Michael Jordan
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
The inspirational story of Michael Jordan
The inspirational story of Michael Jordan started at a very young age. Born on February 17, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York, Jordan became the man who popularized basketball to another level. He was born to Deloris and James Raymond Jordan. He has two elder brothers, one of whom, Larry, is also a basketball player. He also has an older sister and a younger sister.
The fire ignited the inspirational story of Michael Jordan when his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1968, where he attended Emsley A. Laney High School. Even being an athletic person who was charmed by the game of basketball, he failed to be selected for the varsity team at his school. But this failure didn’t derail him from his passion for basketball. He trained hard and eventually was selected for the varsity team in his junior year. This was the start of Michael Jordan’s rejection to reign.
College Days
Due to his talent, he was offered various basketball scholarships, but he was eventually selected to study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with his basketball scholarship due to his interest in cultural geography. Here he was training under coach Dean Smith and was named ACC freshman of the year. He was later selected for the NCAA all-American first team in both his sophomore and junior years. One year before graduating, Michael Jordan decided to leave his college and pursue his career in the 1984 NBA draft, even though he did return to compete for his degree in 1986.
The NBA Star
The major motivational success story of Michael Jordan starts with his journey as a player for the Chicago Bulls in the NBA. He made his debut on October 26, 1984, at Chicago Stadium, where he scored 16 points in his first year as a rookie with the Bulls. Jordan quickly rose to be a fan favorite for his exceptional gameplay. His popularity is such that in the year 2021, a ticket from his NBA debut was auctioned for $264,000 as a collectible ticket.
During his third year with the Chicago Bull, he broke his foot, which led him to miss 64 games. He eventually returned after completely recovering for the 1986–87 season, where he made the astonishing score of 3000 points in a season.
In the 1987–88 season, he won his first MVP award and was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and again during the 1990–91 season, he went on to win his second MVP award. By the year 1993, he had become the first player in NBA history to win three final MVP awards. Thanks to his contribution to the Chicago Bulls, they won three NBA championships.
Olympics
He led the US basketball team to win a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics game in Barcelona as well as in 1984 in Los Angeles.
Retirements and comebacks.
On October 6, 1993, he announced his retirement from basketball as he lost interest in playing this game, which was the result of the murder of his father three months earlier. But the inspirational story of Michael Jordan does not end here. To fulfill his father’s dream, who wanted to see his son as a major league baseball player, Jordan decided to play for the Birmingham Barons in 1994, a Double-A minor league affiliate with the Chicago White Sox. Then he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions in 1994 in the Arizona Fall League.
By March 19, 1995, Jordan decided to retire from baseball and rejoin the Chicago Bulls in the NBA, where he wore jersey number 45 as his original jersey number 23 was retired. On November 1, 1994, Jordan made an astonishing comeback that helped his team win after a lot of failures. Eventually, he resumed wearing his original number 23 jersey, for which the team was fined $25,000 due to the impromptu number change during his 1995–96 season. He won the all-star game MVP award.
He announced his second retirement on January 13, 1999, but eventually returned to the NBA with the Washington Wizards, but this time not as a player but as the owner of the team. On January 19, 2000, he announced his comeback to play for the Washington Wizards, with the indication of donating all the money to the victims of the September 11 attack. During this time, he played in the 14th NBA All-Star game, where he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the highest scorer that year. He became the only player from Washington to play all 82 games.
During his final NBA game on April 16, 2003, Jordan sat on the bench after scoring 13 points with still four minutes and 13 seconds remaining for the third quarter. When the fourth quarter started, the crowd lovingly chanted, “We want Mike,” which made Jordan re-enter the game. Jordan received a three-minute standing from the crowd, his teammate, and everyone present in the arena.
Michael Jordan’s NBA career highlights and other major milestones.
Michael Jordan’s NBA career highlights
- He won six NBA championships (1991–1993, 1996–1998).
- He was declared five times the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, and 1998).
- They successfully played in 14 NBA All-Star games (1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002, 2003).
- He won 10 times with the All-NBA First Team (1987–1993, 1996–1998).
- He was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.
- He became the 10-time NBA scoring champion (1987–1993, 1996–1998).
- He was named six times the NBA Finals MVP (1991–1993, 1996–1998).
- He was declared the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1985.
Other major milestones
- He won two Olympic gold medals (1984 and 1992).
- He won the Tour of the Americas gold medal in 1992. He won the Pan American Games gold medal in 1983. He was named the two-time USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 1983 and 1984.
- He won the NCAA national championship in 1981–82. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1981–82.
- He was named to the two-time consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1982–83, 1983–84).
- He was named the ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in 1983–84.
- He was declared the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1984.
- USBWA College Player of the Year in 1983–84.
- He was named the Naismith College Player of the Year in 1983–84.
- He won the Adolph Rupp Trophy in 1983–84.
- He was awarded the John R. Wooden Award in 1983–84.
- He was named twice as the Sporting News National Player of the Year (1983 and 1984).
- He appeared in movies like Space Jam.
- He authored four books.
- Rare Air: Michael on Michael.
- I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence.
- For the Love of the Game: My Story.
- Driven from within.
With all his achievements, Michael Jordan’s NBA career highlights shine the brightest.
Michael Jordan’s rejection to reign
Michael Jordan’s rejection to reign journey teaches us an important lesson: never give up. In his early days, he was cut from the varsity team, which led him to work hard and prove himself, leading him to be selected for the varsity team during his starting days. As an NBA player for the Chicago Bulls, he faced a lot of difficulties, from advancing to facing defeat from the stronger teams.
At the peak of his career, he decided to retire and completely switch to a new game, where he proved his excellence with all his comebacks. After his retirement, he had shown remarkable gameplay, which made him one of a kind. He truly created a remarkable journey that people sing praise for, “Michael Jordan’s rejection to reign.”
Lessons from Michael Jordan’s journey
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Lessons from Michael Jordan’s journey teach us to look forward and beyond failure. The inspirational story of Michael Jordan has touched the hearts of millions and made him a huge role model. His collaboration with Nike and the creation of the Air Jordan brand became a billion-dollar-generating brand. There are so many lessons from Michael Jordan’s journey that have created history. People look up to the motivational success story of Michael Jordan when it comes to endorsements and sponsorships, business ventures and investments, and the philanthropic work of an individual.
Comments are closed.