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His Airness in flight.

"I've missed more than 9,000 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, Michael! JORDAN!!!

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former basketball player for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. He is regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest player to ever play the game, due to his skill, leadership, eye-popping highlights, charisma, and professionalism. While he is outpaced in a number of statistical categories by other players who played more seasons, Jordan's versatility and dominance in the late 1980s and '90s remain the stuff of legend.

He was drafted by the Bulls #3 overall in 1984 after a championship-winning career at the University of North Carolina and quickly emerged as a star, winning Rookie of the Year and a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. "His Airness" was largely known for being unstoppable at anything he tried to do on the court - so much so that other teams often just let him do his thing and just tried to stop the other four guys. Case in point: in just his second season, he broke Elgin Baylor's record for most points scored in a playoff game (63) in a double overtime loss, setting a record that stands to this day. That was just the beginning- Jordan led the league in scoring a record ten times... while also leading it in steals thrice, even being named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, the first of five seasons in which he won MVP. This was also the only time that Jordan was named regular season MVP without bringing home a ringnote . Once the team was built around him, Jordan took the Bulls to a three-peat championship streak from 1991-93 and won a second gold in '92 as the leader of the so-called "Dream Team" that redeemed the United States' embarrassing loss four years prior.

Then, at the height of his basketball career, Jordan abruptly retired to attempt another one in baseball. Rumors abound as to why this happened, although his father's tragic murder that year certainly had something to do with it. He returned a couple of years later with his skills undiminished and remarkably repeated the threepeat championship streak from 1996-98. This sheer dominance of six championships in eight years cemented Jordan's reputation for being incredibly clutch; he holds the NBA records for most game-winning buzzer beaters (9), most points scored in a playoff game (63), and most Finals MVP awards (6, one for each of his rings).

Jordan then retired again, only to come out of retirement a second time in 2001 to play for the Wizards before retiring for good in 2003. Despite age and injuries diminishing his performance from his Bulls-era heights, Jordan wasn't bad at all in Washington; he received the last two of his 14 All-Star nods there. Today, MJ still holds almost all of the Bulls major statistical records and remains the NBA's all-time leader in points per game, and it seems likely that he could have tallied even greater career stats and accomplishments were it not for his two retirements; he was obviously a lock for the Hall of Fame either way.

Jordan was one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised athletes in any sport ever, and his name-recognition and marketing savvy made him a multi-billionaire. The NBA has never had higher ratings than when he played, and anyone who didn't already have a team in that era tended to root for the Bulls (ensuring the team has kept a high value despite coming nowhere close to the Jordan-era heights). In addition, his stardom gave way to a massive endorsement enterprise including Wheaties, Gatorade, McDonald's, and his massively popular "Air Jordan" Nike basketball shoes, all of which changed the way athletes made marketing deals forever (to the point that the creation of the shoes got its own movie). Jordan used his fortune to become the first NBA player to become an NBA team owner, purchasing his home-state Charlotte Hornets in 2010; his ownership failed to materialize in any success, including the worst record any NBA team has ever had with a 7-59 2011-12 season, and he sold his majority stake in 2023. He is also the co-owner of the NASCAR team 23XI Racingnote  alongside veteran driver Denny Hamlin.

In fiction, he starred in a series of Looney Tunes/Nike crossover commercials that led to the 1996 film Space Jam (which he also starred in), and has also been featured in several video games including Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City and NBA 2K from 2K11 onward (he's additionally on the covers of 11 and the special editions of 12, 16, and 23). He can also be seen doing commercials for Hanes underwear. In 2020, ESPN and Netflix aired a ten-part documentary series titled The Last Dance, which covered Jordan and the Bulls' 1997–98 season, pulled in huge ratings, and spawned a wealth of memes regarding Jordan's unfiltered and almost maniacal ambition.

Jordan's #23 jersey is retired by two teams, the Bulls (obviously)... and the Heat, who he never played for — Jordan really was that good. Since 2022, the league MVP trophy has been named after him. As always, The Other Wiki has more information on him, but if you need some cold, hard reasons why many modern players want to retire his number altogether, you can peruse this list of accomplishments.

Not to be confused with the actor Michael B. Jordan.


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23 vs 39

In this 2002 Gatorade commercial, a 39-year-old Michael Jordan faces his toughest opponent: his 23-year-old self.

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