Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan

https://commons.wikimedia.orgSteve Lipofsky Basketballphoto.com [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]Known to fly, known to come down and slam dunk so hard, and known to clutch up games with a game winning shot! Michael Jordan, the best basketball player in the world, is thought to just be very lucky with how athletic and how skilled he is, but everyone who thinks that is wrong. “He won the many huge titles, MVP, Championships, and he made it to the top 50 players to ever play” ("Michael Jordan." Encyclopedia). He is now the best player to ever play and has accomplished many goals people never expected him to. All heroes have to greatly impact the society in different ways. Such as Michael Jordan, who is influential through hard work and his great determination to be great and prove people wrong. Michael Jordan, the best basketball player in the world, is thought to be just a great basketball player, but he has influenced so many people and showed crazy determination to follow your dreams. Michael Jordan is a hero because his influential status and his intense determination inspires others to follow their dreams and work hard.

Michael Jordan has gone through so many challenges and hardships to become the player he is, which makes him a great influence. After playing baseball for his whole life, switching to basketball and trying out for the team would take a lot of work. “As a freshman at Wilmington's Laney High School, Jordan tried out for the varsity basketball team and got cut” ("Michael Jordan." American). After he tried so hard to make the team he really wanted to play on, he didn't make it. All he ever wanted to do was play for his high school team, but the coach didn't see him as a good player. From the coach's decision, Michael decided that he needed to prove the coach wrong. When he found out he didn't make the team, he couldn't control his emotions and just sat down in his room and cried his eyes out. “It's probably good that it happened. It made me know what disappointment felt like. And I knew that I didn't want that feeling ever again" ("Michael Jordan." American). After not making the high school team, he thought he failed. He was so mad and disappointed in himself and how the coach didn't think he had the potential. Once he let his feelings pass, he came to the realization that maybe it was a good thing he didn't make it. Once he felt that feeling he knew he never wanted to feel it again, and he was going to make sure of it and show everyone he really did have the potential. Even though MJ didn't make the team, and how disappointed in himself he was, he knew that he had to prove everyone that doubted him wrong.

https://commons.wikimedia.orgFirst United 1976 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]“Wow look how athletic and skilled he is!” Everyone who says this doesn’t how determined he was to go through so many challenges and become so good. Once Michael made the team, he worked much harder, not ever leaving on a bad note. "'When I leave the game,' he wrote, 'I'll leave on top. That's the only way I'll walk away. I don't want to leave after my feet have slowed, my hands aren't as quick, or my eyesight isn't as sharp'" ("Michael Jordan." American). From Michael Jordan’s speech you can tell how determined he is to be the best. He always wants to prove to people how he is the best. When he is not satisfied with his performance, he will stay as long as it takes and practice and play as long as it takes to satisfy himself with his game. Even though MJ made the team, he didn’t change his plans to show everyone he was the best, and he sure did. “Through 1998, Jordan was named to the All-NBA first team 10 times, and named to the All-NBA Defensive First Team eight times. In 1999, following his second retirement, Jordan was named Athlete of the Century by ESPN, trumping the long-time held previous status of baseball's Babe Ruth” ("Michael Jordan." Business). This proves how much work and how determined he was to proving everyone wrong. Once he established his new mindset, he began to rise up and became one of the most popular sports players in the world. He started from his school thinking he was a nobody to his becoming extremely famous and talented. Even through all of the hardships and challenges Jordan went through, he kept working as hard as he could. After working all he could, he eventually accomplished his dream, but not entirely. He proved so many people completely wrong by not just playing in a great college but making it to the NBA and becoming MVP. But his dream only continues to dominant the game.

Michael Jordan isn’t just a good basketball player, he is such a great inspiration and a great influence to people who need to become determined to reach their goals and prove people wrong. Michael Jordan went from playing only baseball to basketball a year before high school. Jordan tried out for the basketball team and got cut. This caused him to experience the worst feeling of disappointment and anger. He then knew he had to make sure he wasn't going to feel that emotion ever again by doing all it took and working as hard as he could. He ended up becoming the most popular and best player to play basketball, proving everyone who ever doubted him wrong. MJ is a huge inspiration to most teens and even adults. ”His high school coach did not recognize Jordan as a budding basketball star, however, and he was cut from the team as a sophomore. Despite this shaky start, he was recruited by the University of North Carolina, leading them to the national championship as a freshman in 1982. Two years later he was named College Player of the Year” ("Jordan, Michael 1963-." American). When he started playing basketball and tried out for the team, no one expected him to be great or even good enough to play on the team. Michael took what people thought about him and used it as a motivator to prove every single person completely wrong about him. This really inspires me because I just started playing basketball as well, and I never played on my team but I know I am going to become one of the best players on my team soon. I am going to use the people who say, “Haha, I'm better than you” as a motivator. Michael Jordan has one of the most inspiring stories that provides a mindset of no matter what people say, if you are determined to reach your dreams, you can.

Works Consulted

"Michael Jordan." American Decades, edited by Judith S. Baughman, et al., Gale, 1998. Student

Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1602000601/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xi

=ba580212. Accessed 1 May 2019.

"Michael Jordan." Business Leader Profiles for Students, edited by Sheila Dow and Jaime E.

Noce, vol. 2, Gale, 2002. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1604000354/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=d6e56087. Accessed 1 May 2019.

"Michael Jordan." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 21, Gale, 1999. Biography In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1606001361/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=b

b09487. Accessed 2 May 2019.

"Michael Jordan." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Student

Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1631003449/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=f23faabf. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.

“MJ's Influence as Strong as Ever in Today's NBA.” SI.com, Si, 2019,

www.si.com/nba/2018/01/02/michael-jordan-sneaker-culture-influence-nba-chris-paul-n

s.

"Michael Jordan." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online, Gale, 2013. Student

Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K2419200618/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xid=2da8b161. Accessed 30 Apr. 2019.

"Michael Jordan." UXL Biographies, UXL, 2011. Student Resources In Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2108101206/SUIC?u=powa9245&sid=SUIC&xi

=1ef6ba31. Accessed 29 Apr. 2019.