Michael Jordan · Biography

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, at Cumberland Hospital in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. In 1968 his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he grew up and developed as a player at Emsley A. Laney High School before going on to the University of North Carolina. A shooting guard, he won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and ended his playing career with the Washington Wizards in 2003.

Wilmington and North Carolina

At Laney High School he was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore, when he stood 5 feet 11. He grew over the following year and became the school’s leading player. As a senior he averaged 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists. In 1981 he enrolled at the University of North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. In his freshman season with the Tar Heels he hit the jump shot that decided the 1982 NCAA championship game against Georgetown. He stayed in college until 1984.

Arrival in Chicago

The Chicago Bulls selected him third overall in the 1984 draft. That summer he won Olympic gold with the United States at the Los Angeles Games. In his first NBA season he was named 1985 Rookie of the Year and played in his first All-Star Game. Early in the 1985-86 campaign he broke his foot and missed 64 games. He returned for the playoffs, and in Game 2 of the series against the Boston Celtics he scored 63 points in a double-overtime loss, his playoff career high. In 1986-87 he averaged 37.1 points and became the second player to score more than 3,000 points in a single season. In 1988 he won the first of his five regular-season MVP awards along with Defensive Player of the Year.

The First Three Titles

Chicago won its first championship in 1991 and repeated in 1992 and 1993. Jordan was Finals MVP in all three series and regular-season MVP in 1991 and 1992. In the summer of 1992 he won his second Olympic gold in Barcelona with the U.S. team known as the Dream Team. On October 6, 1993, he announced his first retirement from basketball.

Baseball and the Comeback

On March 31, 1994, he signed with the Chicago White Sox, who assigned him to their minor league affiliate, the Birmingham Barons. That season he batted.202 with three home runs and 51 RBI. On March 18, 1995, he announced his return to the Bulls with a two-word statement: “I'm back.” In 1995-96 Chicago finished the regular season at 72-10, then the best record in NBA history, and won the title. Championships followed in 1997 and 1998, both against the Utah Jazz. In Game 5 of the 1997 Finals, while ill, he scored 38 points, including the deciding three-pointer. In Game 6 in 1998 he gave the Bulls the lead with a jumper at 5.2 seconds left. He was Finals MVP in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and regular-season MVP in 1996 and 1998. On January 13, 1999, he retired for the second time.

Washington Wizards

On January 19, 2000, he joined the Washington Wizards as part owner and president of basketball operations. In 2001 he returned to the court, this time in a Washington uniform. He averaged 22.9 points in 2001-02 and 20.0 in 2002-03. He played his final NBA game on April 16, 2003, in Philadelphia. On May 7, 2003, the franchise dismissed him from his front-office role.

Numbers, Honors and Charlotte

He finished his career with 32,292 points and a 30.1 points-per-game average, the highest recorded in the NBA. He won ten scoring titles and was selected to 14 All-Star Games. In 1996 he was named to the league’s 50th anniversary list, and in 2021 to the 75th Anniversary Team. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. Off the court, in 2006 he became a part owner and head of basketball operations of the Charlotte Bobcats. In 2010 he bought a controlling interest in the franchise, which he owned, by then as the Charlotte Hornets, until selling that majority stake in 2023.