Jordan Does It All Essay, Research Paper

JORDAN DOES IT ALL

Everyone who reads the sports section of the daily news knows about Michael Jordan. Although the name is not uncommon, there is only one Michael Jordan. He is the fundamental sports hero that has not been plagued by scandal. Jordan appears on all kinds of commercials. Some of those commercials are for Nike, Wheaties cereal, Hanes underwear, Rayovac batteries, MCI phone company, Ball Park hot dogs, and the latest is for his own brand, Jordan. Michael is as big as an icon off the court as when he still played basketball. Jordan can do it all.

No matter when you see Michael Jordan he is always in the good light. No one ever sees Michael selling or doing drugs, unlike some other celebrities. Michael has always been conscious of his image; therefore, the media never can find anything negative about him. Jordan is a positive role model for children. Parents couldn’t ask for much more from any person.

Most people don’t really know where Michael Jordan was born. They think he was born some where other than where he was actually born. He was really born in Brooklyn, New York (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). Later in his childhood his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). He attended and graduated from Laney High School in Wilmington. Now Michael can be found living in Highland Park with his family and dog. He has a wife, Juanita, and has three children; Jeffrey; Marcus; and Jasmine (Michael Jordan’s, 1999).

It doesn’t hurt Jordan’s image being the greatest basketball player to ever play the game (Costas, 1999). Not only is he a great basketball player, but he is a great all around athlete. Jordan can do more than just play basketball. He can play baseball at the higher level too. He is not as good in baseball as in basketball, but better than most people could ever be. Jordan is also a pretty good golfer. Golfing is what Jordan does when he isn’t playing basketball or spending time with his family. Michael can just do it all. That’s the kind of athlete he has been throughout his professional career.

Although Jordan has become the greatest basketball player of all time he was not always good at basketball. He wasn’t gifted with great basketball skills. Michael worked hard for his skills on the basketball court. Michael Jordan is the greatest practice player in the history of sports (Vancil, 1996, p. 28). Michael always thought practice was a proving ground(Vancil, 1996, p. 29).

Jordan didn’t make the basketball team the first year that he went out (Sporting News, 1999). Being cut from the Laney High School basketball team in his sophomore year made Michael go home and work harder on his game. He worked so hard in order to get better so that he could make the team the next year. Jordan then made his high school team the next year. After two years of high school basketball and going to Five-Star Basketball Camp, Jordan had the reputation as the best guard in the south (Sporting News, 1999).

In 1981 Michael Jordan announced that he going to the University of North Carolina to play basketball. North Carolina was a team Jordan grew up hating (Sporting News, 1999). Michael became well known after he hit a 20-foot game winning basket to win the NCAA championship game in 1982 (Sporting News, 1999). That was just one of the great things that Jordan accomplished in college.

Jordan won two awards in his second year at North Carolina. He won the award for the NCAA College Player of the Year and also had a unanimous selection for First Team All-American (Sporting News, 1999). All of the above was accomplished in Jordan’s sophomore year at UNC which was in 1983.

Michael had a great year in 1984. He was again the NCAA College Player of the Year and had a unanimous selection for First Team All-American (Sporting News, 1999). Along with that Jordan was the winner of the John Wooden Award and also the winner of the Dr. James Naismith Award (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). After the 1984 collegiate basketball season, Jordan announced that he was going to leave North Carolina early to go to the pros. Jordan then was taken third overall in the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Being co-captain of the U.S. gold medal- winning Olympic basketball team was also one of Jordan’s accomplishments. Jordan had more success in this year then most athletes have in their careers.

Jordan’s accomplishments didn’t stop there though. That was just the start of the best basketball player to ever play the game (Brown, 1999). Michael won the honor of being the NBA rookie of the year in 1985. On October 29, Michael broke his left foot and had to sit on the sideline watching for the rest of the season and the start of the 1986 season (Sporting News, 1999). After missing 64 games, Jordan was finally healed and ready to play (Sporting News, 1999).

In 1987, Michael Jordan, was winning more awards. He was named to the All-NBA first team for the first time. He also won the NBA scoring title for the first time (Sporting News, 1999). Along with his two awards, Michael made 26 of 27 free throws against the Nets to set a career high (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). The career highs were free throws made and free throws attempted in a single game.

Jordan does it all in 1988. Being the leading scorer and the defensive player of the year, he was named NBA regular-season MVP and NBA All-Defensive first team (Sporting News, 1999). He also set a career high in steals with ten against the Nets at the end of January in 1988 (Michael Jordan’s, 1999).

Michael does it all again in 1989. He won his usual awards again along with his career high assist with 17 against the Blazers in late March (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). His usual awards were, All-NBA first team, NBA All-Defensive first team, and the scoring title (Sporting News, 1999). Jordan hit one of the most memorable shots ever in the NBA against Cleveland in the playoffs. This shot is known as “The Shot” and it won the series to move the Bulls in the next round (Sporting News, 1999).

Jordan does it on both sides of the ball again in 1990. Michael was on the All-NBA first team, NBA All-Defensive first team, and he won the scoring title (Sporting News, 1999). During the regular season, Michael, set a career high in scoring with 69 points against the Caves (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). He also set another career high in this year. It was for the most three point field goals made and attempted. The highs were seven makes and twelve attempts (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). In this year, 1990, Jordan led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals, but the Bulls fell short of making the NBA finals.

The Bulls found their way to the NBA finals in 1991. Michael finally got his championship ring. Along with the ring, Michael was the NBA regular-season MVP and the NBA finals MVP (Sporting News, 1999). He was also named to the All-NBA first team, NBA All-Defensive first team, and the scoring title was Jordan’s again (Sporting News, 1999). Michael joined the U.S. Olympic team under pressure (Sporting News, 1999).

Jordan led the Bulls to another championship. He is the NBA regular-season MVP along with being named to the All-NBA first team and the NBA All-Defensive first team (Sporting News, 1999). Michael was the leading scorer in the NBA for the sixth time (Sporting News, 1999). He was named the NBA finals MVP again (Sporting News, 1999). After the 1992 NBA season, Michael went on to play on the U.S. Olympic team. The U.S. won the gold medal without having a real contest.

The Chicago Bulls “three peat” in 1993. They won their third consecutive championship. Jordan was named the NBA finals MVP after setting the number one scoring average ever in the NBA finals with 41 points (Sporting News, 1999). For the seventh consecutive season, Michael was named to the All-NBA first team and won the scoring title (Sporting News, 1999). He was also named NBA All-Defensive first team for the sixth consecutive season (Sporting News, 1999). During the season, Jordan set a career high for field goals made and attempted. They both were in the same day when he hit 27 of 49 shots (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). After the season, Michael Jordan announced that he was retiring and was going to play baseball.

Michael Jordan suits up in a baseball uniform in 1994. He didn’t do too well playing baseball, but he did better than most people had anticipated. Jordan played baseball for a Double-A team in Birmingham (Sporting News, 1999). His batting average was .202 for his first and only season (Sporting News, 1999).

Michael came back to basketball in 1996. He helped the Bulls to become the first team ever to win 70 games in a season (Sporting News, 1999). Michael captured his eighth scoring title during the season (Sporting News, 1999). The Bulls won their fourth NBA title, defeating Seattle in six games. Michael was named MVP, All-Star MVP, and Finals MVP (Sporting News, 1999). This wasn’t too bad for it being his first year back from retirement.

Michael Jordan leads the Bulls to win their fifth NBA title in 1997. The Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz in six games. Michael was named the NBA finals MVP for the fifth time. Michael was also named to the NBA All-Star team for the 11th time. Jordan was the first person ever to have a triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists) in an All-Star game (Sporting News, 1999). After his spectacular performance in the All-Star game, Michael was chosen the All-Star MVP (Sporting News, 1999). He got another scoring title credited to his name with an average of 29.6 points per game (Sporting News, 1999). On November 30, Michael scored his 25,000th career point (Sporting News, 1999). The NBA chose 50 of the greatest players for its 50th birthday (Vancil, 1996). Of course, Michael Jordan was one of those fifty players. It was one of Michael’s biggest achievements to be named one of the best ever to play basketball.

Jordan went out with a bang in 1998. He won his tenth scoring title. He was the NBA Most Valuable Player for the fifth time and was selected to the All-NBA First Team (Sporting News, 1999). He went to the All-Star game for the 12th time and was picked as the All-Star MVP for the third time (Brown, 1999). The NBA title went to the Chicago Bulls for the sixth time. It was their second three-peat. Michael again was the MVP of the finals.

Michael was just as good of a role model off the court as on the court. He was named to the NBA All-Interview First Team for the 1997-98 season (Sporting News, 1999). That’s why he is such a good role model. Michael can not just play, he can speak after the games. He appears on all kinds of commercials. Jordan even showed up in the movie “Space Jam”. He just pops up everywhere these days. Jordan can just do it all!

Bibliography

REFERENCES

Brown, Hubie. “Hubie Brown on Jordan.” 1999

http://www.nba.com.mjretirement/huieonjordan.html. (15 Oct. 1999).

Costas, Bob. “The Jordan perspective.” 1999

http://www.sportingnews.com/magizine/articles/19990120/135384.html. (15 Oct. 1999).

“Profile.” 1999 http://ww1.sportsline.com/u/jordan/career/index.html. (15 Oct. 1999).

“Timeline: MJ through the years.” 1999

http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/nba/82594.html. (15 Oct. 1999).

Vancil, Mark, ed. The NBA at Fifty. New York: Park Lane Press, 1996