A retired NBA basketball player, Michael Jordan captured the MVP award five times and guided the Chicago Bulls to an impressive six championships throughout his career.
MJ's resume reads like a legend: professional basketball player, Olympian, businessman, and actor. From the mid-1980s through the late 1990s, he stood as one of the greatest players the sport of basketball had ever seen.
With six NBA titles earned alongside the Chicago Bulls, Jordan claimed the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award on five separate occasions. He also became the most decorated player in NBA history, racking up five regular-season MVP awards along with three All-Star MVPs.
Early Life
Michael Jeffrey Jordan came into the world on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn. Raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, he developed a fierce competitive streak from an early age — no matter what game he was playing, winning was the only acceptable outcome.
Growing up in a warm, supportive household shaped Jordan profoundly. His mother, Delores, worked as a bank teller before eventually becoming an author. James, his father, started out as a maintenance worker at General Electric and worked his way up to manager. Jordan shared his childhood with four siblings: Larry, Deloris, Roslyn, and James Jr.
It was his dad who taught him baseball and constructed a basketball court in their backyard. Tragically, in the summer of '93, his father was shot and killed during an automobile robbery. After being missing for 11 days, his body was found in a marsh in McColl, South Carolina. The teenagers responsible were tried, convicted, and handed life sentences for first-degree murder.
Professional Basketball Career
In 1984, the Chicago Bulls selected MJ, launching his professional basketball career. He went as the third overall choice, following Houston Rockets' first-round pick Hakeem Olajuwon and Portland Trail Blazers' Sam Bowie; that same draft class featured future legends like John Stockton and Charles Barkley.
It didn't take long for Jordan to make his presence felt on the court. During that inaugural season, he averaged 28.2 points per game and helped propel the team into the playoffs. His stellar play earned him both the NBA Rookie of the Year title and a selection to the All-Star Game.