Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan born February 17 1963 is a former American professional basketball player active businessman and majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets His biography on the National Basketball Association NBA website states By acclamation Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s After a standout career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Tar Heels National Championship team in 1982 Jordan joined the NBAs Chicago Bulls in 1984 He quickly emerged as a league star entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring His leaping ability illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests earned him the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball In 1991 he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993 securing a threepeat Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 199394 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships 1996 1997 and 1998 as well as an NBArecord at the time 72 regularseason wins in the 199596 NBA season Jordan retired for a second time in 1999 but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards Jordans individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards ten AllNBA First Team designations nine AllDefensive First Team honors fourteen NBA AllStar Game appearances three AllStar Game MVP awards ten scoring titles three steals titles six NBA Finals MVP awards and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award He holds the NBA records for highest career playoff scoring average 3345 points per game In 1999 he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Presss list of athletes of the century He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6 2009 and was inducted on September 11 2009 Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements He fueled the success of Nikes Air Jordan sneakers which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam as himself He is the majority owner and head of basketball operations for the NBAs Charlotte Hornets he recently won a bidding war to buy controlling interest in the team from founding owner Robert L Johnson Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Jordan licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia