Michael Jordan

Micheal Jordan (http://www.nba.com/playerfile/michael_jordan/index.html)

Michael Jordan's full name is Michael Jeffery Jordan, and his nickname is Air Jordan. Although he was born in Brooklyn, New York he was raised in North Carolina. His parents were Delores and James Jordan. Him and his dad both had the same interest in baseball, which probably led to his baseball career in 1993-95, but he followed in the footsteps of his hero and older brother Larry and chose basketball as his first career. Because of his height of 5'11 Michael wasn't chosen for the basketball team in his sophmore year of high school but during the summer of his junior year he grew to a height of 6'3 which secured him a spot on the team. After high school he attended the University of North Carolina. After his junior year he was chosen with the third overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls.

In his first season in the NBA his shooting range wasn't as good as it would be in his later years and while playing defence he was often thought to roam, but improvement in those areas caused him to be regarded as a threat while on the court. His medium game was very impressive though with a 0.515 field goal shooting percentage and his steals compensated for his not so good defence in his first season. Even in his first season he was very popular and that popularity only grew in his next seasons. Jordan's personal style was as unique as his basketball skills. Nike signed him to a major shoe deal because of his anticipated popularity, but he surpassed the highest expectaions. Michael Jordan's signature trademark was his sticking his tongue out as he jumped towards the basket. While playing basketball he usually wore his old North Carolina shorts under his uniform shorts which caused him to wear baggy shorts and that set the trend of wearing baggy shorts while playing basketball. After breaking his foot three games into his second season he was benched for sixty-two games. A few seasons into his basketball career Jordan set another trend when he shaved his head completely bald. In the 1992 Barcelona, Spain Summer Olympics Michael Jordan was part of a dream team which easily won the gold medal. After the loss of his father in an armed robbery Michael Jordan astounded the basketball world by announcing his first retirement in which he used the time that he had to start a new career in baseball.

After a lot of thinking about his plans he decided to put on a baseball uniform, and he started playing for the Chicago White Sox. Although he wasn't as good at baseball as he was at basketball he was just as confident as he always was, but his chances at reaching the big leagues were dim so late in the 1994-95 basketball season he came out of retirement with the statement "I'm Back".

He was back, but this time with the number 45 because he wanted to leave the number 23 behind. Although robbed of his gravity defying leaps at age 32, he was still as good as always with his fade away jump shots and spinning layups. The most memorable game played during his initial comeback was the one against the New York Knicks in which he scored 55 points. He again retired, but this time he decided to buy the Washington Wizards. In the owners' box he was frustrated by their lack of wins and decided to come back to basketball one more time to help the team out. He brought in his first coach for the Bulls, Doug Collins and tried to revive the Wizards to their former glory, but in both the years Jordan was part of the team they failed to make it to the playoffs.