Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a six-time NBA champion, a five-time league MVP, 2-time Olympic gold medalist and is widely considered as the greatest basketball player ever.
He was a two-time member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame - in 2009 as a player and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 Dream Team. He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.
So, who is Jordan? Here are some fast facts on the best player of the Chicago Bulls' 1990s dynasty.
Background
Jordan was born in New York City, New York on February 17th, 1963.
After playing high school ball at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, the highly recruited Jordan accepted a scholarship from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981.
In his first year, as a freshman, he knocked down the game-winning shot against Georgetown in the national championship game, a shot that Jordan would later say was the turning point of his career.
A year before his scheduled graduation, Jordan declared for the NBA Draft in 1984. He had won the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984.
NBA career
He was drafted third overall in the 1984 NBA Draft. On debut, he finished with 16 points, seven assists, and six rebounds vs. the Washington Bullets. In his first year in the league, he averaged 28.2 points per game en route to being named a starter on the All-Star team, the All-NBA Second Team, and the Rookie of the Year.
While he captivated the minds of every fan and his peers, Jordan did take a while to reach the business end of the league - the NBA Finals. In his fourth season, despite losing in five games in the Conference Semifinals, Jordan had a regular season for the ages.
In the 1987-88 season, he was named league MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and clinched the Slam Dunk contest in a captivating duel with Dominique Wilkins.
The first three years of his career were spent trying to get past the first round of the playoffs and the next three were spent trying to get past the Detroit Pistons. In 1991, he broke through the Conference and finally made it to the NBA Finals and the rest is history.
Over the next eight years, Jordan led the Bulls to six titles. The two seasons (1993-95) in between, when Jordan retired to play baseball after winning his first 3-peat of NBA championships, he only played 17 regular-season games of a possible 162.
At the end of his 13 seasons with the Bulls, Jordan had a Hall of Fame-worthy resume which included 6-time NBA Champion, 5-time league MVP, 6-time Finals MVP, 14 All-Star selections, 11 All-NBA selections, nine All-Defensive selections, Rookie of the Year, and 10 scoring titles (in 11 years).
At the end of the Bulls dynasty in 1998, when it was known that the season would be Phil Jackson's last, Jordan decided to retire at the end of the year.
Wizards days
Less than a week after retiring for a second time, in 1999, Jordan rejoined the league. Only this time it was a part-time owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards.
One year into his role as an executive, Jordan, inspired by the NHL comeback of his friend Mario Lemieux, announced that he would be returning to play for the Wizards.
In an injury-plagued 2001-02 season, where he played a career-low 60 games, he led the team in points (22.9), assists (5.2), and steals (1.42). The following year (2002-03), tributes started to pour in as it was evident that this would be his final year in the league.
Over these two years with the Wizards, Jordan set multiple "oldest player to score" records. After retirement, while he intended to return as the President of Basketball Operations for the franchise, owner Abe Pollin fired him.
Owner of the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets
On June 15, 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats to become the franchises second-largest stakeholder. As part of the deal, he would take full control of the basketball operations with the title "Managing Member of Basketball Operations".
Less than four years later, in March of 2010, Jordan became the majority owner of the Bobcats after the Board of Governors approved his purchase.
In 2014, once the New Orleans franchise changed their name to New Orleans Pelicans, Jordan changed the name of the Charlotte franchise back to the Hornets.
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