One of my all-time favorite professional basketball players is Michael Jeffrey Jordan. This is all because he was the best player when he was in the professional basketball league. Almost everyone is still a fan of Jordan. In his career he picked up nicknames like: Air Jordan. He was named Air Jordan because he was known for flying through the air to get a rebound. Jordan had exceptionally good speed, ball handling, shooting, power, and was very competitive.

Michael was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He didn’t like basketball when he was a kid, he was mostly into football. Jordan was born to Deloris and James Jordan and they had five total children. Jordan’s father was in the Air Force so he couldn’t give Michael support. His love for basketball began when his older brother, Larry, continuously beat him in one-on-one pickup games. As with any challenge Jordan faces, this determined Michael to become a better player. For high school, he went to Laney High School, located in North Carolina. When he was in High School trying out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but he was too short to play at that level and was cut from the team. Then he grew 4 inches and trained for basketball in the summer. Then when he was a senior, he was selected for the McDonald's All-American team because Jordan averaged about 25 points per game over his final two seasons of high school play.

Jordan had a lot of success in his early professional career. He was first drafted to the Chicago Bulls in 1984. During his first seasons in NBA, he quickly became a fan favorite even in apposing arenas. And then a broken foot sidelined Michael for 64 games from the 1985-1986 season. In records, it shows that Jordan was the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points during a single season!

In 1993, tragedy struck Jordan's seemingly perfect life. On July 23, his father, James, was murdered off Interstate 95 in North Carolina. Two locals had robbed him, and then threw his body in a swamp, was why Michael Jordan retired the first time. Three months later, on October 6, 1993, following a run of three consecutive NBA championships. Jordan announced that his retirement from basketball citing that “he had no longer a desire to play basketball.” The year of 2006, he filed a divorce with his wife of 17 years. They have three children together. Now at age 23, it was uncertain of what Jordan was to do next. He is now playing golf in celebrity charity tournaments, spending time with his family in Chicago, and riding motorcycles. In conclusion, this is why Michael Jeffrey Jordan is still one of my all-time favorite basketball players ever to be alive, that I'm aware of.

~By: Tori Windler