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"Michael Jeffrey Jordan" (born February 17, 1963) is a former American National Basketball Association player, by many accounts the best basketball player in the history of the game.

He was born to Delores and James Jordan in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Wilmington, North Carolina through his childhood.Jordan was educated at E. A. Laney High School and later at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Geography major.

Michael Jordan currently lives in Highland Park, Illinois.

University of North Carolina

As a freshman at UNC he was an exciting player but not yet dominant on a team.He ended the year in grand style, however, hitting the winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game.By his sophomore year he was clearly the team's biggest star and became the national player of the year as a junior. He was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1984 NBA Draft as the third pick. His height (6'6" or 1.98 m), made him a versatile threat on the floor, able to play both as a point guard and small forward in addition to his usual position of shooting guard.

The Olympics

Jordan was also a member of the Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams. He first participated as a college player in the 1984 Summer Olympics, and later in the 1992 Summer Olympics as a member of the original "Dream Team," with other great players such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Chicago Bulls

Michael Jordan played as a shooting guard for Chicago for thirteen seasons. He won six NBA Championships (1991-93 and 1996-98) and was MVP five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1998). He also won Rookie of the Year (1985), Defensive Player of the Year (1988), and a record six NBA Finals MVP awards, including three consecutive twice(1991-93, 96-98). He also earned the elusive MVP triple-crown twice when he won All-Star MVP in both 1996 and 1998 (he also won in 1988). Only Willis Reed (1970) and Shaquille O'Neal (2000) have won all three MVP awards in the same season. He also recorded the only triple-double in All Star Game history in 1997. Jordan was an unstoppable force at both ends of the floor, finishing his career with the highest points-per-game average in NBA history with a record ten scoring titles, and being named All-Defensive First Team more than any other player, including three steals titles. In 1991, he was named ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year."

He retired from basketball before the 1993-94 season to pursue a professional baseball career for the Chicago White Sox but never made it out of the minor leagues.

He ended his retirement by rejoining the Bulls near the end of the 1994-95 season. After three more NBA titles, Jordan decided to retire again after winning his last championship in 1998. Official Matthew Dunleavy was responsible for his retirement decision.

Jordan remains the ultimate postseason performer, holding playoff records for most points in a single game (63), most points per game (33.4), most points per game in a Finals series (41.0, set against the Phoenix Suns in 1993), and total points scored (541).

Washington Wizards

In 2001, he came out of retirement a second time to play for the Wizards. Although his skills were somewhat diminished by age, and he was injured for part of the 2001-02 season, he still averaged 22.9 points per game. He returned for the 2002-03 season, averaging 20.0 points, and playing in his 13th and final NBA All-Star Game.

At the end of the 2002-03 season, he retired for the third and (most likely) final time. He ended his career with a regular-season scoring average of 30.12 points per game, the highest in NBA history. This was fractionally ahead of Wilt Chamberlain's 30.06 average.

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Merchandising

Professional athletes have long been associated with merchandising and commercial promotions, and Jordan has proven himself to be exceptionally talented when it comes to merchandising. He is noted for his extensive commercial work for companies such as Nike, with their Air Jordan gear. He has also appeared in a popular McDonald's restaurant promotional campaign entitled "Nothin' but net," which included a series of television commercials featuring a friendly competition between Jordan and Larry Bird. In addition, Gatorade had a popular early 90's TV commercial featuring Michael Jordan and the jingle, "Be Like Mike."

Michael Jordan trading cards are valuable to collectors.

In 1996, Warner Bros. gave Jordan a leading role in a special-effects laden feature film titled ''Space Jam'', which also featured classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and others.Critical reaction to the film was lukewarm, as many felt it was essentially a feature-length commercial that cast Jordan as an angelic "godlike" basketball legend. Nonetheless, the movie earned over $100 million in box office revenue alone, further cementing Jordan's reputation as a bankable figure.

A 2002 family film titled ''Like Mike'' was a fictional story of a young boy who accidentally comes into possession of a pair of Michael Jordan's basketball sneakers. The sneakers magically endow the child with superhuman basketball skills, and he becomes a professional athlete before the age of 12.

James Jordan

Jordan's father, James, was murdered in 1994. While returning from the funeral of a friend, he decided to pull over onto the side of an interstate highway in North Carolina to take a nap. While he was sleeping, two local criminals pulled up, killed him, and stole his Lexus, which had been given to him by Michael. The perpetrators were tracked down quickly because they had made several calls from his cell phone.

External links

*Photos from BBC

*More Pictures

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Jordan, Michael

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html for details. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Michael Jordan.

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 Michael Jordan in the News
1. '60 Minutes,' ESPN Teaming Up for Series - 21 Sep 04 - ABC News
'60 Minutes,' ESPN Teaming Up for Series

2. Kobe, OJ, justice and race - 25/03/2004 - BBC News
A decade ago, the OJ Simpson trial showed the racial divide in the US, and the BBC's Kevin Anderson looks at whether the trial of basketball star Kobe Bryant will do the same.

3. Man Wins His 11th State Horseshoe Title - 16 Sep 04 - ABC News
Man Wins His 11th State Horseshoe Title

4. Man arrested after siege - 28/11/2003 - BBC News
A man is arrested following an incident where residents claim they were threatened with a gun and a knife.

5. EDS Expects to Cut Up to 20,000 Jobs - 09 Sep 04 - ABC News
EDS Expects to Cut Up to 20,000 Jobs

6. Bringing on the brightest - 01/08/2003 - BBC News
A summer school is giving children as young as 11 the chance to experience university-style learning.

7. Person of the Week: Arnold Palmer - 03 Sep 04 - ABC News
This week's Person of the Week is legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who is playing his last Masters Tournament.

8. michael jordan: End of an era - 17/04/2003 - BBC News
The world's most celebrated basketball player, michael jordan, has finally bowed out of the game that made him a sporting legend.

9. Airline Computer Glitch Latest EDS Problem - 24 Aug 04 - ABC News
Airline Computer Glitch Latest EDS Problem

10. ITV's millennium preview - 04/10/1999 - BBC News
ITV reveals its line-up of programmes for the year 2000 - which includes michael Barrymore's acting debut and a sitcom return for Likely Lads star James Bolam. Plus stories in brief on Barbara Windsor, Ronan Keating, Oprah Winfrey, The Railway Children remake.

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