Michael Jordan is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in basketball. He won three in a row, left to play baseball, then came back to win three in a row again, and then he came back one more time and was one of the oldest players to average 20 PPG (points per game) and to score 40-plus in a game. He knew exactly what he had to do to help his team win day in and day out.
Jordan never took a game off. In 2020, ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning “The Last Dance,” tried its best to encapsulate Michael Jordan’s stranglehold on the basketball world and still couldn’t do it justice. No guard has ever dominated the league like he did, which helps his case when you see him on the top of everyone’s list. The winning, the endorsements, the shoes and the legacy. He did it all with a smile on his face. There will never be another Michael Jordan.
Jordan popularly known by his initials MJ, played college basketball for three seasons under coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels, becoming a member of the Tar Heels’ National Championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the game’s best defensive players. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line, earned him the nicknames “Air Jordan” and “His Airness.”
He holds the National Basketball Association (NBA) records for career regular season scoring average (30.12 PPG) and career playoff scoring average (33.45 PPG). Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2009 and 2010. He became a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009, a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, and an individual member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015 and a “Dream Team” member in 2017.
Early Life
Jordan was born at Cumberland Hospital in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City, on February 17, 1963, the fourth of five children. His mother was a bank employee Deloris and father an equipment supervisor James R. Jordan Sr. In 1968, he moved with his family to Wilmington, North Carolina. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. At 1.80 metres, he was considered too short to play basketball for the varsity team.
Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney’s junior varsity team, and tallied some 40-point games.
The following summer, he grew four inches 10 centimeters and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points per game over his final two seasons.
As a senior, he was selected to play in the 1981 McDonald’s All-American Game and scored 30 points. Jordan was recruited by college basketball programs, including Duke, North Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Virginia. In 1981, he accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina.
Jordan made the game-winning jump shot in the game against Georgetown in 1982 NCAA Championship. Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career.
Jordan was selected to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. Jordan won the Naismith and the Wooden College “Player of the Year” awards in 1984. Jordan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography in 1986. In 2002, Jordan was named to the 50th Anniversary Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball team.
“Dream Team”
Jordan made his debut for the US National Basketball team at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. He led the team in scoring with 17.3 PPG and won the gold medal in the competition. A year later, he won another gold medal in the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics. Jordan led the team in scoring, averaging 17.1 PPG.
In 1992, Jordan was a member of the star-studded squad that was dubbed the “Dream Team.” The team went on to win two gold medals: the first one in the 1992 Tournament of the Americas, and the second one in the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympic Games.
He was the only player to start all eight games in the Olympics, averaging 14.9 PPG. The “Dream Team” never lost a single game in the four tournaments in which Jordan played in 1983, 1984, and 1992.
Professional Career
The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan in 1984 and he made his NBA debut at Chicago Stadium on October 26, 1984, scoring 16 points. Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times described him as “the phenomenal rookie of the Bulls” in November, and Jordan appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading “A Star Is Born” in December. The fans voted in Jordan as an All-Star starter during his rookie season.
An often-cited moment was on August 26, 1985, when Jordan shook the arena during a Nike exhibition game in Trieste, Italy, by shattering the glass of the backboard with a dunk. It is often referred as an important milestone in Jordan’s rise. The shoes he wore during the game were auctioned in 2020 for $615,000, a record for a pair of sneakers.
Jordan’s 1985–86 season was cut short due to an injury. Jordan’s 1986–87 season is considered one of the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA history; he became only the second player to score 3,000 points in a season, averaging a league-high 37.1 PPG. Also, he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in a season.
Jordan again led scoring during the 1987–88 season, averaging 35.0 PPG. He won his first league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Bulls finished 50–32 and made it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in Jordan’s career.
In 1988–89, Jordan led scoring, averaging 32.5 PPG. On March 28, 1990, Jordan scored a career-high 69 points in a 117–113 win over the Cavaliers. In 1990–91, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 PPG. The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in sixteen years and set a franchise record with 61 wins. In his first finals appearance, Jordan had 31.2 PPG and won his first ‘NBA Finals MVP Award,’ and he cried while holding the trophy.
In 1991–92, Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with averages of 30.1 PPG. Jordan was named ‘Finals MVP’ for the second year in a row and finished the series averaging 35.8 PPG. In 1992–93, the Bulls won their third NBA championship. Jordan averaged 41.0 PPG and became the first player in NBA history to win three straight ‘Finals MVP’ awards.
On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement and later said that the murder of his father, James R. Jordan Sr. on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina shaped his decision. Jordan was close to his father; as a child, he imitated the way his father stuck out his tongue while absorbed in work. He later adopted it as his own signature. In 1996, he founded a Chicago-area Boys and Girls Club and dedicated it to his father.
In his 1998 autobiography, Jordan wrote that the added exhaustion due to the “Dream Team” run in the 1992 Olympics solidified his feelings about the game and his ever-growing celebrity status. Jordan surprised the sports world by signing a Minor League Baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox on February 7, 1994, to pursue the dream of his late father, who always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player.
On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: “I’m back.” The next day, Jordan took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points. Despite his eighteen-month hiatus from the NBA, Jordan played well, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back. He scored 55 points in his next game, against the New York Knicks.
Jordan trained aggressively for the 1995–96 season and the Bulls finished with the best regular season record in NBA history, 72–10. Jordan led the league in scoring with 30.4 PPG, and he won the league’s regular season and All-Star Game MVP awards. Jordan was named ‘Finals MVP’ for a record fourth time, his first since his father’s murder. Jordan reacted emotionally, clutching the game ball, and crying on the locker room floor.
In 1996–97, for the fifth time Jordan received the ‘Finals MVP’ award. During the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, Jordan posted the first triple-double in All-Star Game history in a victorious effort. Jordan and the Bulls compiled a 62–20 record in 1997–98. On June 14, 1998, Jordan executed a series of plays, considered to be one of the greatest clutch performances in NBA Finals history.
With 5.2 seconds left, Jordan made the climactic shot of his Bulls career, and the buzzer sounded as Jordan and the Bulls won their sixth NBA championship, achieving a second three-peat in the decade. Once again, Jordan was voted ‘Finals MVP,’ having led all scorers by averaging 33.5 PPG, including 45 in the final. Jordan’s six ‘Finals MVPs’ is a record whilst the 1998 Finals holds the highest television rating of any Finals in history. Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999.
On September 25, 2001, Jordan announced his return to the NBA. In an injury-plagued 2001–02 season, Jordan led the team in scoring (22.9 PPG). Jordan started 53 of his 60 games for the season, averaging 24.3 PPG. His last seven appearances were in a reserve role. Playing in his 14th and final NBA All-Star Game in 2003, Jordan became the all-time leading scorer in All-Star Game history. That year, Jordan was the only player to play in all 82 games, with a 20.0 PPG.
On February 21, 2003, Jordan became the first 40-year to tally 43 points in an NBA game. With the recognition that 2002–03 would be Jordan’s final season, tributes were paid to him throughout. Jordan played in his final NBA game on April 16, 2003, in Philadelphia.
Personal Life
Jordan married Juanita Vanoy on September 2, 1989, in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, and a daughter, Jasmine. The Jordans divorced in 2006. Jordan married Yvette Prieto in 2013 and gave birth to twin daughters, Victoria, and Ysabel.
Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history becoming a spokesperson for brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald’s, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Nike created a signature shoe, called the Air Jordan, in 1984. Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters and appeared in Michael Jackson’s music video “Jam” (1992).
Jordan authored four books - Rare Air: Michael on Michael (Harper San Francisco, 1993); I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence (Harper San Francisco, 1994); For the Love of the Game: My Story (Crown Publishers, 1998); Driven from Within (Atria Books, 2005).Jordan played himself in the 1996 comedy film Space Jam. In 2000, Jordan was the subject of an IMAX documentary about his career with the Chicago Bulls.
The Jordan Brand has made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. In 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats (Hornets since 2013), becoming the team’s second-largest shareholder. The Make-A-Wish Foundation named Jordan its Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008.
In 2010, the NBA made him the first former player to become the majority owner of an NBA team. Jordan was ranked by Forbes as the 20th-most powerful celebrity in the world (2010), the first NBA player to become a billionaire (2014).
Jordan’s 2015 income was an estimated $110 million, the most by any retired athlete. He is honoured Forbes Athlete with the Highest Career Earnings (2017). Jordan funded two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics in North Carolina (2017). As of 2021, his net worth is estimated at $1.6 billion by Forbes.
Jordan donated $2 million to North Carolina after Hurricane Florence (2018) and to Bahama’s $1 million following Hurricane Dorian (2019).In 2020, Jordan announced donating $100 million over 10 years to organizations dedicated to “ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.” In 2021,he funded two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics.
After retirement, Jordan stayed in shape, played golf in celebrity charity tournaments, and promoted his Jordan Brand clothing line and rode motorcycles.
Legacy
Jordan’s talent was clear from his first NBA season. In his first game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Jordan received a standing ovation. He established the single game playoff record of 63 points against the Boston Celtics on April 20, 1986.
Jordan led the NBA in scoring in 10 seasons and tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record of seven consecutive scoring titles. Jordan also holds the top career regular season and playoff scoring averages of 30.1 and 33.4 PPG, respectively. Jordan was the Bulls’ primary threat in the final seconds of a close game and in the playoffs. Jordan’s total of 5,987 points in the playoffs is the second highest in NBA. He retired with 32,292 points in regular season play.
The Associated Press voted Jordan the “Greatest Basketball Player of the 20th Century” and he appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record 50 times. In the September 1996 issue of Sport, in its 50th-anniversary issue, named Jordan the “Greatest Athlete of the Past 50 Years.”
Jordan’s athletic leaping ability has influenced a generation of young players. During his heyday, the television ratings increased in the league. In 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit. In 2016, President Barack Obama honoured Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Jordan is the most decorated player in NBA history with six ‘NBA Finals MVP Awards,’ ten NBA scoring titles, five ‘NBA MVP Awards,’ ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honours, fourteen All-Star Game selections, three ‘All-Star Game MVP Awards,’ three steals’ titles, and the 1988 ‘Defensive Player of the Year Award.’ He was named one of the ‘50 Greatest Players in NBA History’ in 1996 and selected to the ‘NBA 75th Anniversary Team’ in 2021.
(The author is an Associate Professor, International Scholar, winner of Presidential Awards and multiple National Accolades for Academic pursuits. He has a PhD, MPhil, and double MSc. His email is [email protected])