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Sports & Recreation
MiniBiography on Michael Jeffery Jordan
MiniBiography on Michael Jeffery Jordan Michael Jeffery Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. His parent’s names are James Jordan (his father) and Deloris Jordan (his mother). When Michael was at a young age he and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. As a child his favorite sport was baseball. However in the city there was not very much room to practice. The one thing that kept him from being in-active as a child was a basketball hoop in the back of his yard. He would play with his friends and family. If he started to play and it was getting dark out or was dark and his parents told him he had to come in he would struggle to get to play just a couple of more minutes. This started his long journey into the great sport of basketball where he became a “Legend”. After high school he went to the University of North Carolina to play basketball. As a freshman he made the team and astonishingly was named College Player of the year by the sporting New in 1983 and 1984. 1984-85, Jordan came into the NBA after an outstanding three-year career at North Carolina. He hit the jump shot that gave the Tar Heels the NCAA Championship in 1982. Jordan averaged 17.7 points in three seasons before declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft after his junior year. The Chicago Bulls took him with the No.3 overall pick. Between his college and pro careers, he was co-captain and star of the gold-metal-winning U.S. Olympic basketball team in 1984. Voted starter in the 1985 All-Star Game, he scored 7 points in 22 minutes. ON February 12 he set a club single-game rookie record by dumping in 49 points against the Detroit Pistons. He finished the season with a scoring average of 28.2 points per game (third in the league behind the New York Knicks’ Bernard King and the Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird) and set Chicago single-season records for points (2,313), field goals (837), free throws (630), free-throw attempts (746), and steals (196). It all added up to an NBA Rookie of the Year Award, a slot on the NBA All-Rookie Team, and a selection to the All-NBA Second Team. After finishing fourth in the Central Division, the Bulls faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs and fell four games. Jordan averaged 29.3 points in the series. So far Jordan is looking like a “Legend” in progress. Three games into the 1985-86 season, Jordan went down with a broken bone in his left foot. He was sidelined for 64 games before returning in mid-March. In 18 regular-season games Jordan averaged 22.7 points, 2.9 assists, and 3.6 rebounds, all career lows. He was voted to the All-Star squad but was unable to play because of the injury. In Game 2 against the Boston Celtics, he scored a playoff-record 63 points in Chicago's double-overtime 135-131 loss to the Celtics. He averaged an astonishing 43.7 points for the three-game series. In 1986-87 Jordan began a string of consecutive NBA scoring titles that would last for seven seasons. He scored a career-high 37.1 points per game and became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to top 3,000 points in a season. Jordan also became the first player in league history to record 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in a season. He played in the All-Star Game, won the Slam-Dunk Championship, and was named to the All-NBA First Team. Jordan averaged 35.7 points but shot just .417 from the field in that series (against the Boston Celtics.) Jordan led the club in scoring in 81 of 82 regular-season games and topped 40 points on 18 occasions. Equally remarkable, he failed to reach 20 points only three times during the year. He won every major honor, including Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, selection to the All-NBA First Team, selection to the All-Defensive First Team, an All-Star Game MVP Award (after scoring 40 points), and the NBA Slam-Dunk Championship. He led the league in scoring with 35.0 points per game and in steals with 3.16 per contest. Jordan set a playoff record for field goals made in a game with 24 against Cleveland on May 1, and he established another mark in the same game by attempting 25 shots against the Cavs in a single half. In 10 playoff games he averaged 36.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. In 1988-89 Jordan turned in possibly the best all-around performance of his career. The league's leading scorer once again at 32.5 points per game, he finished 10th in the NBA in assists with a career-high 8.0 per outing and also set a career high by pulling down 8.0 rebounds per contest. He ranked third in the league in steals at 2.89 per game. On January 25 he scored the 10,000th point of his career. Named to the East All-Star Team for the fifth straight year, Jordan scored 28 points in 33 minutes of action. His postseason honors included membership on the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team and selection as Player of the Year by The Sporting News. Jordan averaged 34.8 points in 17 postseason games. In the pivotal Game 5 of Chicago's first-round series against Cleveland, Jordan hit a memorable buzzer-beating jumper over Craig Ehlo to bring the Bulls from a 100-99 deficit to a 101-100 victory. Jordan was his usual dominating self at both ends of the court, leading the NBA in scoring (33.6 ppg) and steals (2.77 per game). He set a personal best when he scored 69 points in a 117-113 overtime win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also emerged as a legitimate threat from beyond the three-point arc, posting a .376 percentage-100 percentage points above his previous career high-while hitting 92 long-range shots, compared with 68 in his first five seasons combined. A member of the All-Star Team once again, Jordan was also picked for the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Jordan averaged 36.7 points in 16 playoff games. Jordan added the only important item missing from his basketball team when he guided the Bulls to an NBA Championship in 1990-91. During the regular season the Bulls won a club-record 61 contests to take the Central Division by 11 games. An All-Star and a member of both the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team, Jordan also won the league MVP Award for the second time in his career. With a regular-season scoring average of 31.5 points per game, he picked up his fifth straight scoring title as he topped 40 points in a game 11 times. He averaged 6.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists and ranked third in the league in steals at 2.72 per game. Jordan averaged 31.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists during the team's postseason ride. He also earned the NBA Finals MVP Award. Chicago waltzed through the regular season in 1991-92, winning 67 games as Jordan reprised his previous season's performance. He won a second straight MVP Award, was named to the All-Star squad for the eighth year in a row, ran his streak of All-NBA First Team selections to six years and his string of NBA All-Defensive First Team selections to five, and was once again the league's leading scorer, at 30.1 points per game. He started the season by scoring 40 or more points in three of the Bulls' first four games, and he led the club in scoring in 69 contests during the year. Jordan was the Finals MVP once again after averaging 34.5 points in 22 postseason contests. After the season, he played for the U.S. Dream Team at the Olympic Games and claimed his second gold medal. The extraordinary had long since become common place for Jordan and the Bulls. Chicago posted its fourth straight 50-win season and took another division title in 1992-93 as Jordan averaged 32.6 points to claim his seventh straight scoring title and tie Wilt Chamberlain for most consecutive scoring crowns. He led the league in steals for the third time in his career, and he earned a seventh straight appointment to the All-NBA First Team and a sixth straight appointment to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He scored 30 points at the All-Star Game, giving him a career All-Star Game average of 22.1 points per game, the highest in NBA history. Among a slew of fine single-game performances, Jordan scored 54 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in November, scorched the Washington Bullets for 57 in December, victimized the Orlando Magic for 64 in January, and then racked up 52 in March against the Charlotte Hornets. He also reached a milestone by scoring the 20,000th point of his NBA career. Jordan was named Finals MVP once again after averaging 41.0 points against the Suns to set an NBA Finals record. After winning his third straight NBA title with the Chicago Bulls in 1992-93, Jordan had a tough off season that reached its peak when his father, James Jordan, was murdered in North Carolina. On October 6, just one day before the start of training camp, Jordan stunned the basketball world by announcing his retirement. He left holding the highest career scoring average in NBA history at 32.3 points per game. After much speculation about his plans, Jordan returned to the spotlight in a baseball uniform. He spent the 1994 baseball season playing for the Birmingham Barons, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in the Class AA Southern League. An adequate outfielder, he hit .202 in 127 games, striking out 114 times in 436 at bats. Jordan belted 3 home runs, collected 51 RBIs, and stole 30 bases. He also led all Southern League outfielders with 11 errors. With baseball on hold because of a player strike, Jordan began to consider a return to the NBA, and by late winter rumors were flying that he would rejoin the Bulls in time for the playoffs. Chicago was puttering along with a 34-31 record when Jordan took the floor for the club on March 19 against the Indiana Pacers. He scored 19 points in that game but looked a little rusty. Jordan hit for 27 points three nights later against the Boston Celtics, scored 21 against the Orlando Magic on March 24, and then popped in 32 against the Atlanta Hawks the following night. On March 29 he showed that his skills were undiminished with a memorable 55-point performance against the Knicks in New York. He finished with averages of 26.9 points, 5.3 assists, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.76 steals in 39.3 minutes per game. Jordan struggled from the field, however, shooting just .411. The Bulls drew the Charlotte Hornets as opponents in the opening round of the postseason. Jordan kicked off the playoffs by scoring 48 points in Game 1, then followed that up with a 32-point performance in Game 2. The Bulls eliminated Charlotte in four games as Jordan averaged 32.3 points per outing in the series. In Chicago's second-round match up with the Orlando Magic he scored 38 points in Game 2, 40 in Game 3, and 39 in Game 5, but the Bulls fell in six games. In 10 postseason games he averaged 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, but he also coughed up 4.1 turnovers per contest. Jordan proved he was all the way back by winning a record eighth scoring championship, one more than Wilt Chamberlain, and leading the Bulls to their fourth NBA championship of the 1990s. He joined Willis Reed (1970) as only the second man to win Most Valuable Player awards for the regular season, All-Star Game and NBA Finals in the same season. Jordan started all 100 games for the Bulls-he was the only player to start all 82 regular season games for Chicago, and he also started all 18 playoff contests. Though perhaps he drove to the hoop a bit less than earlier in his career and lacked a drop of his previous explosiveness and reckless abandon, Jordan was a far more effective and controlled jump-shooter and three-point scoring threat and remained an outstanding all-around contributor. Besides his league-leading 30.4 points per game, Jordan averaged 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.20 steals in 37.7 minutes per game, ranking third in the league in steals. Jordan led the Bulls in scoring in 17 of 18 playoff contests, with a high of 46 points in Game 3 against New York. He averaged 30.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.83 steals in 40.7 minutes per game in the playoffs, including 27.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.67 spg and 42.0 mpg in the Finals against Seattle. Jordan, who matched his career high of 18 rebounds in an 89-87 overtime win over Seattle on March 6, became the first player to post a triple-double in NBA All-Star history when he got 14 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and a game-high 11 assists in Cleveland. During the weekend he also participated in the ceremonies honoring the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History." Jordan averaged an NBA-high 31.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and team-highs of 4.8 assists and 1.58 steals per game in 19 playoff contests, and averaged 32.3 ppg in the NBA Finals against the Jazz. Jordan hit a buzzer-beating shot to win Game 1 of the Finals, had 38 points in Game 2 and came up with another 38 points, this time despite a stomach virus, in Game 5. The greatest basketball player of all time is the one and only Michael Jeffery Jordan. Jordan was successful in finding someone who could help him pass on his parents’ gifts to his children. In 1989, Michael married the former Juanita Vanoy. During their marriage, Juanita has preferred to remain just outside the huge public spotlight that follows her husband whereever he goes. Juanita has raised their children, Jeffrey, Marcus and Jasmine to share their father with the world. He decided to retire in 1999. He was the best basketball player in history, the guy who changed basketball history. “If I lost my talent tomorrow, I’d say I had a great time and move on,” Michael says. “I live today but plan for the future.” We can hardly wait to see what the future holds for MJ Bibliography:
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