Jordan played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982. As a junior in 1984, he was named the national college player of the year and was selected by the Bulls with the third overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft. With the Bulls, he emerged as a league star known for prolific scoring, defensive prowess and vehement competitiveness.
His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991 and followed that with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat.
Citing physical and mental exhaustion from basketball and superstardom, Jordan abruptly retired before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. He returned to the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.
Jordan retired for the second time in 1999, then returned for two NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards. He was selected to play for the United States national team during his college and NBA careers, winning four gold medals—at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics—while also being undefeated.
Jordan's individual accolades include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, 10 NBA scoring titles (both all-time records), five NBA MVP awards, an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, 10 All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, 14 NBA All-Star Game selections, and three NBA All-Star Game MVP awards.
He holds the NBA records for career regular season scoring average (30.1 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.4 points per game). He is one of only eight players to achieve the basketball Triple Crown. In 1999, Jordan was named the 20th century's greatest North American athlete by ESPN and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century.
Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). The trophy for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award is named in his honor.
One of the most effectively marketed athletes ever, Jordan made many product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular. Jordan starred as himself in the live-action animated film Space Jam (1996) and was the focus of the Emmy-winning documentary series The Last Dance (2020).
He became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Hornets (then named the Bobcats) in 2006 and bought a controlling interest in 2010, before selling his majority stake in 2023. Jordan is a co-owner of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is the wealthiest athlete of all time with official records, and one of the world's richest celebrities, with a $4.3 billion net worth as of 2026[update]. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Early life
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, at Cumberland Hospital in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to bank employee Deloris (née Peoples) and equipment supervisor James R. Jordan Sr. He has two older brothers, James Jr. and Larry, as well as an older sister named Deloris and a younger sister named Roslyn. Jordan and his siblings were raised Methodist.
In 1968, the family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. He tried out for the basketball varsity team during his sophomore year, but at a height of 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), he was deemed too short. Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity team and tallied some 40-point games.
The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points per game (ppg) over his final two seasons of high school play. He also adopted his signature jersey number, 23. As a senior, he was selected for the 1981 McDonald's All-American Game and scored 30 points, after averaging 26.8 ppg, 11.6 rebounds (rpg), and 10.1 assists per game (apg) for the season.
Jordan was recruited by numerous college basketball programs, including Duke, North Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, and Clemson. He reportedly most strongly considered recruiting efforts from North Carolina, NC State, and Maryland before, in 1980, he accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in cultural geography.
He chose this field of study because of its relationship to meteorology, as Jordan was interested in a career as a meteorologist.
College career
As a freshman under coach Dean Smith's team-oriented system, Jordan was named ACC Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.4 points per game on 53.4% shooting—ranking 10th in scoring and sixth in field goal percentage in the conference. 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 sophomore and junior seasons, Jordan consistently ranked among the ACC's elite, finishing either 1st or 2nd in both total points and points per game, while also placing in the top 10 in field goal percentage and free throw percentage.
In his three seasons with the Tar Heels, Jordan averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting and added 5.0 rpg and 1.8 apg.
Jordan was selected by consensus to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina a year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA draft. Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography.
In 2002, Jordan was selected to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team and named the greatest athlete in ACC history.
Professional career
Chicago Bulls (1984–1993; 1995–1998)
Early NBA years (1984–1987)
The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick of the 1984 NBA draft after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). One of the primary reasons why Jordan was not drafted sooner was because the first two teams were in need of a center. Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman contended that it was not a matter of drafting a center but more a matter of taking Bowie over Jordan, in part because Portland already had Clyde Drexler, who was a guard with similar skills to Jordan.
Citing Bowie's injury-laden college career, ESPN named the Blazers' choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history.
Jordan made his NBA debut at Chicago Stadium on October 26, 1984, and scored 16 points. In 2021, a ticket stub from the game sold at auction for $264,000, setting a record for a collectible ticket stub. During his rookie 1984–85 season with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting. He helped the Bulls improve from 27–55 to 38–44 and qualify for the postseason for the first time since the 1980–81 season.
Jordan quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas. Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times described Jordan as "the phenomenal rookie of the Bulls" in November, and he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star Is Born" in December. The fans voted in Jordan as an All-Star starter during his rookie season.
Controversy arose before the 1985 NBA 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 the ball to him. The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted the NBA Rookie of the Year. The Bulls lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the first round of the playoffs.
An often-cited moment was on August 26, 1985, when Jordan shook the arena during a Nike exhibition game in Trieste, Italy, by shattering the glass of the backboard with a dunk. The moment was filmed and is often referred to as an important milestone in Jordan's rise. The shoes Jordan wore during the game were auctioned in August 2020 for $615,000, a record for a pair of sneakers.
Jordan's 1985–86 season was cut short when he broke his foot in the third game of the year, causing him to miss 64 games. The Bulls made the playoffs despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record, at the time the fifth-worst record of any team to qualify for the playoffs in NBA history. Jordan recovered in time to participate in the postseason and performed well upon his return.
On April 20 at the Boston Garden, in Game 2 of the First Round, a 135–131 double overtime loss to the Boston Celtics, Jordan scored a playoff career-high 63 points, breaking Elgin Baylor's single-game playoff scoring record. The Celtics team swept the series in three games.
Jordan completely recovered in time for 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 ppg on 48.2% shooting. Jordan also demonstrated his defensive prowess, as he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in a season.
Despite Jordan's success, Magic Johnson won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The Bulls reached 40 wins, and advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year but were again swept by the Celtics.
Pistons roadblock (1987–1990)
Jordan led the league in scoring during the 1987–88 season, averaging 35.0 ppg on 53.5% shooting, and won his first league MVP Award. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 1.6 blocks per game (bpg), a league-high 3.2 steals per game (spg), and leading the Bulls defense to the fewest points per game allowed in the league.
The Bulls finished 50–32, and made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in Jordan's career, as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bulls lost in five games to the more experienced Detroit Pistons, who were led by Isiah Thomas and a group of physical players known as the "Bad Boys".
In the 1988–89 season, Jordan again led the league in scoring, averaging 32.5 ppg on 53.8% shooting from the field, along with 8.0 rpg and 8.0 apg. During the season, Jordan expressed his frustration over the Bulls' offense with head coach Doug Collins, who then put Jordan at point guard. In his time as a point guard, Jordan had 10 triple-doubles in 11 games, with averages of 33.6 ppg, 11.4 rpg, and 10.8 apg.
The Bulls finished with a 47–35 record, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating the Cavaliers and New York Knicks along the way. The Cavaliers series included a career highlight for Jordan when he hit "The Shot" over Craig Ehlo at the buzzer in the fifth and final game of the series. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons again defeated the Bulls, this time in six games, by utilizing their "Jordan Rules" method of guarding Jordan, which consisted of double and triple teaming him every time he touched the ball.
The Bulls entered the 1989–90 season as a team on the rise, with their core group of Jordan and young improving players like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant and under the guidance of new coach Phil Jackson. On March 28, 1990, Jordan scored a career-high 69 points in a 117–113 road win over the Cavaliers. He averaged a league-leading 33.6 ppg on 52.6% shooting, to go with 6.9 rpg and 6.3 apg, in leading the Bulls to a 55–27 record.
They again advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after beating the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers; despite pushing the series to seven games, the Bulls lost to the Pistons for the third consecutive season.
First three-peat (1991–1993)
After the Bulls' previous losses to the Pistons, Phil Jackson, along with assistant coach Tex Winter, focused on implementing the triangle offense to counteract the Pistons' defense and other teams that heavily targeted Jordan. This system, however, required Jordan to adjust his playing style. In his book Eleven Rings, Jackson recalled, "I was planning to ask Michael to reduce the number of shots he took so that other members of the team could get more involved in the offense.
I knew this would be a challenge for him." In The Last Dance, Jordan admitted he was initially reluctant to back the system. Nevertheless, he eventually embraced the change, which led to success for the team.
In the 1990–91 season, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 ppg on 53.9% shooting, 6.0 rpg, and 5.5 apg for the regular season. The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in sixteen years and set a franchise record with 61 wins in the regular season. With Scottie Pippen developing into an All-Star, the Bulls had elevated their play.
The Bulls defeated the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where their rival, the Detroit Pistons, awaited them; this time, the Bulls beat the Pistons in a four-game sweep.
The Bulls advanced to the Finals for the first time in franchise history to face the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls won the series in five games and compiled a 15–2 playoff record along the way. Perhaps the best-known moment of the series came in Game 2 when, attempting a dunk, Jordan avoided a potential Sam Perkins block by switching the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air to lay the shot into the basket.
In his first Finals appearance, Jordan had 31.2 ppg on 56% shooting from the field, 11.4 apg, 6.6 rpg, 2.8 spg, and 1.4 bpg. Jordan won his first NBA Finals MVP award and cried while holding the Finals trophy.
Jordan and the Bulls continued their dominance in the 1991–92 season, establishing a 67–15 record, topping their franchise record from the 1990–91 campaign. Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with averages of 30.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, and 6.1 apg on 52% shooting. After winning a physical seven-game series over the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs and finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals in six games, the Bulls met Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers in the Finals.
The media, hoping to recreate a Magic–Bird rivalry, highlighted the similarities between "Air" Jordan and Clyde "The Glide" during the pre-Finals hype.
In a Game 1 victory, Jordan scored a Finals-record 35 points in the first half, including a record-setting six three-point field goals. After the sixth three-pointer, he jogged down the court shrugging as he looked courtside. Marv Albert, who broadcast the game, later stated that it was as if Jordan was saying: "I can't believe I'm doing this." The Bulls went on to defeat the Blazers in six games.
Jordan was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row, and finished the series averaging 35.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.5 apg, while shooting 52.6% from the floor.
In the 1992–93 season, despite a 32.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 5.5 apg campaign, including a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting, Jordan's streak of consecutive MVP seasons ended, as he lost the award to his friend Charles Barkley, upsetting him. Jordan and the Bulls met Barkley and his Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals.
The Bulls won their third NBA championship on a game-winning shot by John Paxson and a last-second block by Horace Grant, but Jordan was once again Chicago's leader. He averaged a Finals-record 41.0 ppg during the six-game series, and became the first player in NBA history to win three consecutive Finals MVP awards. Jordan scored more than 30 points in every game of the series, including 40 or more points in four consecutive games.
With his third Finals triumph, Jordan capped off a seven-year run where he attained seven scoring titles and three championships, but there were signs that Jordan was tiring of his massive celebrity and all of the non-basketball hassles in his life.
