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~this is a magazine about basketball articles included mj s biography mj s family college career how mj started basketball beginning of mj and more poster of michael

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michael jordan is a hall of fame shooting guard who played in the nba from 1984 to 2003 for the chicago bulls and washington wizards and is currently the primary owner of the charlotte bobcats winner of five regular-season mvp awards he is widely considered the best basketball player ever to play in the nba jordan led the chicago bulls to six nba titles and was voted the finals mvp a michael jordan was a 14-time all-star averaging 20.2 points per all-star game and became the only player to ever record a triple-double in an all-star game when he achieved the feat in 1997 he was named defensive player of the year in 1988 and was on the all-defensive first team nine times michael jordan became a world-famous star as his bulls kept winning and he kept scoring he graced the cover of countless magazines including sports illustrated a record 51 times he also had his own line of basketball shoe the introduction of the nike air jordan embroidered with jordan s signature symbol of him jumping in the air basketball in one hand and legs spread would boost nike as one of the world leaders in sports merchandise with countless endorsements to his name jordan would revolutionize the sports merchandising and marketing industries michael jordan was hired as president of basketball operations for the washington wizards in 2000 he was also part owner of the wizards minority owner of the nhl s washington capitals the mci center and us airways arena jordan held the post of wizards president of basketball operations for one and a half years before deciding to retrun to playing basketball jordan left the position with the understanding he would retain his job after his brief return to the court but owner abe pollin wanted to move in a different direction and jordan did not re-gain his job.

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michael jeffrey jordan was born on february 17 1963 in brooklyn n.y before he reached his first birthday his parents james and deloris moved the family to wilmington north carolina where james built a basketball court in the backyard of the family s new house young michael was one of five children he had two brothers larry and james and two sisters delores and roslyn growing up michael jordan adored baseball but also played football and basketball he was a very good pitcher in little league and threw several no-hitters coming one game away from leading his team to the little league world series in 1975 michael was named mr baseball among players in his age group by the dixie youth baseball association at one point while pitching for laney high school in wilmington jordan boasted a 42-inning scoreless streak it wasn t until he was older that jordan truly took basketball seriously after being beaten by his older brother larry michael took it personally and improved his game being beaten by his older brother was the only motivation jordan needed to work on his basketball game and become the best player he could during his sophomore year at laney a 5 9 michael jordan tried out for the basketball team he was passed over for the final spot on the varsity team when coach clifton herring decided he preferred 6 8 sophomore leroy smith over jordan jordan was quoted as saying it was embarrassing not making that team they posted the roster and it was there for a long long time without my name on it i remember being really mad too because there was a guy who made it that really wasn t as good as me jordan put up one of the best performances on the school s junior varsity team that season and joined the varsity the next year he led laney high to the state playoffs as a senior jordan made a name for himself on the national scene with a stellar performance in the mcdonald s all-american game he hit the winning free throws to give his east team a 96-95 win scoring 30 points in the process jordan s 30 points were the most ever scored by a player in the mcdonald s game and stood as the record until jonathan bender scored 31 in 1999 jordan was not however named the game s mvp that honor went to adrian branch.

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college career michael jordan s play in high school drew the attention of university of north carolina assistants roy williams and bill guthridge williams made sure that jordan attended dean smith s basketball camp in the summer of 1980 smith was impressed with jordan s play and offered him a scholarship his top choice would have been ucla but he was never recruited by the bruins ironically jordan actually grew up a fan of rival north carolina state because he admired david thompson jordan was also recruited by south carolina and maryland but ended up going with north carolina because he liked its head coach smith jordan started as a freshman which was a rare feat in itself on a smithcoached team he was instrumental in the tar heels run to the 1982 national championship in the title game against patrick ewing and georgetown the hoyas led 62-61 with 32 seconds left after a timeout michael jordan took a pass from teammate jimmy black and pivoted to take a 16-foot jump shot that went through the basket with 15 seconds remaining the tar heels would take home the national championship with a 63-62 win after jordan s gamewinning basket unc assistant coach eddie fogler said the kid doesn t even realize it yet but he s part of history now people will remember that shot 25 years from now although he wouldn t win another national championship while at north carolina jordan had a storybook college career he was named an allamerican in both his sophomore and junior seasons and was the college player of the year after his junior campaign he averaged 17.7 points per game over his college career with north carolina.

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olympics michael jordan was a member of two gold-medal winning usa basketball teams he participated in the 1984 olympics games in los angeles california and the 1992 olympics in barcelona spain although jordan had been drafted by the bulls prior to the 1984 games he had yet to appear in a professional game so he was still considered an amateur the team was coached by indiana s bob knight and among jordan s teammates were patrick ewing wayman tisdale and chris mullin the usa team went 8-0 in the tournament and won gold with ease jordan averaged over 17 points per game during his first appearance in the olympics prior to the 1992 barcelona games the international olympic committee had changed the rules of the basketball competition and professional athletes were allowed to compete michael jordan joined superstars such as larry bird charles barkley karl malone david robinson and magic johnson on what was dubbed the dream team with the combined efforts of the best the nba had to offer the dream team cruised to the gold medal winning games by an average margin of 43.8 points to avoid controversy with sponsor nike jordan placed an american flag over the reebok logo on his jersey during the gold medal celebration.

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in the 1993-94 season the bulls without jordan achieved a 55 27 record 21 and lost to the new york knicks in the second round of the playoffs but the 1994 95 version of the bulls was a shell of the championship squad of just two years earlier struggling at mid-season to ensure a spot in the playoffs chicago was 31 31 at one point in mid-march the team received a lift however when jordan decided to return to the nba for the bulls on march 18 1995 jordan announced his return to the nba through a 2-word press release i m back the next day jordan donned jersey number 45 his number with the barons as his familiar 23 had been retired in his honor following his first retirement he took to the court with the bulls to face the indiana pacers in indianapolis scoring 19 points the game had the highest nielsen rating of a regular season nba game since 1975 although he hadn t played an nba game in a year and a half jordan played well upon his return making a game-winning jump shot against atlanta in his fourth game back he then scored 55 points in the next game against the knicks at madison square garden on march 28 1995 his first appearance at madison square garden since retiring boosted by jordan s comeback the bulls went 13-4 to make the playoffs and advanced to the eastern conference semifinals against the orlando magic though at the end of game 1 orlando s nick anderson stripped jordan from behind leading to the game-winning basket for the magic he would later comment that jordan didn t look like the old michael jordan after which jordan returned to wearing his old number jordan averaged 31 points per game in the series but orlando prevailed in 6 games jordan had a versatile offensive game he was capable of aggressively driving to the basket as well as drawing fouls from his opponents at a high rate his 8,772 free throw attempts are the ninth highest total of all time as his career progressed jordan also developed the ability to post up his opponents and score with his trademark fadeaway jump shot using his leaping ability to fade away from block attempts according to hubie brown this move alone made him nearly unstoppable 115]despite media criticism as a selfish player early in his career jordan s 5.3 assists per game[12 also indicate his willingness to defer to his teammates in later years the nba shortened its three-point line to 22 feet from 23 feet 9 inches which coupled with jordan s extended shooting range to make him a long-range threat as well his 3-point stroke developed from a low 9/52 rate 173 in his rookie year into a stellar 111/260 427 shooter in the 1995 96 season for a guard jordan was also a good rebounder 6.2 per game

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michael jeffrey jordan born february 17 1963 is a former american professional basketball player active entrepreneur and majority owner of the charlotte bobcats his biography on the national basketball association nba website states by acclamation michael jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered after a three-season career at the university of north carolina at chapel hill where he was a member of the tar heels national championship team in 1982 jordan joined the nba s chicago bulls in 1984 he quickly emerged as a league star entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring his leaping ability illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests earned him the nicknames air jordan and his airness he also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball 3 in 1991 he won his first nba championship with the bulls and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993 securing a three-peat although jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993 94 nba season to pursue a career in baseball he rejoined the bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships 1996 1997 and 1998 as well as an nba-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995 96 nba season jordan retired for a second time in 1999 but returned for two more nba seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the washington wizards jordan s individual accolades and accomplishments include five mvp awards ten allnba first team designations nine all-defensive first team honors fourteen nba allstar game appearances three all-star game mvp awards ten scoring titles three steals titles six nba finals mvp awards and the 1988 nba defensive player of the year award he holds the nba records for highest career regular season scoring average 30.12 points per game and highest career playoff scoring average 33.45 points per game in 1999 he was named the greatest north american athlete of the 20th century by espn and was second to babe ruth on the associated press s list of athletes of the century he was inducted into the basketball hall of fame in 2009.

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shawn baker publications michael jordan mj © shawn baker 2012

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