I believe I can fly...
" I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." "FRRRRROM NORTH... Carolina, at guard, six-six, number twenty-three, Michael! JORDAN!!!"
Michael Jordan, born February 17, 1963, is a former
Basketball player for the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards. He is considered one of the greatest if not
the greatest player to ever play the game, due to his skill, leadership and general professionalism. Indeed, during his career the younger generation tended to root for him despite having no Chicago ties whatsoever. In addition his stardom gave way to a massive endorsement enterprise including Wheaties, Gatorade, McDonalds and his massively popular "Air Jordan" Nike basketball shoes. He is currently the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, who are currently the worst team
ever in the NBA.
In fiction he starred in a series of
Looney Tunes / Nike crossover commericals and that lead to the 1996 Movie
Space Jam.
As always,
That Other Wiki has more information on him. But if you need some cold hard reasons why modern players want to retire his number altogether, you can peruse
this list of accomplishments.
Tropes associated with Michael Jordan include:
- The Ace
- Badass
- Badass Boast: In an 1988 game against the Utah Jazz, Jordan dunked on 6'1 point guard John Stockton. A fan heckled him by saying "Why don't you dunk on someone your own size"? The next possession, Jordan goes down the court and dunks on 6'11 center Mel Turpin. Jordan then turns to the fan and says "Was he big enough?"
- Bald Black Leader Guy: A role he fulfilled for the Bulls as a whole. In his book, Shaquille O'Neal would comment on players who would get the ref's attention and draw a foul, but gives Jordan a pass because he sees the refs' calls as protection for Jordan, because he was that important.
- Bald of Awesome
- Baseball Episode: He retired from the NBA in 1993, only to sign a minor league baseball contract and spent the year playing for the Birmingham Barons, the AA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. He returned to basketball in 1995.
- Bash Brothers: Jordan was always an exceptional player, but he was rather selfish with the ball if he felt his team wasn't living up to his standards. Because of this his early career had him with high game stats but few game wins. It wasn't until Scottie Pippen joined the team in the late 1980's that they formed a rather unbeatable duo.
- Beyond Theimpossible: He managed to score 38 points in his famous flu game, in which the doctors said he wouldn't even be able to play in.
- Big Bad: As the winner of two three-peats, he shut out a lot of players' dreams of becoming NBA champions during his prime career, notably Charles Barkley, Gary Payton, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway.
- Cast from Hit Points: His famous flu game caused him to push himself harder than normal, but weakened him every quarter of the game until he finally collapsed after it was over.
- Determinator: Easily one of the most famous Real Life examples. The most memorable example of this being Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, where he scored 38 points while he was visibly weakened by the flu.
- The Dreaded: He was hated, feared and/or respected by practically every player in the NBA. Fittingly, the main color for the Bulls was red.
- Friend To All Children: He very kind and really nice to all of his younger fans.
- Genius Bruiser: He's very strong and very intelligent.
- The Hero: In the eyes of the Chicago Bulls and all of their fans.
- He's Back: Happened twice, the second when he was part owner of the Washington Wizards and he started playing again to help lure Jerry Stackhouse to the team.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The last defining moment for Jordan was actually an offensive foul. In the Game 6 1998 Finals, everyone remembers Jordan standing alone with his hand extended to finish off his second three-peat, but they forget why he was alone. With the Bulls down 86-85, Jordan drove right and pushed his defender, Bryon Russell, to the ground, before draining the game winner with five seconds left. No foul was called and the Bulls won the championship, but neither the Bulls nor the Jazz have made it back to the Finals since.
- Lightning Bruiser: He's strong and quick on his feet.
- Nice Guy
- Not Quite Flight: His aerial abilities bordered on a Real Life example of this.
- One-Man Army: He was tough enough to outscore multiple players at once with ease.
- Phrase Catcher: "I want to be like Mike."
- Power Trio: With Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen.
- Red Baron: In a way, his 23 number.
- Retired Badass
- Showy Invincible Hero: The Chicago Bulls in the 1995-1996 season. Led by Jordan, the Bulls won a record 72 games, lost only 10 times during the regular season and 3 times during the playoffs. Jordan led the league in scoring and won every major award.
- Teen Genius: He did very well in school when he was younger.
- Well Done Son Guy: His reasoning for retiring from basketball to give professional baseball a chance after his father was murdered.
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