Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan, one of the best known athletes in the world, is a leading scorer in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the past, he has led the Chicago Bulls to many NBA championships. He is one of the best basketball players since the history of the game, and will be for a long time.

Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina. He accepted a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina and as a freshman scored the winning basket in the 1982 NCAA championship game against the Hoyas of Georgetown. Jordan was selected college player of the year for the 1983-1984 season, and in 1984 he led the United States basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1984, Jordan left college to play with the Bulls. He finished his first season (1984-1985) as one of the top scorers in the league, with an average of 28.2 points per game. He led the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons (1987-1993), tying Chamberlain's record, and averaged more than 30 points per game in each season. He also became the Bulls' all-time leading scorer and set numerous scoring records, including most points in a playoff game (63 points against the Boston Celtics in 1986); and highest scoring average for an NBA championship series (41 points per game in the 1993 NBA finals).

He led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship title in 1991. The Bulls won again in 1992 and 1993. In addition to his three league Most Valuable Player awards (1988, 1991, 1992), Jordan won the All-Star game MVP award twice (1988, 1996) and a record three-consecutive NBA championship series MVP awards (1991-1993). Jordan was also a member of the United States Olympic basketball team, known as the Dream Team, that captured the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Stating that he had lost his desire to play professional basketball, Jordan announced his retirement prior