability,
demonstrated by performing slam dunks
from the free throw line in Slam Dunk
Contests, earned him the nicknames Air
Jordan and His Airness. He also gained a
reputation for being one of the best
defensive players in basketball.[8] In 1991,
he won his first NBA championship with the
Bulls, and followed that achievement with
titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-
peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from
basketball before the beginning of the 1993–
94 NBA season, and started a new career in
Minor League Baseball, he returned to the
Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three
additional championships in 1996, 1997, and
1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-
season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.
Jordan retired for a second time in January
1999, but returned for two more NBA
seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of
the Wizards.Jordan was born in Brooklyn,
New York, to Deloris (née Peoples), who
worked in banking, and James R. Jordan Sr.,
an equipment supervisor. His family moved
to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was
a toddler.[10]
Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has

two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James
R. Jordan, Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and
one younger sister, Roslyn. Jordan's brother
James retired in 2006 as the Command
Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade
of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S.
Army.[11]
High school career
Jordan going in for a slam-dunk for the

Laney High School varsity basketball team,
1979–80
Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High
School in Wilmington, where he highlighted
his athletic career by playing basketball,
baseball, and football. He tried out for the
varsity basketball team during his
sophomore year, but at 5'11" (1.80 m), he
was deemed too short to play at that level.
His taller friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was
the only sophomore to make the team.[12]
[13]
Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan

became the star of Laney's junior varsity
team, and tallied several 40-point games.
[12] The following summer, he grew four
inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously.[6]
[13] Upon earning a spot on the varsity
roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points
per game (ppg) over his final two seasons of
high school play.[14] As a senior, he was
selected to play in the 1981 McDonald's All-
American Game and scored 30 points,[15]
[16] after averaging 27 points,[14] 12
rebounds[17][18] and 6 assists per game for
the season.[18][19][20]
Jordan was recruited by numerous college

basketball programs, including Duke, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, and
Virginia.[21] In 1981, Jordan accepted a
basketball scholarship to North Carolina,
where he majored in cultural geography.[22]
College career
Jordan's number 23 jersey among others in

the rafters of the Dean Smith Center
As a freshman in coach Dean Smith's team-
oriented system, he was named ACC
Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13.4
ppg on 53.4% shooting (field goal
percentage).[23] He made the game-winning
jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship
game against Georgetown, which was led by
future NBA rival Patrick Ewing.[6] Jordan
later described this shot as the major turning
point in his basketball career.[24] During his
three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged
17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0
rpg.[25] He was selected by consensus to the
NCAA All-American First Team in both his
sophomore (1983) and junior (1984)
seasons. After winning the Naismith and the
Wooden College Player of the Year awards
in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year
before his scheduled graduation to enter the
1984 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls selected
Jordan with the third overall pick, after
Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and
Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). One of
the primary reasons why Jordan was not
drafted sooner was because the first two
teams were in need of a center.[26]
However, Trail Blazers general manager Stu
Inman contended that it was not a matter of
drafting a center, but more a matter of taking
Sam Bowie over Jordan, in part because
Portland already had Clyde Drexler, who
was a guard with similar skills to Jordan.
[27] ESPN, citing Bowie's injury-laden
college career, named the Blazers' choice of
Bowie as the worst draft pick in North
American professional sports history.[28]
Jordan returned to North Carolina to
complete his degree in 1986.[29] He
graduated the same year with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in geography.[30]
Professional career
Early NBA years (1984–1987)
During his rookie season with the Bulls,
Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5%
shooting,[23] and helped make a team that
had won 35% of games in the previous three
seasons playoff contenders. He quickly
became a fan favorite even in opposing
arenas,[31][32][33] Roy S. Johnson of The
New York Times described him as "the
phenomenal rookie of the Bulls" in
November,[33] and Jordan appeared on the
cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading
"A Star Is Born" in December.[34][35] The
fans also voted in Jordan as an All-Star
starter during his rookie season.[6]
Controversy arose before the All-Star game
when word surfaced that several veteran
players—led by Isiah Thomas—were upset
by the amount of attention Jordan was
receiving.[6] This led to a so-called "freeze-
out" on Jordan, where players refused to
pass the ball to him throughout the game.[6]
The controversy left Jordan relatively
unaffected when he returned to regular
season play, and he would go on to be voted
Rookie of the Year.[36] The Bulls finished
the season 38–44[37] and lost to the
Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the first
round of the playoffs.[36]
Jordan's second season was cut short when

he broke his foot in the third game of the
year, causing him to miss 64 games.[6]
Despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record
(at the time it was fifth worst record of any
team to qualify for the playoffs in NBA
history),[37][38] the Bulls made the
playoffs. Jordan recovered in time to
participate in the playoffs and performed
well upon his return. Against a 1985–86
Boston Celtics team that is often considered
one of the greatest in NBA history,[39]
Jordan set the still-unbroken record for
points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2.
[40] The Celtics, however, managed to
sweep the series.[36]
Jordan had completely recovered in time for

the 1986–87 season,[41] and he had one of
the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA
history. He became the only player other
than Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points
in a season, averaging a league high 37.1
points on 48.2% shooting.[23][42] In
addition, Jordan demonstrated his defensive
prowess, as he became the first player in
NBA history to record 200 steals and 100
blocked shots in a season.[43] Despite
Jordan's success, Magic Johnson won the
league's Most Valuable Player Award. The
Bulls reached 40 wins,[37] and advanced to
the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
However, they were again swept by the
Celtics.[36]

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MICHAEL JORDAN

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17,

Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean

Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has

High school career

Jordan going in for a slam-dunk for the

Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan

Jordan was recruited by numerous college

Jordan's number 23 jersey among others in

Jordan's second season was cut short when

Jordan had completely recovered in time for

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