Michael Jordan


Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former American
basketball player, inarguably the best basketball player in the history of
the game and the NBA.

Born in Brooklyn, New York as son of Delores and James Jordan, he lived in
Wilmington, North Carolina through his childhood and was educated at the
University of North Carolina, from where he was selected by the Chicago
Bulls in the first round of the 1984 NBA Draft as the third pick. At 6' 6",
he was automatically a versatile threat on the floor, able to play both
guard positions and small forward.

The Olympics

Jordan also formed part of the American team that won the Olympic gold
medal. He participated as a college player in the 1984 Summer Olympics, and
in the 1992 Summer Olympics as a member of the "Dream Team", with other
players such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Chicago Bulls

He played Guard for Chicago in thirteen seasons. He won six NBA
Championships (1991-93 and 1996-98) and was MVP five times (1988, 1991,
1992, 1996 and 1998). He also won Rookie of the Year (1985), Defensive
Player of the Year (1988), and a record six NBA Finals MVP awards, including
three consecutive twice(1991-93, 96-98). He also earned the elusive MVP
triple-crown 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. He also recorded the only triple-double
in All Star Game history in 1997. Jordan was an unstoppable force at both
ends of the floor, finishing his career with the highest points-per-game
average in NBA history with a record ten scoring titles, and being named
All-Defensive First Team more than any other player, including three steals titles.

He retired from basketball before the 1993-94 season to pursue a
professional baseball career. He ended his retirement by rejoining the Bulls
near the end of the 1994-95 season. After three more league titles, Jordan
decided to retire again after winning his last championship in 1998.

Jordan remains the ultimate post-season performer, holding playoff records
for most points in a single game(63), most points per game, most points per
game in the Finals, and total points scored.

Washington Wizards

On January 19, 2000, Jordan was introduced as "President of Basketball
Operations" of the Washington Wizards. On January 31, 2000 he fired head
coach Gar Heard in favor of Darrell Walker but only for a transitional
period. About four and a half months later, on June 14, 2000, Jordan
announced Leonard Hamilton as the new head coach. On September 25, 2001, he
announced he would come out of retirement one more time to return as a
player for the Wizards, signing a two-year contract. His first game was
played against the New York Knicks on October 30 and resulted in a narrow
Wizards loss (93-91). Although the Wizards failed to make the playoffs in
either of Jordan's two seasons as a player, he did succeed in proving that
his basketball skills, while inevitably somewhat eroded due to age, were
still sufficient to permit him to basketball at a high level. Jordan placed
an exclamation point on his career stats on January 4, 2002, by scoring his
30,000th career point against his former team, the Chicago Bulls. Jordan
retired from playing for the third time at the end of the 2002-03 season. He
was subsequently dismissed from his position as Washington's President of
Basketball Operations.

Merchandising

Professional athletes have long been associated with merchandising and
commercial promotions, and Jordan has proven himself to be exceptionally
talented when it comes to merchandising. He is noted for his extensive
commercial work for companies such as Nike, with their Air Jordan gear. He
has also appeared in a popular McDonald's restaurant promotional campaign
entitled "Nothin' but net," which included a series of TV commercials
featuring a friendly competition between Jordan and Larry Bird.

Especially in the trading card industry, Michael Jordan cards are valuable
items, not only for collectors.

In 1996, Warner Bros. gave Jordan a leading role in a special-effects laden
feature film titled Space Jam, which also featured classic Warner Bros.
cartoon characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and others. Critical reaction to
the film was lukewarm, as many felt it was essentially a feature-length
commercial that cast Jordan as an angelic "godlike" basketball legend.
Nonetheless, the movie earned over $100 million in box office revenue alone,
further cementing Jordan's reputation as a bankable figure.

A 2002 family film titled Like Mike was a fictional story of a young boy who
accidentally comes into possession of a pair of Michael Jordan's basketball
sneakers. The sneakers magically endow the child with superhuman basketball
skills, and he becomes a professional athlete before the age of 12.

James Jordan

Jordan's father, James, was murdered in 1993.