Michael Jordan
The Road to Glory
Earlier career days
When Michael Jordan was a sophomore in high school, he did not make the varsity basketball team at Laney High and was put on junior varsity. This is contrary to the common belief that Jordan was cut from his high school team completely. He did not rise to stardom until he became an upperclassman and grew taller. Michael went on to play basketball at the University of North Carolina in his college days. He averaged more than 17 points per game at UNC and was an All-American first team his sophomore and junior years, only playing 3 years in college before going pro. Jordan was drafted 3rd overall in the 1984 draft by the Chicago Bulls.
Laney
Jordan in his days at Laney High
Carolina
MJ played at the University of North Carolina in college.
Chicago Part 1
Jordan performs free throw line dunk in 1988 dunk contest
while playing for the Chicago Bulls
Baseball?
Jordan retired from the NBA in order to pursue a minor league baseball career playing for the Birmingham Barons, a AA team in the Chicago White Sox organization
Chicago Part 2
Michael returns to the Bulls after retirement wearing number 45, his baseball number. He wore 45 for part of the 1995 season before switching back to 23.
Washington
After his second retirement, Jordan played for the Washington Wizards for 2 seasons, before hanging it up for good.
NBA career
Jordan averaged just above 28 points per game in his rookie year in Chicago. He played only 18 games during his second season. His highest average per game was 37.1 points per game during the 1986-1987 season. Jordan retired after the 1992-93 season which completed the Bulls first 3-peat in order to pursue a minor league baseball career. He returned to basketball after one season with the Birmingham Barons. The Bulls completed a second 3-peat from 1995-96 season to 1997-98 season. Jordan then retired again, this time for 3 years. MJ once again returned to the NBA in 2001, playing for the Washington Wizards rather than the Chicago Bulls.
Impact on Society
Michael Jordan has a huge social impact on our society. He is widely considered the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. He is an inspiration for many young people who want to be just like him. Everybody wants to be the best, so they look to Jordan for inspiration. Another impact of Jordan is his sneakers. Jordan's sneaker line is one of the most popular lines of sneakers ever made. In order to be like Mike, kids wanted to buy the shoes that he wore. Also, Nike made a number of classic commercials advertising the sneakers, many starring "Mars Blackmon", or Spike Lee. There is now an entire culture about sneakers, including Jordans. The community is full of sneaker collectors knows as "sneakerheads". During the late 1990s, Jordan became its own brand, while still owned by Nike, even today. Jordan has made more money off of his shoes than he did throughout his entire NBA career.
"Hang Time"
This famous Air Jordan 3 commercial titled "Hang Time" demonstrates Mars Blackmon hanging on the rim supported by Jordan, then getting dunked on by Jordan.
"Hare Jordan'
This commercial for the Air Jordan 7 depicts Michael and Bugs Bunny. This commercial shows Michael and Bugs beating a group of guys in a game of basketball. The commercial advertises the Air Jordan 7 "Bordeaux" and the Air Jordan 7 "Hare"
"It's gotta be the shoes!"
In this commercial for the Air Jordan 5, Mars Blackmon persistently questions Jordan about how he thinks that Michael's shoes are what makes him so athletic, persuading young people into thinking that if they buy the shoes, they will be able to jump high, too.