American professional basketball is one of the nation’s biggest pro sports and enjoys a global following as well. It has spawned many celebrity players over the years, too many to list here, but there is one who is so special and so beloved by the fans that we are going to focus on him today. Who is this amazing athlete and basketball star? The one and only Michael Jordan!
Michael Jordan’s success is so huge it goes far beyond the basketball court. His name can be found on a variety of wildly popular products, perhaps most famously Nike’s Air Jordan line of basketball shoes, in particular the legendary Jordan 4 design, arguably the world’s most famous shoes, that began production in 1989 and is still going strong today! Let’s now take a brief look at this amazing superstar’s life and times:
On February 17, 1963, Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the fourth of James and Deloris Jordan’s five children. Not long after Michael’s birth, his parents left the mean streets of Brooklyn for a quieter, safer life in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Michael had a passion for sports from a very young age, but his first love was baseball, not basketball! His older brother Larry was a basketball player though, so Michael decided to follow in his footsteps and tried out for his high school team in his second year of school. It’s hard to believe now, but he was cut for being too scrawny! He never gave up though, and practised constantly. He also grew taller! Michael rejoined the team in his 3rd year and in his 4th was selected for the McDonald’s All-American Team.
Michael was given a basketball scholarship by North Carolina University and in his first year was named ACC Freshman of the Year. He made the game-winning shot that secured the 1982 NCAA Championship for the Tarheels. Michael was so talented he left college early to enter the National Basketball Association (NBA) 1984 draft and was chosen by the Chicago Bulls.
The rookie Michael, a crack shot, racked up the scores, averaging between 30 and 40 points a game! He was named Rookie of the Year and was selected for the NBA All-Star Game. Michael won five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA finals MVP awards, three All-Star game MVP awards, and the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Michael took a break from basketball for a time to pursue his first love, baseball, but the magic wasn’t there for him so he returned to the sport that would make him a superstar. He went on to lead the Bulls to three consecutive NBA championships and earned the title “NBA’s greatest player of all-time”. He was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN in 1999, and was invited into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
Michael Jordan was the first NBA player in history to become a billionaire, which is the kind of thing you have to do if you want to have the world’s most famous shoes named after you!