When it comes to basketball, one of the first names that comes to mind is Michael Jordan. According to the official website of the US professional basketball league NBA, Michael Jordan is unanimously the best basketball player of all time. Michael Jordan, who has written his name in gold letters in basketball history; is one of the most successful, popular, and rich athletes in the history of college, Olympic, and professional sports. The star of the courts, whose real name is Michael Jeffrey Jordan, is considered one of the best basketball players ever.
The Begging Of His Life
Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 17, 1963, as one of the five children of James and Deloris Jordan. Michael Jordan completed his primary education at Ogden Elementary School and then attended Trask Junior High School. When Michael was very young, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. His father worked as an auditor at General Electric, and his mother was a bank employee. Jordan started at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he began his sports career with baseball, American football and basketball.
He tried to join the school team in his second year at school, but was not selected because his height of 1.80m was considered short. However, he grew 10cm taller in the summer and focused on basketball very intensively. Seeing the benefits of this, he found a place for himself on the school team in his last 2 years. He achieved an average of 25 points per game in these years. In the 12th grade, which was his last year at school, he was selected to the McDonald’s All-American Team. He completed this season with triple-double statistics. 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists.
The Real Beginning Of His Career
After high school, he received a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina, working with head coach Dean Smith. Jordan, who won the 1982 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year Award in his first season at North Carolina, won the title of college player of the year for two years. Meanwhile, his team won the ACC championship. Jordan, who later left North Carolina, was selected for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1984. When Jordan was selected for the Chicago Bulls, the team was a losing team and he didn’t have many fans. However, Jordan’s playing style and fierce competitive spirit reminded him of basketball superstar Julius Erving in the 1970s.
Jordan began his NBA career in the 1984-85 season and carried his team to the playoffs in the 1986-87 season, continuing this success until 1998.
Jordan became a legend in the basketball world in the 1990s. He won three consecutive NBA championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993. During this period, Jordan was chosen as the league’s best player with an average of 30.1 points per game.
Jordan’s incredible jumping ability excited basketball fans. Jordan was selected to the All-Star team in his first season and was later honored as the league’s Rookie of the Year. He outscored the Boston Celtics by 49 points in his first game, an NBA playoff record, and by 63 points in his second game. The 1986–87 season was another one of individual success, as Jordan began the All-Star Game with a record 1.5 million votes. He became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain (1936–1999) to score 3,000 points in a single season. Jordan focused on developing his other basketball skills, and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. He was also named the league’s “Most Valuable Player” (MVP) and the “Most Valuable Player” of that year’s All-Star Game. In addition, he was named the league’s “Most Valuable Player” in 1991 and 1992; the All-Star Game in 1988 and 1996; and the NBA Playoff Series in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Jordan, who was on the US Olympic National Basketball Team, also known as the Dream Team, consisting of NBA players, played an important role in the team’s gold medal win at the Barcelona Olympics in Spain.
A Tragic Accident And Jordan’s First Retirement
Everything was going great for Michael during these years until his father’s death. After the Olympics, the same year his idol and mentor, his father, was killed during an armed robbery. Many news stories were published about his death. On July 23, 1993, one of the biggest turning points in Jordan’s life, the death of his father James Jordan, which left many questions and secrets, took place. While returning from a friend’s funeral in North Carolina, Jordan pulled over on the highway passing through Lumberton and took a nap. He lost his life as a result of two young men shooting him while he was sleeping. One of the fine details is a Lexus brand vehicle with the license plate “UNC 0023” that Michael gave to his father as a gift. The license plate we are talking about has immunity in North Carolina because the meaning of the plate is “University of North Carolina (North Carolina University, also Michael Jordan’s alma mater) and it is a special plate dedicated to MJ’s jersey number 23. When the killers realized that the person they shot was Jordan, they stole the valuables in the car including 2 NBA championship rings and dumped the body in the swamp in South Carolina. The body was found 13 days after the death and its identity was determined. After these events, Jordan was seriously affected and said goodbye to the Bulls and active basketball.
Jordan’s First Love; Baseball
On February 7, 1994, he signed a contract with the White Sox, saying “Baseball was my first love and my father always wanted me to play.” He stepped into baseball, one of his biggest dreams since childhood, with the Birmingham Barons team. The season he entered baseball was marked by a strike in the league and he played only 1 season actively without being able to play much.
The Second Bulls Period ‘I’M BACK’
Jordan, who did not have a very good season in baseball, later returned to basketball towards the end of the 1994-95 season, thinking that the time he spent away from basketball was enough for him to get his head together. The press release he made when announcing his return to basketball consisted of only two words: “I’m back.”
Returning to the courts with the jersey number 45, which he wore while playing baseball for the Birmingham Barons, due to the retirement of his jersey number 23, Jordan began to sweat in his new jersey for a new victory.
After returning to basketball, Jordan carried the Bulls to 3 consecutive NBA championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The 1996 championship is considered one of Jordan’s greatest victories, as the Bulls had their most successful season at the time, posting a 72-10 record in the regular season.
A SECOND RETIREMENT PERIOD
The way he finished the 1998 season seemed like a perfect ending to Jordan’s career, as he was now well into his old age. The expiring contracts of Phil Jackson and Dennis Rodman, and Scottie Pippen’s decision to leave the team were other factors that influenced Jordan’s decision to retire. In early 1999, during a lockout in the NBA, Michael Jordan announced his second retirement.
The Last Return and the Washington Wizards Period
He played in the NBA with the Washington Wizards from 2001-2003. This is known as Jordan’s third period in his basketball career. In 2000, he became the president and minority shareholder of the Washington Wizards. While working in this position, he decided to return to the court. He started playing basketball again in 2001 and played for the Washington Wizards.
Despite returning at the age of 38, Jordan still put on an impressive performance. In his first season with the Wizards, he played with averages of 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists. In his second season, he averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
His Last Game: Michael Jordan played the last NBA game of his career on April 16, 2003 against the Philadelphia 76ers. In that game, Jordan was applauded by the entire audience and opposing players as he left the court towards the end of the game.
Although Jordan’s performance during the Washington Wizards period was not as dominant as his time with the Chicago Bulls, these years are remembered by basketball fans as a period in which Jordan once again demonstrated his talents and leadership qualities. However, he failed to make it to the playoffs in these two seasons with the Wizards. In 2003, Jordan permanently retired from professional basketball.
Commercial Achivements
Michael Jordan is a great businessman beyond sports. The sponsorship deal he signed with Nike in 1984 gave birth to the Air Jordan brand. Air Jordan sneakers revolutionized not only basketball players but also street fashion. Today, the Air Jordan series is still one of the most popular sneakers in the world and is considered one of Nike’s most successful collaborations.
In 2010, Jordan purchased a majority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets (then known as the Charlotte Bobcats), becoming the first black team owner to own a majority stake in the NBA. With this venture, he also proved himself as a successful figure in the business world. Jordan’s assets are quite extensive. As of 2024, Jordan’s net worth exceeded $3 billion. This wealth comes not only from his basketball career, but also from his successful business investments (e.g. Nike, the Air Jordan series, Charlotte Hornets), advertising deals and other ventures.
MICHAEL JORDAN’S PRIVATE LIFE
Jordan has been married twice throughout his life. He met his first wife Juanita Vanoy in a restaurant in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Juanita was a model and working for a real estate company in Chicago at the time. Their relationship began when Jordan was at the beginning of his career. The couple got married in 1989. They had 3 children from this marriage, Jeffrey Jordan, Marcus Jordan, and Jasmine Jordan. Although both boys showed interest in basketball, they could not shine like their fathers. Michael and Juanita Jordan divorced in 2006 after 17 years of marriage. The $168 million compensation Juanita received at the time was one of the largest divorce settlements in the sports world. Juanita is known as a strong figure who supported Jordan during the peak of his career.
He met model Yvette Prieto, with whom he had a second marriage, in a nightclub in Miami in 2008. Jordan proposed to Prieto in 2011. The couple married in a big wedding on April 27, 2013 in Palm Beach, Florida. The couple had twin girls named Victoria and Ysabel, who were born in 2014. These children from Jordan’s second marriage are very secretive about their father’s private life.
Michael Jordan’s Unforgettable Quotes
● I have made over 9000 bad shots in my career, I have lost over 300 games, I have missed the game-winning shot 26 times. The more I tried, the more I failed, the more I failed, the more I tried. That is the secret of my success.
● I never think of a negative thought before I shoot, because negative results are not my thing.
● Talent wins games, but intelligence and teamwork win championships.
● Everyone wants to be Michael Jordan one day, but I have to be Michael Jordan every day.
● I play every game like it’s my last.
● Always be aggressive no matter what.
● I don’t think about how to beat 5 people on the court, I think about how those 5 people will stop me.
● I’ve made mistake after mistake, mistake after mistake throughout my life, that’s why I’ve succeeded.
● There’s only one man who can stop Michael Jordan, and that’s Michael Jordan.
● Just play. Have fun and enjoy the game.
Thank you for reading!
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