Michael Jordan
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Michael Jordan
 |
| Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in 1997 |
| No. 23, 45, 9, 12 |
| Shooting guard-Small forward |
| Personal information |
| Date of birth | February 17, 1963 (1963-02-17) (age 48) |
| Place of birth | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| High school | Emsley A. Laney High School (Wilmington, North Carolina) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information |
| College | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| NBA Draft | 1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall |
| Selected by the Chicago Bulls |
| Pro career | 1984–2003 |
| Career history |
| |
| Career highlights and awards |
- 6× NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
- 5× NBA Most Valuable Player (1988, 1991–1992, 1996, 1998)
- 14× NBA All-Star (1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002–2003)
- 6× NBA Finals MVP (1991–1993, 1996–1998)
- NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
- 10× All-NBA First Team (1987–1993, 1996–1998)
- All-NBA Second Team (1985)
- 9× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1988–1993, 1996–1998)
- NBA Rookie of the Year (1985)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (1985)
- 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998)
- 2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1987–1988)
- 2× Gold Medal Winner in the Olympics (1984, 1992)
- NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
- NCAA Men's Basketball Champion (1982)
- 2× Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1983, 1984)
- 1982 ACC Freshman of the Year
- ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year (1984)
- USBWA College Player of the Year (1984)
- Naismith College Player of the Year (1984)
- John R. Wooden Award (1984)
- Adolph Rupp Trophy (1984)
|
| Career NBA statistics |
| Points | 32,292 (30.1 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,672 (6.2 rpg) |
| Assists | 5,633 (5.3 apg) |
| Info Page |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com |
| Basketball Hall of Fame as player |
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former American
professional basketball player, active businessman, and majority owner of the
Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the
National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."
[1] Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
After a standout career at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels'
National Championship, 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.
[2] 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 at 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 (
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
Washington Wizards.
Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five
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. He 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 was elected to the
Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009 and was inducted on September 11, 2009.
[3]
Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of
Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today.
[4] Jordan also starred in the
1996 feature film
Space Jam as himself. He is the majority owner and head of basketball operations for the NBA's
Charlotte Bobcats; he recently won a bidding war to buy controlling interest in the team from founding owner
Robert L. Johnson.
Early years
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.
[5] 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.
[6]
Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's
junior varsity squad, and tallied several 40 point games.
[6] The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm)
[1] 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.
[7][8] As a
senior, he was selected to the
McDonald's All-American Team[9] after averaging a
triple-double: 29.2 points, 11.6
rebounds, and 10.1
assists.
[10]
In 1981, Jordan earned a basketball scholarship to the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he
majored in
cultural geography. As a freshman in coach
Dean Smith's team-oriented system, he was named
ACC Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13.4
points per game (ppg) on 53.4% shooting (
field goal percentage).
[11] He made the game-winning jump shot in the
1982 NCAA Championship game against
Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival
Patrick Ewing.
[1] Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career.
[12] During his three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0
rebounds per game (rpg).
[7] He was selected by consensus to the
NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the
Naismith and the
Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the
1984 NBA Draft. The
Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick, after
Hakeem Olajuwon (
Houston Rockets) and
Sam Bowie (
Portland Trail Blazers). Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986.
[13]
Professional career
During
his first season in the NBA, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting.
[11] He quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas,
[14][15][16] and appeared on the cover of
Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star is Born" just over a month into his professional career.
[17][18] Jordan was also voted in as an
All-Star starter by the fans in his rookie season.
[1] Controversy arose before the All-Star game when word surfaced that several veteran players, led by
Isiah Thomas, were upset by the amount of attention Jordan was receiving.
[1] This led to a so called "freeze-out" on Jordan, where players refused to pass him the ball throughout the game.
[1] The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted Rookie of the Year.
[19] The Bulls finished the season 38–44,
[20] and lost in the
first round of the playoffs in four games to the
Milwaukee Bucks.
[19]
Jordan's
second season was cut short by a broken foot which caused him to miss 64 games.
[1] Despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record,
[20] the Bulls made the
playoffs. Jordan recovered in time to participate in the playoffs and performed well upon his return. Against a 1985–86
Boston Celtics team that is often considered one of the greatest in NBA history,
[21] Jordan set the still-unbroken record for points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2.
[22] The Celtics, however, managed to
sweep the series.
[19]
Jordan had recovered completely by the
1986–87 season, and had one of the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA history. He became the only player other than
Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a season, averaging a league high 37.1 points on 48.2% shooting.
[11] In addition, Jordan demonstrated his defensive prowess, as he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100
blocks in a season. Despite Jordan's success,
Magic Johnson won the league's
Most Valuable Player Award. The Bulls reached 40 wins,
[20] and advanced to
the playoffs for the third consecutive year. However, they were again swept by the Celtics.
[19]
Mid-career: Pistons roadblock
Jordan led the league in scoring again in the
1987–88 season, averaging 35.0 ppg on 53.5% shooting
[11] and won his first league
MVP award. He was also named the
Defensive Player of the Year, as he had averaged 1.6 blocks and a league high 3.16 steals per game.
[23] The Bulls finished 50–32,
[20] and made it out of the first round of
the playoffs for the first time in Jordan's career, as they defeated the
Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.
[24] However, the Bulls then lost in five games to the more experienced
Detroit Pistons,
[19] who were led by
Isiah Thomas and a group of physical players known as the "
Bad Boys".
In the
1988–89 season, Jordan again led the league in scoring, averaging 32.5 ppg on 53.8% shooting from the field, along with 8 rpg and 8
assists per game (apg).
[11] The Bulls finished with a 47–35 record,
[20] and advanced to the
Eastern Conference Finals, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers and
New York Knicks along the way. The Cavaliers series included a career highlight for Jordan when he hit a
series-winning shot over
Craig Ehlo in the closing moments of the deciding fifth game of the series.
[25] However, the Pistons again defeated the Bulls, this time in six games,
[19] by utilizing their "
Jordan Rules" method of guarding Jordan, which consisted of
double and triple teaming him every time he touched the ball.
[1]
The Bulls entered the
1989–90 season as a team on the rise, with their core group of Jordan and young improving players like
Scottie Pippen and
Horace Grant, and under the guidance of new coach
Phil Jackson. Jordan averaged a league leading 33.6 ppg on 52.6% shooting, to go with 6.9 rpg and 6.3 apg
[11] in leading the Bulls to a 55–27 record.
[20] They again advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals beating the Bucks and
Philadelphia 76ers en route. However, despite pushing the series to seven games, the Bulls lost to the Pistons for the third consecutive season.
[19]
First three-peat
In the
1990–91 season, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 ppg on 53.9% shooting, 6.0 rpg, and 5.5 apg for the regular season.
[11] The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in 16 years and set a franchise record with 61 wins in the regular season.
[20] With
Scottie Pippen developing into an All-Star, the Bulls elevated their play. The Bulls defeated the
New York Knicks and the
Philadelphia 76ers in the opening two rounds of
the playoffs. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where their rival, the Detroit Pistons, awaited them. However, this time the Bulls beat the Pistons in a surprising sweep.
[26][27] In an unusual ending to the fourth and final game, Isiah Thomas led his team off the court before the final minute had concluded. Most of the Pistons went directly to their locker room instead of shaking hands with the Bulls.
[28]
The Bulls compiled an outstanding 15–2 record during the playoffs,
[26] and advanced to
the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they beat the
Los Angeles Lakers four games to one. Perhaps the best known moment of the series came in Game 2 when, attempting a dunk, Jordan avoided a potential
Sam Perkins block by switching the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air to lay the shot in.
[29] In his first Finals appearance, Jordan posted per game averages of 31.2 points on 56% shooting from the field, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks.
[30] Jordan won his first
NBA Finals MVP award,
[31] and he cried while holding the NBA Finals trophy.
[32]
Jordan and the Bulls continued their dominance in the
1991–92 season, establishing a 67–15 record, topping their franchise record from 1990–91.
[20] Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with averages of 30.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game on 52% shooting.
[23] After winning a physical 7-game series over the New York Knicks in the second round of
the playoffs and finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals in 6 games, the Bulls met
Clyde Drexler and the
Portland Trail Blazers in
the Finals. The media, hoping to recreate a
Magic-Bird rivalry, highlighted the similarities between "Air" Jordan and Clyde "The Glide" during the pre-Finals hype.
[33] In the first game, Jordan scored a Finals-record 35 points in the first half, including a record-setting six
three-point field goals.
[34] After the sixth three-pointer, he jogged down the court shrugging as he looked courtside.
Marv Albert, who broadcast the game, later stated that it was as if Jordan was saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this."
[35] The Bulls went on to win Game 1, and defeat the Blazers in six games. Jordan was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row
[31] and finished the series averaging 35.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.5 apg, while shooting 53% from the floor.
[31]
In
1992–93, despite a 32.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg and 5.5 apg campaign,
[23] Jordan's streak of consecutive MVP seasons ended as he lost the award to his friend
Charles Barkley. Coincidentally, Jordan and the Bulls met Barkley and his
Phoenix Suns in the
1993 NBA Finals. The Bulls captured their third consecutive NBA championship on a game-winning shot by
John Paxson and a last-second block by
Horace Grant, but Jordan was once again Chicago's catalyst. He averaged a Finals-record 41.0 ppg during the six-game series,
[36] and became the first player in NBA history to win three straight Finals MVP awards.
[31] He scored more than 30 points in every game of the series, including 40 or more points in 4 consecutive games. With his third Finals triumph, Jordan capped off a seven-year run where he attained seven scoring titles and three championships, but there were signs that Jordan was tiring of his massive celebrity and all of the non-basketball hassles in his life.
[37]
Gambling controversy
During the Bulls' playoff run in 1993, controversy arose when Jordan was seen gambling in
Atlantic City, New Jersey the night before a game against the New York Knicks.
[38] In that same year, he admitted to having to cover $57,000 in gambling losses,
[39] and author Richard Esquinas wrote a book claiming he had won $1.25 million from Jordan on the golf course.
[39] In 2005, Jordan talked to
Ed Bradley of the
CBS evening show
60 Minutes about his gambling and admitted that he made some reckless decisions. Jordan stated, "Yeah, I've gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I've pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you're willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah."
[40] When Bradley asked him if his gambling ever got to the level where it jeopardized his livelihood or family, Jordan replied, "No."
[40]
First retirement and baseball career
Michael Jordan while playing with the Scottsdale Scorpions
On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, citing a loss of desire to play the game. Jordan later stated that the murder of his father earlier in the year shaped his decision.
[41] James R. Jordan, Sr. was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in
Lumberton,
North Carolina, by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery. The assailants were traced from calls they made on James Jordan's cellular phone,
[42] caught, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. Jordan was close to his father; as a child he had imitated his father's proclivity to stick out his tongue while absorbed in work. He later adopted it as his own signature, displaying it each time he drove to the basket.
[1] In 1996 he founded a Chicago area
Boys & Girls Club and dedicated it to his father.
[43][44]
In his 1998 autobiography
For the Love of the Game, Jordan wrote that he had been preparing for retirement as early as the summer of 1992.
[45] The added exhaustion due to the
Dream Team run in the
1992 Olympics solidified Jordan's feelings about the game and his ever-growing celebrity status. Jordan's announcement sent shock waves throughout the NBA and appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world.
[46]
Jordan then further surprised the sports world by signing a
minor league baseball contract with the
Chicago White Sox. He reported to
spring training and was assigned to the team's minor league system on March 31, 1994.
[47] Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a
Major League Baseball player.
[48] The White Sox were another team owned by Bulls owner
Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan's basketball contract during the years he played baseball.
[49] He had a brief professional baseball career for the
Birmingham Barons, a Chicago White Sox farm team,
batting .202 with 3
HR, 51
RBI, 30
SB, and 11
errors.
[8] He also appeared for the
Scottsdale Scorpions in the 1994
Arizona Fall League, batting .202 against the top prospects in baseball.
"I'm back": Return to the NBA
In the
1993–94 season, the Jordan-less Bulls notched a 55–27 record,
[20] and lost to the
New York Knicks in the second round of
the playoffs. But the
1994–95 version of the Bulls was a shell of the championship squad of just two years earlier. Struggling at mid-season to ensure a spot in the playoffs, Chicago was 31–31 at one point in mid-March.
[50] The team received a lift, however, when Jordan decided to return to the NBA for the Bulls.
On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a pithy press release: "I'm back."
[1] The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls to face the
Indiana Pacers in
Indianapolis, scoring 19 points.
[51] The game had the highest
Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.
[52]
Although he had not played in an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against
Atlanta in his fourth game back and scoring 55 points in a game against the Knicks at
Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995.
[19] Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls
made the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the
Orlando Magic. At the end of the first game of the series, though, Orlando's
Nick Anderson would strip Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan",
[53] after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number (23). Jordan averaged 31 points per game in that series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.
[7]
Second three-peat
Jordan going in for a slam dunk with his signature exposed tongue.
Freshly motivated by the playoff defeat, Jordan trained aggressively for the
1995–96 season.
[54] Strengthened by the addition of rebound specialist
Dennis Rodman, the Bulls dominated the league, starting the season 41–3,
[55] and eventually finishing with the best regular season record in NBA history: 72–10.
[21] Jordan led the league in scoring with 30.4 ppg,
[56] and won the league's regular season and All-Star Game MVP awards.
[1] In
the playoffs, the Bulls lost only three games in four series, defeating the
Seattle SuperSonics in the
NBA Finals to win the championship. Jordan was named Finals MVP for a record fourth time,
[31] surpassing
Magic Johnson's three Finals MVP awards. He also achieved only the second sweep of the MVP Awards in the All-Star Game, regular season and NBA Finals, duplicating
Willis Reed's feat during the
1969–70 season.
[19] Because this was Jordan's first championship since his father's death, and it was won on
Father's Day, Jordan reacted very emotionally upon winning the title, including a memorable scene of him sobbing on the locker room floor with the game ball.
[1][32]
In the
1996–97 season, the Bulls started out 69–11, but narrowly missed out on a second consecutive 70-win season by losing their final two games to finish 69–13.
[57] However, this year Jordan was beaten for the NBA MVP Award by
Karl Malone. The team again advanced to
the Finals, where they faced Malone and the
Utah Jazz. The series against the Jazz featured two of the more memorable clutch moments of Jordan's career. He won Game 1 for the Bulls with a
buzzer-beating jump shot. In Game 5, with the series tied 2–2, Jordan played despite being feverish and dehydrated from a stomach virus. In what is known as the "
flu game", Jordan scored 38 points including the game-deciding three-pointer with less than a minute remaining.
[58] The Bulls won 90–88 and went on to win the series in six games.
[57] For the fifth time in as many Finals appearances, Jordan received the
Finals MVP award.
[31] During the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, Jordan posted the only
triple double in All-Star Game history in a victorious effort; however, he did not receive the MVP award.
Jordan and the Bulls compiled a 62–20 record in the
1997–98 season.
[20] Jordan led the league with 28.7 points per game,
[23] securing his fifth regular-season MVP award, plus honors for All-NBA First Team, First Defensive Team and the All-Star Game MVP.
[1] The Bulls captured the Eastern Conference Championship for a third straight season, including surviving a grueling seven-game series with
Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals; it was the first time Jordan had played in a Game 7 since the 1992 series with the Knicks. After prevailing, they moved on for a rematch with the Jazz in
the Finals.
The Bulls returned to Utah for
Game 6 on June 14, 1998 leading the series 3–2. Jordan executed a series of plays, considered to be one of the greatest clutch performances in NBA Finals history.
[59] With the Bulls trailing 86–83 with 40 seconds remaining, coach Jackson called a timeout. When play resumed, Jordan received the inbound pass, drove to the basket, and hit a layup over several Jazz defenders.
[59] The Jazz brought the ball upcourt and passed the ball to forward Karl Malone, who was set up in the
low post and was being guarded by Rodman. Malone jostled with Rodman and caught the pass, but Jordan cut behind him and swatted the ball out of his hands for a steal.
[59] Jordan then slowly dribbled upcourt and paused at the top of the key, eyeing his defender, Jazz guard
Bryon Russell. With fewer than 10 seconds remaining, Jordan started to dribble right, then crossed over to his left, possibly pushing off Russell,
[60][61][62] although the officials did not call a
foul. Jordan then released what would be the climactic shot of his career. After a desperation three-point shot by
John Stockton missed, Jordan and the Bulls claimed their sixth NBA championship, and secured a second three-peat. Once again, Jordan was voted the Finals MVP,
[31] having led all scorers by averaging 33.5 points per game, including 45 in the deciding Game 6.
[63] Jordan's six Finals MVPs is a record;
Shaquille O'Neal,
Magic Johnson, and
Tim Duncan are tied for second place with three apiece.
[31] The 1998 Finals holds the highest television rating of any Finals series in history, and Game 6 holds the highest television rating of any game in NBA history.
[64][65]
