“I wanna be like Mike!”

Perhaps the most recognizable name in all of sports is Michael Jordan. From unbelievable highlights on the court to commercials and movies off it, “MJ” is often considered the No. 1 sports legend of all-time. 

As the story goes, at 5’11, Jordan was deemed too short to play for his high school varsity team as a sophomore. But that following summer he grew four inches and his basketball career was born.

Following his high school career, Jordan received a scholarship to play for the University of North Carolina and was named ACC Freshman of the Year in 1981. He also made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown. Jordan left UNC one year before his scheduled graduation date after winning the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984.  

The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick in the NBA draft after the Houston Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwon) and Portland Trail Blazers (Sam Bowie) passed on the former Tar Heel. In due time, the Trail Blazers selection of Bowie over Jordan is often viewed as the biggest blunder in NBA draft history.

One could fill an entire book with Jordan’s NBA accomplishments. Among some of the honors:  

• 14-time All-Star
• Rookie of the Year—1985
• Five-time MVP—1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998
• Six-time NBA Finals MVP—1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
• Olympic Gold Medalist—1984, 1992
• Defensive Player of the Year—1988
• Nine-time All-Defensive First Team
• Seven-time The Sporting News MVP—1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998
• 11-time All-NBA—10 times first team, 1 time second team
• Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year”—1991
• Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996
• Two-time Slam Dunk Contest champion—1987, 1988

Select records

• Most NBA Finals MVP awards—6
• Highest single series scoring average NBA Finals—41.0 (1993)
• Most scoring titles—10
• Most All-Defensive First Teams—9
• Most consecutive games scoring in double figures—866
• Highest career scoring average—30.12
• Highest career scoring average playoffs—33.45

While players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are considered some of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball, none hold a candle to Jordan’s NBA legacy. He’s often hailed as one of the greatest professional athletes in any sport and his trademark dunks still don the walls of many youngsters throughout America.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Basketball, General, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.