Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He stands 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 meters) tall. Britannica describes him as widely considered one of the greatest all-around players in the history of the game. He earned the nickname Air Jordan for his leaping ability and acrobatic play, and the name became his Nike shoe line.

Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he attended Emsley A. As a 5-foot-11 sophomore he was cut from the varsity and assigned to the junior varsity while still under six feet tall. The summer before his junior year he grew to 6-foot-3. From that point he developed into a top national recruit.

Jordan enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in autumn 1981, having first come to coach Dean Smith's attention at a camp in summer 1980 and signed the following year. As a freshman he made the winning basket against Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA national championship game, hitting a 16-foot jumper with about 15 seconds left for a 63-62 lead, after which James Worthy sealed the result with a steal.

His junior season produced the cradle dunk against Maryland with time winding down in a 74-62 win. Against Virginia in February 1983 he scored off an offensive rebound over the 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson and stole the ball from Rick Carlisle for a breakaway slam. He reached a collegiate career high of 39 points against Georgia Tech in a 72-65 victory, and one week before that had 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Duke in a 103-82 win.

Jordan was named NCAA College Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984. His final college game was the 1984 regional semifinal against Indiana, where Dan Dakich held him to 13 points and he fouled out as Indiana won 72-68 behind 27 points from Steve Alford. He left after his junior year to join the NBA.

Michael Jordan entered the NBA Draft after his junior year and was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie.

He was named the 1984-85 Rookie of the Year after averaging 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists.

His arrival helped lift the Bulls to an 11-game improvement that season.

Jordan's second season was cut to only 18 regular-season games after he broke a small bone in his foot. His return produced one of the most celebrated individual performances in playoff history: 63 points against the Celtics at Boston Garden, an NBA playoff record. He averaged 43.7 points across that series. Boston won 135-131 in double overtime and swept the Bulls, yet the scoring record still stands.

From 1986-87 he began a run of seven consecutive seasons leading the league in scoring, opening that stretch at 37.1 points per game. In 1987-88 he collected the MVP award, Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star MVP honors in the same campaign. That year he also edged Dominique Wilkins in the dunk contest held in Chicago.

On 7 May 1989 he produced The Shot in Game 5 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, hanging in the air until Craig Ehlo was out of his way before releasing the jumper that won the series. Cleveland had improved by 15 games that season to a franchise-best 57-25 record.

In 1987 Chicago added forward Scottie Pippen, whose skills complemented Jordan and improved the young team. Phil Jackson and assistant coach Tex Winter installed the triangle offense, a scheme designed to discourage opponents from double-teaming Jordan. In the 1990-91 season, with Phil Jackson coaching and Scottie Pippen entering his prime, the Bulls won their first championship.

In 1991 the Bulls swept Detroit and then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the franchise's first title. The Bulls repeated as champions in 1992 and again in 1993 and became the first NBA team to win three consecutive titles since the Boston Celtics.

Saying the desire just was not there, he announced the first of his three NBA retirements in October 1993 and left the Bulls.

The 31-year-old Jordan spent the 1994 season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons under manager Terry Francona. Playing right field he batted 0.202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 127 games. After the Barons season he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit for a 0.252 average.

Jordan returned to basketball with Chicago in March 1995 and in 1995-96 led the Bulls to a 72-10 regular-season record, then the best in NBA history, as the team became the first in NBA history to win at least 70 games. He led the NBA with 30.4 points and the Bulls went 15-3 in the playoffs, winning the title over Seattle.

In Game 5 of the 1997 Finals he scored 38 points while suffering from flu-like symptoms, including 17 in the second quarter after looking lost in the first and seven in the fourth during a 10-0 run that erased Utah's 77-69 lead.

From 1996 to 1998 the Jordan-led Bulls won three more championships in a row and he was named Finals MVP each time. With the Jazz leading 86-85 and 18.9 seconds left in Game 6 he stole the ball from Karl Malone, then hit a 20-foot jumper for an 87-86 lead with 5.2 seconds to play as the Bulls clinched their third straight title. In his last game as a Bull on 14 June 1998 he made a key steal and hit the game-winning shot over Bryon Russell on the way to 45 points.

After six championships in eight years Phil Jackson left Chicago, and his departure spurred Jordan's second retirement.

Michael Jordan joined the Washington Wizards in 2000 as a part owner and president of basketball operations. He gave up those roles in 2001 in order to play again. That year he made a second comeback and averaged 20 points per game. His play during this period included appearances in the 2002 and 2003 All-Star Games.

He ended his career with 32,292 points and a 30.1-point average, then the best in league history, plus 2,514 steals^{1Michael Jordan · Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗}. His honors include 11 All-NBA teams, five regular-season MVPs, six Finals MVPs and six NBA titles^{3Legends profile: Michael Jordan · NBA.com ↗}. In the 1991 Finals he averaged 31.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists for his first Finals MVP^{3Legends profile: Michael Jordan · NBA.com ↗}.

Jordan's commercial footprint was established early through a five-year, $2.5 million endorsement deal with Nike signed in 1984 that created the Air Jordan line. The company launched Air Jordan in 1985 with his initial contract giving him 25 percent in royalties. His earnings from playing professional basketball reached at least $94,022,500.

In 2006 he became a minority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats and in 2010 bought a controlling interest, becoming the first former NBA player to own a majority share of a league franchise. He owned the Hornets for 13 years and remained with the team as a minority owner after the sale. The sale of the majority stake in the Hornets from Jordan to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall was finalized. He called owning the Hornets a tremendous honor but did not explain why he sold the franchise.

The Hornets never won a playoff series under Jordan and had missed the postseason for seven straight seasons. Between 2006 and October 2022 the franchise grew from a $175 million valuation to $1.7 billion. In April 2023 Forbes listed his net worth at $2 billion.

In 2016 Michael Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the White House citation called him one of the greatest athletes of all time while noting 15 seasons with the Bulls and Wizards. His public recognition has also carried an institutional dimension: he was named Make-A-Wish Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008 for his work with wish children.

Jordan marked his 60th birthday by making a $10 million donation to Make-A-Wish, the largest donation ever received from an individual in the organization's 43-year history. He also began sharing details of how some of a $100 million pledge to the Black community would be allocated, saying the money would support social justice, economic justice and education and awareness.

The NBA's own profile credits Jordan with single-handedly redefining the NBA superstar. In 2009 he headlined a Hall of Fame class that also included John Stockton, David Robinson and Jerry Sloan.