LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, BOYS AND GIRLS: STANDING AT SIX FEET SIX INCHES YOUR CHICAGO BULL SHOOTING GUARD FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: MICHAAAAAAAELLL JOOOOOOOOORRRDAAAAAN!
(Crowd goes wild and Eno sheds a few tears) lol
Where do I begin: How about here?
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17Th, 1963 (like my Homegirl Ty-Happy Birthday baby) in Brooklyn, New York (NEW YORK STAND THE EFF UP!) He is the son of Deloris, who worked in banking, and James R. Jordan, Sr., an equipment supervisor.
His family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was a toddler. (Your welcome North Carolina) where he later attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he anchored his athletic career by playing baseball, football, and basketball. He tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but at 5'11, he was deemed too short to play at that level and was cut from the team. The following summer, however, he grew four inches and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged about 20 points per game over his final two seasons of high school play. As a senior, he was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team after averaging a triple-double: 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 10.1 assists.
In 1981, Jordan earned a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in cultural geography. As a freshman in coach Dean Smith's team-oriented system, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13.4 points per game (ppg) on 53.4% shooting (field goal percentage). He made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career. During his three seasons at North Carolina, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0 rebounds per game (rpg). After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA Draft. The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick, after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986.
During his first season in the NBA, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting. He quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas, and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star is Born" just over a month into his professional career. Jordan was also voted in as an All-Star starter by the fans in his rookie season. Controversy arose before the All-Star game when word surfaced that several veteran players, led by Isiah Thomas, were upset by the amount of attention Jordan was receiving. This led to a so called "freeze-out" on Jordan, where players refused to pass him the ball throughout the game. The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted Rookie of the Year. The Bulls finished the season 38–44, and lost in the first round of the playoffs in four games to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jordan's second season was cut short by a broken foot which caused him to miss 64 games. Despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record, the Bulls made the playoffs. Jordan recovered in time to participate in the playoffs and performed well upon his return. Against a 1985–86 Boston Celtics team that is often considered one of the greatest in NBA history, Jordan set the still-unbroken record for points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2. The Celtics, however, managed to sweep the series.
Jordan had recovered completely by the 1986–87 season, and had one of the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA history. He became the only player other than Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a season, averaging a league high 37.1 points on 48.2% shooting. In addition, Jordan demonstrated his defensive prowess, as he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season. Despite Jordan's success, Magic Johnson won the league's Most Valuable Player Award. The Bulls reached 40 wins, and advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year. However, they were again swept by the Celtics.
^Signature Bald Head, Cigar and that damn Hoop Earing that possibly cost more than I could imagine^
His Royal Airness, The Jumpman in the Flesh: Michael "Air" Jordan
Years later after a Three-peat (Three championships won) the loss of his father that he was very close too, and a retiremenent to go play Minor-League baseball Jordan returned to the game of Basketball.In the 1993–94 season, the Jordan-less Bulls notched a 55–27 record, and lost to the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs. But the 1994–95 version of the Bulls was a shell of the championship squad of just two years earlier. Struggling at mid-season to ensure a spot in the playoffs, Chicago needed a lift. The lift came in early 1995, when Jordan decided to return to the NBA for the Bulls.
On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan donned jersey number 45 (his number with the Barons), as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement. He took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points. The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975.
Although he had not played in an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back and scoring 55 points in a game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995. Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls made the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the Orlando Magic. At the end of the first game of the series, though, Orlando's Nick Anderson would strip Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan", after which Jordan returned to wearing his old number (23). Jordan averaged 31 points per game in that series, but Orlando prevailed in six games.
From here, Jordan and the Bulls went on to gaining thier second Three-Peat. Surely after it was time for Jordans Second Retirement.
With Phil Jackson's contract expiring, the pending departures of Scottie Pippen (who stated his desire to be traded during the season) and Dennis Rodman (who would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent) looming, and being in the latter stages of an owner-induced lockout of NBA players, Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999.
On January 19, 2000, Jordan returned to the NBA not as a player, but as part owner and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards. His responsibilities with the club were to be comprehensive, as he was in charge of all aspects of the team, including personnel decisions. Opinions of Jordan as a basketball executive were mixed. He managed to purge the team of several highly paid, unpopular players (such as forward Juwan Howard and point guard Rod Strickland),but used the first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft to select high schooler Kwame Brown, who did not live up to expectations and was traded away after four seasons.
Despite his January 1999 claim that he was "99.9% certain" that he would never play another NBA game, in the summer of 2001 Jordan expressed interest in making another comeback, this time with his new team. Inspired by the NHL comeback of his friend Mario Lemieux the previous winter, Jordan spent much of the spring and summer of 2001 in training, holding several invitation-only camps for NBA players in Chicago. In addition, Jordan hired his old Chicago Bulls head coach, Doug Collins, as Washington's coach for the upcoming season, a decision that many saw as foreshadowing another Jordan return.
He then came back as a Washington Wizard [And this is where I cut the post short and leave it up to you to learn more on your own]
Personal Thoughts:
WHOA! So Jordan.... I'll just say this: I can STILL remember the day back in 1993 I hadn't turned 6 years old yet, My mother, father and year old brother were all living in a small apartment on Grand Ave. I was sitting on the couch across from my mom and she told me (In Spanish) "I'm going to give your father $100 and he's going to take you to buy you a pair of sneakers" I must have already been a sneakerhead cause I clearly remember being WAY BEYOND excited thinking that a buck was going to buy me about 4 pairs. So she told me "No thats only gonna be enough for one pair". Now the rest is a blur to me now but I know that that day I came home with the brand new, Air Jordan (White / Black - True Red) VIII's (8) my first pair of Jordans, (that I could remember atleast). OMG! I dont think that at the time I knew who Jordan was but Geeze Louise I LOVED those sneakers. I would wear them with everything and you couldn't tell me I wasnt the coolest child in the world because I had them. Since then (As mentioned in my first post) they have been and always will be my favorite Jordan Sneakers, followed very closely by the Original Black and White XIII's (13). I consider myself to now own both a pair of Originals in my size, the retro versions and a pair of Original 13's as well. Needless to say jordan was and still is one of my favorite of all time and I've been a fan since I was a lad. Till this day I still think he's the coolest dude and quite possibly the only man I think I'd shed a tear of happiness if I got to meet. So this is a shout out to Him: To His Airness, You still the Man!
1 comment:
This is copied straight from wikipedia
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