Michael Jordan

The Biography of Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan also known as “Air Jordan”, “Your Royal Airness”, “Ready For Takeoff”, “Le Wilde Bulle”, “Sir Altitude”, “MJ”, was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. He was the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris. His parents decided to move the family to Wilmington, North Carolina as the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to raise a family. Michael developed interest in sports as a youngster. His father loved baseball, so Michael used to play catch in the yard with his father. Jordan developed a competitive edge at an early age. He wanted to win every game he played. As his father James later noted, "What he does have is a competition problem. He was born with that ... the person he tries to outdo most of the time is himself."

Michael idolized his older brother, Larry and followed his footsteps and started playing basketball. At Laney High School, as a sophomore, he decided to try out for the varsity team but was cut because he was raw and undersized ( 5'11" (1.80 m), he was deemed too short to play at that level). Michael went home, locked himself in his room and cried. Motivated to prove his worth, the following summer, he grew four inches and practiced tirelessly. The hard work paid off as he averaged 25 points per game in his last two years and was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior. His height is now 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m).

Following high school, he earned a basketball scholarship from North Carolina University where he would play under legendary coach Dean Smith. In his first year, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year. He would help lead the Tarheels to the 1982 NCAA Championship, making the game-winning shot. After winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 1984, Jordan decided to leave North Carolina to enter the NBA draft. Although he decided to leave college early, he would later return to the university in 1986 to complete his degree in geography. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls, he soon proved himself on the court. He helped the team make it to the playoffs and scored an average of 28.2 points per game that season. For his efforts, Jordan received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and was selected for the All-Star Game. This would just be the beginning of a career filled with awards and accolades. He has won five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA finals MVP awards, three All-Star game MVP awards, and a defensive player of the year award.

During the 1986-1987 season, he became the first player since Wilt Chamberlin to score more than 3,000 points in a single season. The following season, Jordan received his first Most Valuable Player Award from NBA—an honor he would earn four more times in 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1998. In 1993, his father was murdered by two locals who robbed him shot him in the chest and threw his body in a swamp. After this incident, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball citing that "he no longer had the desire to play. In 1995 Jordan, sent two important words to media sources everywhere: "I'm Back". He celebrated his return to the NBA by doing what he always did best: winning. Although the Bulls would lose in the playoffs to the Orlando Magic, it was obvious that Jordan was still the same superstar player. He would go on to lead the Bulls to three more consecutive NBA championships and etch his place in the history as the "NBA's greatest player of all-time".

Some of the famous quotes by Michael Jordan:

1. I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
2. If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
3. "If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome."
4. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
5. "Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."
6. "I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come."
7. "The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can't let yourself be beat because of lack of effort."
8. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."