If you are a sports lover and you like to enjoy the best basketball, soccer and tennis stars, you probably want to know more about the personal and professional life of one of the best basketball players in the world: Michael Jordan.
The former player of basket The American is considered by fans and experts as one of the best of all time. He played with the number 23 in the Chicago Bulls For thirteen seasons, a professional team with which he won six rings, 10 scoring titles, 5 season MVPs and 6 finals MVPs, among others.
When Jordan started to make his mark at just 18 years old on the University of North Carolina team, his success was already on the horizon. If you want to know more about this great basketball star, keep reading to find out!
1. Where and when was Michael Jordan born?
The great basketball legend was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 17, 1963. When Jordan was little, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, a city where he spent most of his childhood and adolescence. It was there that he began to play basketball, baseball and American football. Thanks to his incredible determination and potential, Jordan was able to enjoy a scholarship at the University of North Carolina, where he began to dedicate himself professionally to basketball.
Like many others, Jordan's early years were not easy. Although he was not a brilliant player, he did not get bad grades at school. However, he was expelled for a time as a result of a fight. His mother did not consider Jordan staying at home wasting time, so she decided to take him with her to the bank where she worked. Michael Jordan came from a middle-class family that instilled in him values that are more than reflected in his career as an athlete. In his games, the basketball player paid tribute to his grandfather and his father. sticking out tongue, a gesture they both made while working.
The famous number 23 that Jordan carries on his back was something chosen consciously by the player since he thought he would only be half as good as his brother Harry who played with the number 45.
2. Did you know that Jordan was cut from his school basketball team for being too short?
Michael Jordan attended Ogden Elementary School, a school in North Carolina where he began to play several sports in which he quickly stood out for his impeccable game. In his second year of high school Jordan was 1.80 cm tall, so he was removed from the basketball team for not being tall enough compared to his classmates. He also did not make the school team until the next year, when he had already grown 10 cm and had trained hard to meet his expectations. There was no doubt that Jordan was cannon fodder, so in his last year of high school his statistics made it possible for the team to be selected. McDonald's All American Team I would like to count on your presence for the next season.
3. What was Michael Jordan and Dean Smith's relationship?
Dean Smith was a great basketball coach who began his career as a mentor to great students at the University of North Carolina, where he taught great basketball stars such as Michael Jordan, Walter Davis and Phil Ford. Thanks to his work, he accumulated more than 800 victories in his 36-year career.He also trained professional and college basketball coaches such as Larry Brown and Billy Cunningham.
4. Did Jordan drop out of college to enter the NBA Draft?
In the 1984-1985 season Michael Jordan was only 23 years old and was studying geography at the University of North Carolina while playing in the McDonald's All American Team, team with which he was named best university player of the year in this same season.
In this way, after several successes playing for this team, he decided to enter the NBA Draft, a procedure that takes place every June and through which the major teams of the American league select promising young players under 23 years of age. It was after this test that the Chicago Bulls They signed him to play in their teamTwo years later Michael returned to university to finish his studies in geography.
5. Why did Michael Jordan want to play with the number 45?
It is known that Michael Jordan He has always played with the number 23. But this is not a coincidence. When the former player joined the university team at North Carolina he wanted his jersey to bear the number number 45, in honor of his brother, who also played basketball but his height prevented him from continuing in the sport. Unfortunately for Jordan, number 45 was not available so he cut it in half and 23 was the one that resulted. After his first retirement from the sport, he returned and wore the number 45 for the first time, as he had wanted from the beginning.
6. Do you know the former Chicago Bulls player's passion for music?
In addition to sport, Jordan is also passionate about music, having recorded a single for the American R&B group Hot Butterflies, who had the pleasure of enjoying the voice of the star of basket with the song Everybody Use Your Imagination (1987).
7. Do you remember this Gatorade advertising campaign?
Michael Jordan is a money machine thanks to his talent as an athlete but he is also a money machine thanks to the advertising campaigns in which he participated. And how can we forget the one he did for Gatorade called 'Be Like Mike' referencing the theme from the Disney movie, The Jungle Book, 'Be Like You'. Gatorade I knew that after his championship debut with the Bulls, Jordan was already a global icon, so they decided to use him as their representative image for isotonic drinks, a strategy that worked very well for them.
Instead, the big business that emerged from this big player was that of Nike Jordan Air. One of Nike's executives, Sony Vaccaro, who at that time was not a very profitable brand, decided to bet the entire budget of the basketball department on a young Jordan who had not even debuted yet. Vaccaro's move was a huge success that continues to this day and 32 models after the first Air Jordan, the model has managed to get an independent franchise.
8. Did you know that in the early 90s the basketball star played a role in a cartoon series?
The series that Jordan participated in was called ProStars, a film directed by Michael Maliani in which several sports stars join together to form a team of superheroes and help humanity.Jordan lent his image to star in the series, and it was undoubtedly a huge success in the 90s.
9. Do you know that after his first retirement as a player from the Chicago Bulls got on a baseball team?
In 1993 Jordan decided to retire from the sports industry and hung up his jersey with the number 23 believing that he would never wear it again. Ultimately, this was not the case and he returned to basketball on several occasions. However, during his first retirement he decided to focus on baseball and in the summer of 1994 he was already playing on the team of the Chicago White Sox, where it is said that he was not as good as he was in basketball.
The truth is that the first sport in which Jordan stood out was baseball, so we assume that he saw the need to get rid of that thorn that had stuck in him since he was young.
10. Do you know the song? Jam Michael Jackson's music video? Michael Jordan participated in his music video
Michael Jordan was a basketball star when in 1992 Michael Jackson released the song JamIt was at this moment when the singer and dancer decided to count on Jordan to star in his video clip, which was also recorded on a basketball court where both artists exchanged roles: Jordan danced and Jackson played ball. basket.
There is no doubt that Jordan's career has been impeccable, and it is no wonder, his effort, struggle and passion for the sport have made him reach the top and he is now considered a basketball legend. But, did you know these 10 interesting facts that we have just told you?
