On January 13, 1999, Michael Jordan decided for the second time to end his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls, although two years later he would return to play for the Washington Wizards until 2003. Jordan won five MVP awards in the regular season, six NBA Championships, six NBA Finals MVP Awards, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, and a Defensive Player of the Year Award. For the vast majority of fans, he is the best NBA player of all time.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 17, 1963. Shortly after he was born, his parents decided to move to North Carolina to raise their children in an atmosphere less disturbing than the hectic hustle and bustle of New York neighborhoods. From a very young age, Michael was already passionate about sports. At first he was fond of baseball, but he ended up discovering that his thing was basketball. In high school he was far superior to others and managed to get a sports scholarship to play at the University of North Carolina, where his coach was the legend Dean Smith.
Already in his first year he was named the ‘Freshman of the Year‘ on the Atlantic Coast Conferencewhere he helped his team win the 1982 NCAA (college league) championship. For the next two years he was awarded as the Best University Player of the League. Just one year away from graduating, Jordan entered the 1984 NBA draftwere the Chicago Bulls who chose Michael in the first round, ranking number 3 in the draft.
Michael Jordan in North Carolina
The rest is history for many the best basketball player of all time. A tremendous ability to dribble, shoot and defend, which, accompanied by his incredible dunks and baskets, made him the most complete player seen on a basketball court. In his first year as ‘rookie‘ was selected for the NBA All-Star Game and named ‘rookie’ of the year. Over the next few years, he won five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA Finals MVP awards, three All-Star Game MVP awards, and one Defensive Player of the Year award.
On July 23, 1993, Jordan’s father was murdered in North Carolina, and Michael withdrew from the competition, claiming he had lost interest in basketball. The next year he was hired as a baseball player for the Birmingham Barons, a minor league team affiliated with the White Sox, but never made it. In 1995 he returned to what had been his home, the Chicago Bulls, where he won 3 straight NBA championships (1996-1998). On January 13, 1999, Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA. However, two years later he came out of retirement again to play with the Washington Wizards until 2003, the year in which he retired for good.
The success of Space Jam on the big screen
The image of Michael Jordan became the most precious treasure, to the point that he was the protagonist of the cartoon film ‘Space Jam’. This American film released in 1996 combined real action with cartoons. The real part was starring Jordan and the cartoons were Looney Tunes from Warner Bros.
This union between real and animated stars worked, perhaps because Jordan, on the court, did things that seemed impossible in real life, like those that Looney Tunes do within their universe. The film was very successful, reaching the twelfth position in the ranking of the films that raised the most money in 1996, surpassing 230 million dollars and becoming a classic for fans of basketball and cartoons.
Michael Jordan in Space Jam
Michael Jordan was not only considered a historic player but had also become a sports reference. His image, for adults and children, was positioning itself as a sporting and cultural symbol, along with brands like Nike.
The formula worked so well that in 2021 they tried it again with the premiere of Space Jam: A New Legacythis time starring Lebron James.
Michael and his brand Air Jordan, the triumph of Nike
Michael Jordan is not only an icon in the world of Basketball but also in the world of ‘streetwear’since the famous sneakers that revolutionized the NBA courts also revolutionized the streets of the cities, becoming one of the most in-demand sneakers in history.
Nike wanted to reach an agreement with Jordan to use his image. However, Jordan did not want to sign with them, he preferred Adidas or Converse, since he was not convinced by the Nike model. Faced with his refusal, the American company managed to convince Michael to create his own line of sneakersofficially launched in 1985 with the Nike Air Jordan 1. Currently its line has 32 different models and many of them are the most exclusive and demanded models in the world of street shoes.
NBA – All Jordan models
The Jordan 1 went on sale to the public with a price of 65 dollars, a market value that today has multiplied by three. Nike forecasts pointed to selling 100,000 pairs in the first year. However, those shoes were a real ‘boom’ and in just one month they had exceeded 450,000 pairs sold.
With this business, the iconic player has achieved more profit than for his six rings, his five MVP trophies or for his legacy as one of the best athletes in history. Since he signed with Nike, Jordan has earned more than 1.3 billion dollars and more than 75 percent of NBA players wear Nike or Jordan.
His Air Jordan shoes are the best sellers in history and his image of the Jumpman on his tongue is already a universal symbol. Thanks to this, Nike invoices 3,000 million a year. Since signing with Nike in 1984 and up to 2003, the multinational grew by 9,305 percent on the stock market and Nike shares have skyrocketed in value by 84,129 percent.
