Full name: Michael Jeffrey Jordan
Previous Occupation: Professional Basketball Player
Position: Shooting Guard
Former Teams: Chicago Bulls 1984-98 & Washington Wizards 2001-03
Date of Birth: February 17, 1963
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 216 lbs
High School: Emsley A. Laney High School
College: North Carolina
NBA Draft: 1984 - 3rd overall by the Chicago Bulls
Sign: Aquarius
Family: Parents: James and Delores Jordan : Brothers: Larry and James : Sisters: Delores and Roslyn
Love Life: Married: Juanita Jordan with two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and one daughter, Jasmine Michael

The God in Youth: Michael Jordan
       There were already signs that he had a good deal of talent. Harvest Smith, a classmate and close friend who in those days played basketball with him practically every day, thought he was the best player on their ninth-grade team — he was small, but he was every quick. “You’d see him get a shot off, and you’d wonder how he did it, because he wasn’t that bit,” Smith said, “but it was the quickness. The only question was how big he was going to be — and how far up he would take his skill level.”         The summer after ninth grade, Jordan and Smith both went to Pop Herring’s basketball camp. Neither of them had yet come into his body, and almost all of the varsity players, two and sometimes three years older, seemed infinitely stronger at that moment when a year or two in physical development can make all the difference. In Smith’s mind there was no doubt which of the two of them was the better player—it was Michael by far. But on the day the varsity cuts were announced — it was the big day of the year, for they had all known for weeks when the list would be posted — he and Roy Smith had gone to the Laney gym. Smith’s name was on it, Michael’s was not.
       It was the worst day of Jordan’s young life. The list was alphabetical, so he focused on where the Js should be, and it wasn’t there, and he kept reading and rereading the list, hoping somehow that he had missed it, or that the alphabetical listing had been done incorrectly. That day he went home by himself and went to his room and cried. Smith understood what was happening — Michael, he knew, never wanted you to see him when he was hurt.     “We knew Michael was good,” Fred Lynch, the Laney assistant coach, said later, “but we wanted him to play more and we thought the jayvee was better for him.” He easily became the best player on the jayvee that year. He simply dominated the play, and he did it not by size but with quickness. There were games in which he would score forty points. He was so good, in fact, that the jayvee games became quite popular. The entire varsity began to come early so they could watch him play in the jayvee games.       Smith noticed that while Jordan had been wildly competitive before he had been cut, after the cut he seemed even more competitive than ever, as if determined that it would never happen again. His coaches noticed it, too. “The first time I ever saw him, I had no idea who Michael Jordan was. I was helping to coach the Laney varsity,” said Ron Coley. “We went over to Goldsboro, which was our big rival, and I entered the gym when the jayvee game was just ending up. There were nine players on the court just coasting, but there was one kid playing his heart out. The way he was playing I thought his team was down one point with two minutes to play. So I looked up at the clock and his team was down twenty points and there was only one minute to play. It was Michael, and I quickly learned he was always like that.” 

Between the time he was cut and the start of basketball in his junior year, Jordan grew about four inches. The speed had always been there, and now he was stronger, and he could dunk .His hands had gotten much bigger, Smith noticed. He was as driven as ever, the hardest-working player on the team in practice. If he thought that his teammates were not working hard enough, he would get on them himself, and on occasion he pushed the coaches to get on them. Suddenly Laney High had the beginning of a very good basketball team, and its rising star was Michael Jordan.

One of the most famous players in basketball history, Michael Jeffery Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. His family headed to Wilmington, North Carolina when Jordan was still little and, being the youngest of three children, he was considered the laziest of the three. Although he slacked through school, when he hit high school, things began to turn around for him. He began to get better grades and showed more of an interest in school itself, along with three different sports: football, baseball, and basketball, where he lettered in all three. During his sophomore year, he was cut from the basketball team because he only stood 5'9. Over the summer, he continued to train and grew a whopping 4 inches, consequently, he wasn't cut from the team again. And, during his senior year, was selected for the McDonald's All-American Team. When he headed off to college at the University of North Carolina, he was not yet the star that he would become. Although he did help to lead his team to a win in the 1982 NCAA Championship, he quit school to enter the draft for the NBA in 1984, where he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls.

During his NBA career, he stayed for thirteen straight seasons with the Bulls, and then headed to the Washington Wizards for two seasons. It was here in the NBA that Jordan really made his mark, earning the MVP award five times, leading his team to win six NBA Championships, and was even named Rookie of the Year. During his first few seasons, he became the only other player in history, besides Wilt Chamberlain, to score over 3,000 points in one season. His game only got better the longer that he was in the NBA, earning him multiple All-Star game positions. It was not long before Jordan's face and clips of his basketball skills were everywhere around the world, including his famous clip from the 1990-1991 season when he switched hands in mid-air while playing the LA Lakers. It was also during this season that Jordan won the NBA Finals MVP award and cried on camera while holding the trophy.

Throughout his career, he has retired several times, sometimes amidst massive amounts of controversy. In 1993, he announced his retirement, and then was accused of loosing over $50,000 during his gambling days along with many other accusations that came out during this same time about his gambling problems. In 1994, he headed to the baseball fields, where he played for the Chicago White Sox. But, his baseball game wasn't quite as good as his basketball game, and, even though he played for a couple of different minor league teams, he finally gave it up to return to the court. This same year, he headed back to the court, and to the Bills, scoring over 50 points in several games, proving to the world that he was, indeed “back”. Yet, after playing for five more years, he once again announced his retirement in 1999.

But, in 2000, he returned to basketball, except for the Washington Wizards this time, just not as a player. Jordan became part owner and the President of Operations for the team. Although he won several awards during his time as a basketball executive, many people just didn't quite know what to make of his management skills and career. And, when he bored of that hat, he again donned a jersey and headed back to the court with his new team in 2001. But, age was catching up with the star and many fans began to realize that if he left this time, there would be no coming back. After injuring himself during the 2001-2002 season, he returned for the 2002-2003 season with special shoes to help his knees. Knowing that this would truly be his last season, the seats sold out for every game, and many teams and players alike began to throw tributes to the all-star player, and he received one of the highest honors when he was presented with the flag that flew over the Pentagon on September 11, 2002 by Donald Rumsfeld. Thus, Jordan left the court for good.