Michael Jordan: King of the Court

Michael Jordan: King of the Court

When I began my report I didn t know much about Michael Jordan, but I did know that he was undoubtedly the greatest player in the history of the NBA ( Michael Air Jordan 1). It seemed like every time I heard the word basketball I also heard the name Michael Jordan. There s just no avoiding him. If you are watching television you might see him playing basketball or golf. If you were reading a magazine there will probably be an advertisement with his picture. If you were walking down the street you might see a kid wearing Air Jordan shoes or a Bulls jersey with JORDAN on the back of it. This man is probably as recognizable as the Pope.

When we were asked to start thinking of our topics for our research papers Michael Jordan had just announced his retirement from basketball. There were all of these specials on the sports channels and the news so I had to find out what all the commotion was about. This is why I chose Michael Jordan to be the topic of my research paper. I hoped to find out how he became to be considered the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I learned about a lot about Michael during the first week of my search since he was getting so much attention from the media at the time.

When Michael Jordan was attending Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina nobody thought that he would ever turn out to be the player he is today let alone make it to the NBA. In fact, James Jordan, Michael s father, actually thought that Michael s best sport was baseball. His high school didn t think he was so great at basketball either so they cut him from the varsity team when he was a sophomore.

To Michael playing basketball in the NBA seemed something of a distant dream (Halberstam 20), but even after he was cut from the varsity team Michael still practiced every day. Michael s practice paid off in his junior and senior years when he was the best player on the varsity team. After high school Michael was off to the University of North Carolina where for three years he would have some amazing accomplishments in basketball.

Perhaps Michael s most memorable collegiate moment occurred while he was a freshman. On March 29, 1982 the University of North Carolina basketball team was facing off against the University of Georgetown in the national championship game. With the University of North Carolina trailing by one, freshman Michael Jordan launches the winning seventeen-foot jump shot with just seventeen seconds left in the game. This amazing basket is often referred to as The Shot . Later on in his years at UNC Michael captured both the Dr. James Naismith Award and the John Wooden Award in 1984. He was also named the NCAA College Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

With Michael too anxious about turning professional, he decided to skip his senior year at the University of North Carolina and enter the NBA draft. Michael was selected third overall in the draft by the Chicago Bulls.