Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York.

He is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass0ciation (NBA) and of 23 XI Racing in the Nascar series. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan played college basketball for three seasons under coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick, 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 in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". Jordan won his first NBA championship with the Bulls in 1991, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat".

Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honours, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for career regular-season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the 20th century's greatest North American athlete by ESPN and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century. Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career and again in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

Interesting facts

Michael was cut from the varsity team in his sophomore year in high school.

Michael was famous for sticking out his tongue when he made moves or dunked.

Jordan was the NBA leader in scoring for 10 seasons.

Michael Jordan starred with Bugs Bunny in the movie Space Jam.

Jordan might be just as famous for his Nike shoe the Air Jordan as for his basketball career.