Michael Jordan Biography
Posted On September 20th, 2011 By Celebrity Biographies
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan, a basketball superstar, happens to be one of the most popular, successful and wealthiest athletes in professional, college and Olympic sports history.
Childhood
Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on 17th February, 1963. He was one of the five children to Deloris and James Jordan. At the time when Michael was very young, the family migrated to Wilmington, where his father worked as a supervisor at the General Electric Plant, whereas his mother worked at a bank. His parents taught him to lead a respectable life since childhood. Although being good at sports, as a sophomore, Michael could not make it to the school basketball team. He later made it to the team after a year and won a basketball scholarship in the University of North Carolina. Dean Smith coached him at the University. After his session at the University, he was named the “college player” for two consecutive years by the “Sporting News”. After the junior years, he left North Carolina and was picked by the Chicago Bulls of NBA (National Basketball Association).
Early Years
At the time when Michael Jordan joined Chicago Bulls, they had only 6000 fans for the home game and were a losing side quite often. However, with his competitive spirit and style of play, he turned the tables for Chicago Bulls. He gained a lot of popularity amongst the fans for his hang time and leaping ability. He was honored as the “Rookie” of the league and was also called to the “All-Star” team. During this time, he was sidelined for 64 games because of a broken foot, however when he returned, he set a NBA playoff record of 63 points.
The next season during 1986-87 happened to be one of the most successful years in Jordan’s career. He received 1.5 million votes and started playing the “All-Star” game. After Wilt Chamberlain, he became the only player to score 3000 points in one single season. In 1988, Jordan started concentrating on improving his basketball skills and was titled as the “Most Defensive Player” in the same year. He was also honored as the “Most Valuable Player” of the league since he lead the league in stealing and scoring. Jordan was a part of the “Dream Team” in 1992 and took part in the Summer Olympic Games, held in Barcelona, Spain.
Business Life
Michael Jordan led a successful life as a businessman as well. He was a part of the profitable endorsements such as Wheaties and Nike. He owned a reputed golf company and introduced various products in the market. The Michael Jordan Cologne reportedly sold more than 1.5 million bottles within the 60 days of its release. Such a venture made him a multimillionaire instantly. On the other hand, he signed a $30 million contract in 1997 and it made him the highest paid athlete in the world. He also grabbed $40 million as endorsement fees during this year.
