Few athletes in the history of professional sports have matched Michael Jordan's extraordinary achievements. After entering the NBA in 1984 with a skinny rookie with superhuman jumping abilities, Jordan became an unstoppable scoring machine and multiple champions, as well as a marketing icon who dealt with Bugs Bunny and persuaded millions of kids to "be like Mike." Nearly 20 years after he last tied Nike shoelaces at an NBA game, his legend still looms, and here are seven facts about the life of this iconic athlete:
1. Technically, he was never removed from the high school basketball team
The story of Jordan being cut by the high school basketball team has always been part of his personal narrative, but like a teenage Jordan dangling around his pull-up bar, the truth is somewhat far-fetched. Jordan was never actually "cut" by the team — he tried the Lenny High School (NC) varsity team in his sophomore year and eventually made it to the junior high school team. A big reason was that Lenny desperately needed a taller player, so they gave up the 5'10-inch Jordan in favor of his 6-foot-7 friend Leroy Smith. The truth is that Jordan used this supposedly insignificant behavior as a drive to try to improve himself, which led to impressive results when his height popped to 6 feet 3 inches in his junior year.
2. His collaboration with Nike almost never happened
Jordan's long-term professional relationship with Nike barely materialized. After entering the NBA, he initially wanted to wear Adidas, but was also highly sought after to endorse a much smaller brand, Spot-Bilt. But Nike gave up the all-field squeeze to sign the Chicago Bulls rookie, offering a then-heinous contract for five years, $500 a year, and the opportunity to customize sneakers to his liking. Jordan still wants to continue his original choice and return to Adidas again, but the company can't match the ransom offered by Nike. This gave birth to the marketing paradise partnership; Nike launched Air Jordans in May 1985, and by the end of that year, the series had generated more than $100 million in revenue.
In 1985, Michael Jordan's Air Jordan sneakers made a global splash in creative sneakers and generated more than $100 million in revenue for Nike by the end of the year.
3. He received a university degree in Cultural Geography
Although he left the University of North Carolina a year early to pursue his career, Jordan earned a degree in cultural geography in 1986. So, what exactly is being done in this area? As he explained years later in a Q&A session at basketball camp, cultural geography is an introduction to meteorology. That means if Jordan's preferred career option for dunks above 7 feet doesn't work out, his backup plan is to become a weather forecaster. Gives the name "Air Jordan" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
4. He is an avid golfer
Jordan's passion for golf began in the summer of 1984, when he ventured into the course for the first time with a team that included future golf pro Davis Ralph III. He punched a hole that day, an experience that convinced the extremely confident athlete that with just a little more practice, he would be able to beat all 18 pars. His quest for perfection led him to play as many races as possible during the shutdown, including his infamous rejection of George W. Bush in 1991. H · President W. Bush was invited to the White House with other NBA champions the Chicago Bulls. He went on to host the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational Pro-Amateur Golf Tournament in Las Vegas from 2001 to 2014.
5. Jordan's decision to switch to baseball was inspired by his father
Jordan's unexpected decision to leave basketball for baseball in 1993 had taken root years earlier. His father James had always loved baseball, and While Bo Jackson and Dean Sanders had some success as athletes in both sports, James suggested his son could do the same. So when James was killed in a carjacking in July 1993, Jordan tried to respect his father's wishes by picking up gloves. While he's known for struggling in his only season in minor league baseball, some have been impressed by his ability to adapt to games he's never played in since high school. His coach Terry Francona had said he believed Jordan could have made the major leagues if he had persevered.
6. Gambling is one of his hobbies
Another well-known hobby of Jordan is his propensity to gamble. There are numerous reports of how he instigates his teammates to bet on almost every activity, from golf to card games to scissors stone cloth throwing, but his desire to keep his bets constantly getting him into trouble. In 1992, Jordan was summoned to testify that he had given a $57,000 check to an alleged drug dealer after a weekend of poker and golf. The following year, he became the subject of a book by businessman Richard Esquinas titled Michael and Me: Our Gambling Addiction. My cry for help! Jordan has never been penalized in any gambling-related ways, but there have been rumors for years that he took a year off playing baseball because of NBA President David Stern's secret suspension.
7. He made more than $1 billion through partnerships with Nike
Despite all his accomplishments in professional basketball, including 6 championships, 5 MVP awards and 10 leading scorers, Jordan was the league's highest-paid player in only two of his 15 NBA seasons. Luckily, endorsement agreements with brands like Coca-Cola, Gatorade and Haness kept him from having to look for change in his cushions. His aforementioned relationship with Nike proved to be the most lucrative — in 2020, Jordan made more than $1 billion from Nike. After acquiring a majority stake in the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) in 2010, he also benefited from an appreciation in the NBA franchise. Jordan has long been considered a basketball royalty, and now there's no doubt that Jordan was paid like a king after cracking Forbes' 2015 Global Billionaires List.