Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born
February 17,
1963), also known by his initials, MJ,[2] is an
American former professional basketball player, entrepreneur, and principal owner and chairman of the
Charlotte Hornets. He played 15 seasons in the
National Basketball Association (
NBA) for the
Chicago Bulls and
Washington Wizards. His biography on the NBA website states, "By acclamation,
Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."[3]
Jordan 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.[4]
After a three-season career at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in
1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in
1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated 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.[5] 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 to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in
1995 and led them to three additional championships in
1996,
1997, and
1998, as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the
1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second
time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from
2001 to
2003 as a member of the
Wizards.
Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five
Most Valuable Player (
MVP)
Awards, ten
All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive
First Team honors, fourteen
NBA All-Star Game appearances, three
All-Star Game MVP Awards, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six
NBA Finals MVP Awards, and the
1988 NBA
Defensive Player of the Year Award. Among his numerous accomplishments, Jordan holds the
NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33
.45 points per game). In
1999, he was named the greatest
North American athlete of the
20th century by
ESPN, and was second to
Babe Ruth on the
Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. He is a two-time inductee into the
Basketball Hall of Fame – in 2009 for his individual career, and in
2010 as a member of the 1992
United States men's
Olympic basketball team ("
The Dream Team").
Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of
Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in
1985 and remain popular today.[6] Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film
Space Jam as himself. In
2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the then-Charlotte Bobcats, buying controlling interest in 2010.
Jordan was born in
Brooklyn, New York, the son of 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.[7]
Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has two older brothers,
Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and a 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.
Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney
High School in
Wilmington, where he anchored his athletic career by playing baseball, football, and basketball. 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.[9]
Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity squad, and tallied several 40-point games.[9]
The following summer, he grew four inches (
10 cm)[3] and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged about 20 points per game over his final two seasons of high school play.[1][10] As a senior, he was selected to the
McDonald's All-American Team[11] after averaging a triple-double: 29.2 points,
11.6 rebounds, and 10.1 assists.[12]
Jordan was recruited by numerous college basketball programs, including
Duke,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Syracuse, and
Virginia.[13] In
1981, Jordan accepted a basketball scholarship to North Carolina, where he majored in cultural geography
- published: 22 Nov 2014
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