JORDAN, MICHAEL

born Feb. 17, 1963, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. Michael Jordan (centre), a member of the U.S. Dream Team, jumping to make a shot in a in full Michael Jeffrey Jordan American collegiate and professional basketball player, widely considered to be the greatest all-around player in the history of the game. He led the National Basketball Association (NBA) Chicago Bulls to six championships (199193, 199698). Jordan grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. As a freshman, he made the winning basket in the 1982 national championship game. Jordan was named College Player of the Year in both his sophomore and junior years, leaving North Carolina after his junior year. He led the U.S. basketball team to Olympic gold medals in 1984 in Los Angeles and in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain. In 1984 Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls. In his first season (198485) as a professional, he led the league in scoring and was named Rookie of the Year; after missing most of the following season with an injury, he returned to lead the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons, averaging about 32 points per game. He was only the second player (after Wilt Chamberlain) to score 3,000 points in a single season (198687). Jordan was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) and was also named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. In October 1993, after leading the Bulls to their third consecutive championship, Jordan retired briefly to pursue a career in professional baseball. He returned to basketball in March 1995. In the 199596 season Jordan led the Bulls to a 7210 regular season record, the best in the history of the NBA. Between 1996 and 1998 the Jordan-led Bulls again won three championships in a row, and each time Jordan was named MVP of the NBA finals. Jordan announced his retirement after the 199798 season. His career totals included 29,277 points (31.5 points per game average), 2,306 steals, and 10 scoring titles. He was the best-known athlete in the world and arguably the best-known celebrity of any kind. At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 metres), Jordan, a guard, was an exceptionally talented shooter and passer and a tenacious defender. He earned the nickname Air Jordan because of his extraordinary leaping ability and the acrobatic maneuvers he used to evade defenders as he approached the basket.