Serena Arts: Michael Jordan Basketball player images and biography

The son of James and Deloris Jordan, Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York.
His father was a mechanic at the General Electric plant and his mother worked with a bank. Michael was very young when his family shifted to Wilmington, North Carolina. His parents were blessed with four other children named, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan, Jr., Deloris and Roslyn.

Even as a youngster, Michael showed streaks of a sportsman. Initially, his inclination was towards baseball. But soon, he developed a keen interest in basketball, following his older brother Larry’s footsteps. As a sophomore, at Laney High School, his attempt to get into the varsity team failed because he was raw and undersized. The following summer, he grew four inches and practiced tirelessly. The hard work paid off in shape of Jordan being selected to the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior.

After high school, he accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina. At this level, he received training by the legendary coach Dean Smith. He made himself visible in the very first year by making it to the title of the ACC Freshman of the Year. It was his fifteen foot winning jump short that made his teammates nickname him as ‘Superman’. Jordan left North Carolina after his junior year and was selected by the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the third pick of the 1984 draft. The Chicago Bulls were then a losing team but Jordan’s caliber quickly turned scores around. He had a unique style of play and fierce spirit of competition. Jordan's incredible leaping ability and hang time thrilled fans in arenas around the league. In his first season itself, he was honored as the league's Rookie of the Year.

Thanks to a broken foot, Jordan was sidelined for 64 games during the 1985–86 season. But not the won to lose heart, he made the 1986–87 season one of individual successes. He became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a single season. Jordan enjoyed personal success, but Chicago did not advance beyond the first round of the playoffs until 1988. Jordan concentrated on improving his other basketball skills and in the future years won five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA finals MVP awards, three All-Star game MVP awards and a defensive player of the year award. In 1993 summer Jordan's father, James, was murdered by two men during a robbery attempt. A grief stricken, Jordan announced his retirement from professional basketball. For one year, Jordan relit his childhood love for baseball with Chicago White Sox. However, this seventeen-month experiment showed that he was not a major league baseball player. In 1995 the media reported his comeback. He rejoined the Bulls 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 season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999 but he returned for two more NBA seasons in 2001 as a member of the Washington Wizards. Eventually, he retired for good following the 2002-03 season.

During his basketball days, Jordan was also in the limelight for a paternity suit filed against him by Karla Knafel and a turbulent marriage with Juanita Vanoy, the mother of his three children. The marriage finally ended in a divorce in 2006.

Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements, Nike’s Air Jordan being a success story in itself. In 1996, he also starred in the film ‘Space Jam’. He is currently a part-owner and Managing Member of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats in North Carolina.