Historical Spotlight Series: Michael Jordan, Part 1 | Early Life & Rise to Stardom
Basketball is a sport enjoyed by millions around the world. It requires practice, time, dedication, and oftentimes sacrifice to become one of the elites who continue to spark debates well past their retirement. From layups to jumpshots, players work hard to make themselves known for their athletic ability. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight Series on one of, if not the best, basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan.
No one is as engrained in popular culture as Michael Jordan. From his shoes to his flu game to his gambling woes to his current business ventures, he’s a household name. I did an experiment with my husband and realized that we see something about Jordan almost every single day, and it doesn’t matter if it’s on TV, social media, in songs, or in movies. It’s quite astounding how seamlessly he’s integrated in pop culture.
Before we can even get into his impact today, we have to take a trip down memory lane to see just how he got his love for ball. Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 to his parents Deloris and James Jordan Sr. He spent the first five years of his life in Brooklyn, New York before his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina in 1968. He has two older brothers named James Jr. and Larry, an older sister named Deloris, and a younger sister named Roslyn. The family was raised Methodist.
While in high school, he played basketball, baseball, and football. During his sophomore year, he tried out for the varsity basketball team, but was unfortunately too short for the team. Not allowing his height to hold him back, he worked hard to prove his worth on the junior varsity basketball team and even had some 40-point games.
The next summer, he grew four inches to finally make the varsity squad, and he averaged more than 25 points per game over his junior and senior seasons. This is also when he picked No. 23 as his iconic jersey number. He was selected for the 1981 McDonald’s All-American game as a senior and scored 30 points.
After witnessing his exemplary high school performance, he was heavily recruited by numerous college basketball programs and got to choose between Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia, Clemson, NC State, and Maryland. He ultimately decided to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and majored in cultural geography as a nod to his childhood dream of being a meteorologist.
As a freshman, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting 53.4% from the field. He started his reputation for being clutch after hitting the game winning shot during the 1982 NCAA Championship Game against Georgetown. Looking back on it, this game winner was a major turning point in his basketball career and helped propel him into excellence.
He continued to dominate during his sophomore and junior seasons and consistently ranked amongst the elite in the ACC. At the end of both seasons, he ranked either 1st or 2nd in both total points scored and points averaged per game. He also placed in the top 10 in field goal and free throw percentages. Over his college career, he averaged 17.7 points per game with 54% shooting, 5 rebounds per game, and 1.8 assists per game.
The world took notice of his performance and he was selected to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore and junior seasons. He won two gold medals as part of the US national basketball team during the 1983 Pan American Games in Venezuela and the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA. He also won the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards before leaving North Carolina to enter the 1984 NBA draft.
Michael was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls and would’ve been drafted higher had the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers not needed a center. On October 26, 1984, he made his NBA debut against the Washington Bullets and scored 16 points before heating up to average 28.2 points per game during his rookie season. He shot 51.5% from the field, and helped improve the Bulls’ record enough to qualify for the postseason for the first time in roughly five years.
He quickly captured the attention of fans and earned his nicknames “Air Jordan” and “His Airness” for his leaping and dunking abilities and sold out arenas wherever he played. He was selected as a starter in his first All-Star game, won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, and was even showcased on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Despite his outstanding performance, the Bulls lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
Hoping to follow up his rookie performance, he broke his foot just three games into his second season. Despite missing 64 games, the Bulls still made it to the playoffs, but were bounced in the first round by the Celtics. During game 2 of the series, Jordan scored 63 points, a playoff career-high that broke the single-game playoff scoring record.
He went on an absolute rampage during his third season and scored 3,000 total points while averaging 37.1 points per game and shooting 48.2% from the field. Fellow Hall-of-Famer Wilt Chamberlain is the only other player to achieve such a feat. Michael also became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season.
During his fourth season, he won his first league MVP award after averaging 35 points per game on 53.5% shooting and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 1.6 blocks per game, 3.1 steals per game, and holding opponents to the fewest points per game allowed in the league. After making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career, the Bulls lost in five games to the more experienced Detroit Pistons.
Michael’s exemplary stats stayed consistent into his fifth season, despite the frustration he started to feel with the team’s offensive direction. His bread and butter was as a shooting guard and later small forward, but head coach Doug Collins moved him to point guard and watched him excel. Jordan recorded 10 triple-doubles in just 11 games, averaged 33.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 10.8 assists per game. The position change helped the team advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, but were bested by the Pistons again.
His seventh season laid the groundwork for his future success by gathering head coach Phil Jackson and instrumental players like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant together. On March 28, 1990, he scored 69 points, a career-high, in a road win against the Cavaliers. Despite getting back to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons beat them for the third consecutive season.
The Bulls and Jordan struck gold during his eighth season after implementing the triangle offense to counteract defenses that heavily targeted him. By reducing the number of shots he took per game, he set his team up to finally get over the hump and win a championship. They swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and advanced to the Finals for the first time in franchise history.
They beat the Lakers in five games and amassed a 15-2 playoff record that year. Michael won his first NBA Finals MVP award after averaging 31.2 points on 56% shooting, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game.
They didn’t take their foot off the gas, boasting an impressive 67-15 record during his ninth season. He won his second consecutive regular season MVP and Finals MVP after beating the Trail Blazers in six games. His tenth season had similar results even though his streak of consecutive MVP awards was snapped by Charles Barkley. The Bulls won their third straight championship after defeating the Phoenix Suns, catapulting Michael into the records books as the only player in NBA history to win three consecutive Finals MVP awards.
Jordan was part of the Dream Team that won gold in the 1992 Tournament of the Americas and the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was the only player to start all eight games in the Olympics and was undefeated in all four of the tournaments he played for with the US national team.
Michael has had a long, successful life that includes many accomplishments that can’t be skipped over. For the first time ever, I’m turning this Historical Spotlight into a series to do his accomplishments and impact on the world justice. Make sure to join me for the next installment!
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
