Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan (MJ) was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. MJ became a well-known American professional basketball player right after a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1982. In 1984, he joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls where he quickly became a league star who entertained his fans with his prolific scoring. Jordan then earned his nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness" due to his leaping ability when he demonstrated slam dunks during games and contests. He was even known for demonstrating free throws!

During the Summer Olympics of 1994, Jordan won a gold medal while playing on two Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams. MJ lead the team scoring an average of 17.1 ppg for the tournament. Michael was also a member of the star-studded squad in 1992 Summer Olympics which entailed Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and David Robinson. At that time they were known as the "Dream Team".

In 1991, Michael Jordan won his first NBA championship with the Bulls and followed by two more years of winnings which were in 1992 and 1993! After achieving a three year streak, Jordan decided to retire from basketball to pursue a career in baseball. However, this didn't stop him from returning in 1995 which lead him to win another three year streak of championship games (1996-1998). After obtaining a NBA-record 72 regular seasons wins in the 1995-1996 NBA seasons, he decided to retire for again in 1999. From 2001 to 2003 MJ decided to return for a final time but as a member of the Washington Wizards.

Over the years MJ individual accolades and accomplishments grew in massive numbers some of these include: 5 most valuable player awards, 10 all-NBA First Team designation, 9 All-Defensive First Team honors and many others. Along with the hundreds of accomplishments he also became well known for products endorsements such as Nike's Air Jordan sneakers in 1985 and even was starred in a very popular film called Space Jam in 1996. Michael Jordon was also spokesman for major brands such as Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonalds, Wheaties, Hanes and Ball Park Franks.

MJ's estimated yearly earnings were over forty million dollars with in addition to the ticket gates being at its highest point for obtaining sold out tickets at both their home and road games.