Michael Jordan Mega

Michael Jordan, the best known basketball player in the world, is a leading scorer in the National Basketball Association (NBA), who led the Chicago Bulls to many recent NBA championships. He is, by far, and will be for a time to come, the best basketball player in the history of the game. Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina and as a freshman scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against the Hoyas of Georgetown. Jordan was selected college player of the year for the 1983-1984 season, and in 1984 he led the United States basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Michael Jordan's Career

A remarkable force at both ends of the floor, Jordan ended a career of 15 full seasons with a regular-season scoring average of 30.12 points per game, the highest in NBA history (ahead of Wilt Chamberlain's 30.06). He won six championships, notched 10 scoring titles, and was league MVP five times. He was named to the All-Defensive First Team nine times, and led the league in steals three times. Since 1983, he appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record-49 times, and was named the magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" in 1991. These and other achievements have persuaded many fans and several basketball legends that Jordan was the best ever to play the game. His jumping ability -- he could once dunk from the foul line -- earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness."

Michael Jordan in University of North Carolina

As a UNC freshman, Jordan was an exciting but not dominant player. He ended the 1982 year in grand style, hitting the winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game against Georgetown, led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. By his sophomore year, he was clearly the team's biggest star; as a junior, he was named the national player of the year. He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1984 NBA Draft as the third pick overall.

Chicago Bulls

Jordan played 13 seasons for the Bulls, generally as a shooting guard, but his height (6'6", or 1.98 m), skills, and physical conditioning also made him a versatile threat at point guard and small forward. He won six NBA Championships (1991-1993 and 1996-1998) and was league MVP five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1998). He was also named Rookie of the Year (1985) and Defensive Player of the Year (1988), and won the Finals MVP award every year the Bulls reached the Finals -- a feat not likely to ever be duplicated. He also earned the elusive MVP triple crown (league, finals, all-star game) twice when he won All-Star MVP in both 1996 and 1998 (he also won in 1988). Only Willis Reed (1970) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000) have won all three MVP awards in the same season. In 1997, he also recorded the only triple-double in an All-Star game.

Jordan's Baseball career

Jordan spent the next year pursuing a childhood dream: professional baseball. He had an unspectacular professional baseball career for the Birmingham Barons, a Chicago White Sox farm team, batting .202 with 3 HR, 51 RBI, 30 SB (tied-5th in Southern League), 11 errors and 6 outfield assists. He led the club with 11 bases-loaded RBI and 25 RBI with runners in scoring position and two outs. He was never called up to the majors. Many consider this brief stab at baseball the only tarnish on his athletic career.

Back To The Chicago Bulls

He ended his basketball retirement on March 19, 1995 by rejoining the Bulls. Because jersey #23 had been retired, he wore #45, his Barons number. Jordan led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Semifinals that year. As he struggled with unaccustomed playoff difficulty, he broke out his old #23 jersey during a second-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic. The switch did not immediately bring him luck, and the Magic prevailed. But it was back to winning ways the following year, the Bulls won three consecutive NBA titles between 1996 and 1998, with Jordan becoming the first and only player to win six NBA Finals MVP Awards. Michael Jordan retired again on January 13, 1999.

Washington Wizards

In 2001, he came out of retirement a second time to play for the Washington Wizards, though his skills were noticeably diminished by age. Yet despite an injury-plagued 2001-02 season, he still averaged nearly 23 points per game. Playing through pain, especially in his knee, he was still an important player for the Wizards. He returned for the 2002-03 season and averaged 20 points. He played in his 13th and final NBA All-Star Game in 2002-03. The 2002-03 season was heralded from the beginning as Jordan's final goodbye to his fans and he retired for the third time at the season's conclusion.

At the beginning of the 2001-2002 basketball season, Michael Jordan donated his $1 million salary to help the victims of the September 11 attacks.

Out of respect for Jordan's legacy, the Miami Heat retired his #23 jersey on April 11, 2003, even though he never played for the Florida team. It was the first jersey the Heat retired in their then-15-year history, and it was half Wizards blue, half Bulls red.

The Olympics

Jordan played on two Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams: as a college player in the 1984 Summer Olympics, and in the 1992 Summer Olympics as a member of the original "Dream Team," with other legends such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. It is often rumored that Jordan kept guard Isiah Thomas off the roster due to personal differences. Nonetheless, it was a star-studded roster that cruised through pool play and the medal round, restoring America to the top of the basketball world.

Awards

NBA Most Valuable Player Award: 1987-88, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1997-98

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award: 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98

NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award: 1987-88 NBA Rookie of the Year Award: 1984-85

Naismith College Player of the Year: 1984

John R. Wooden Award: 1984

Adolph Rupp Trophy: 1984

ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year: 1983-84

NBA All-Star Dunk Contest Champion: 1987, 1988

Michael Jordan's Personal Life

Jordan spent his childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended Emsley A. Laney High School, where he was a standout in football, baseball, and basketball. At UNC, he majored in geography.

Jordan is notoriously competitive, and is rumored to have lost enormous amounts of money playing golf and gambling.

Michael Jordan has two older brothers, Larry and James R., one older sister, Delores, and one younger sister, Roslyn. James R. Jordan is a Sergeant Major in the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army. James gained certain celebrity when he announced, at the age of forty-seven, that he intended to stay in Iraq until the U.S. occupation ended.

Michael Jordan currently lives in Highland Park, Illinois.

Father's murder

Jordan's father, James, was murdered in August 1993. While returning from the funeral of a friend, he pulled over onto the side of an interstate highway in North Carolina for a nap. Two local criminals killed him and stole his Lexus, a gift from Michael. The perpetrators made several calls from James' cell phone and were quickly captured. But James' body was not immediately identified. Michael and family did not immediately file a missing persons report, because the elder Jordan frequently took long trips by himself. By the time a report was filed, James' body had been cremated per local health laws as a John Doe.

Michael Jordan as Businessman

Michael Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, McDonald's, and MCI. He first appeared on Wheaties boxes in 1988, and acted as their spokesman as well.

Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan. The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spat of "shoe-jackings" where young boys were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. The innovation of designer Tinker Hatfield spurred the basketball shoe industry to new heights. Subsequently Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own company. Athletes who endorse the company include Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Derek Anderson, Gary Payton, and Jason Kidd. It has even crossed over into other sports, with athletes such as Randy Moss, Derek Jeter, and Roy Jones Jr. wearing Jordan apparel.

Michael Jordan with Bugs Bunny in "Space Jam."

He has also been connected with the Looney Tunes. A Nike commercial in the 1991 Super Bowl where he and Bugs Bunny played basketball against some Martians inspired the 1996 live action/animated movie Space Jam, which also starred Michael and the Looney Tunes in a fictional story set during his first retirement. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI.

After his second retirement, Jordan formed the MVP.com sports apparel enterprise with fellow sports greats Wayne Gretzky and John Elway in 1999. Unfortunately, it fell victim to the dot-com bust, and the rights to the domain were sold to CBS SportsLine in 2001.

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