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A The Early Years of the Great One Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. When he was still very young, Michael and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Michael is the seconds youngest of five children. He has two older brothers, Ronnie and Larry, an older sister named Delores, and a younger sister, Roslyn. Michaels Dad, James, worked at an electric plant, and his mother, Deloris, worked at a bank. The Jordan family lived in a two-story house in Wilmington, a quiet town on the Cape Fear River.
Michaels parents worked hard to provide a comfortable life for their family. Michael learned about hard work and the value of money. As a kid, Michael played baseball, basketball, and football. His favorite was baseball, but he also spent hours playing basketball in his backyard on a court his dad had built. Michael played a lot of one-on-one games against his brother Larry, who was taller, a year older, and more talented than Michael. Larry always won.
The constant losses fueled Michael? s competitiveness and made him determined to become a better player. Michael Jordan did not make his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore, the varsity coaches felt he was too small and not good enough to play at the varsity level. They felt he was better suited for the junior varsity team. Michael was disappointed, but he kept practicing hard, and it really paid off. In fact, in his first season with the J.
V team, he averaged 25 points per game. Between the 10 th and 11 th grades, Michael grew to 6 3. Because he had improved as a player, he made the varsity team and got to play along side his older brother Larry. Michael played so well in his junior season, that he was invited to attend the Five-Star Basketball Camp in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the summer before his senior year.
Five-Star is a camp where the best U. S. high school basketball players compete against one another to determine how they rank amongst each other. Michael won 10 trophies at the camp, including two MVP awards. The Five-Star Camp was the turning point of Michael? s life as an athlete.
He realized that basketball was his best sport, and he set a goal: to earn a college basketball scholarship. By his senior year at Laney High, Michael had grown to 6 5. He graduated with a B+ average. On the court, he averaged 27. 8 points per game as a senior.
Michael achieved his goal: He earned a college basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Michael Jordan at North Carolina Michael wasnt expected to become a star at the University of North Carolina (UNC). His coaches thought he had a chance to be a good player, but not a great one. In his first practice game, all doubts about Michaels talent quickly disappeared.
Michael made an eye-popping dunk that had the whole team, and coaching staff in awe. Head coach Dean Smith later put Michael in the starting lineup at guard. It was a special honor, because only three freshmen had ever started for Coach Smith at North Carolina. Michael averaged 13. 5 points per game and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year. The Tar Heels made it back to the NCAA championship game. They faced the Georgetown University Hoyas, who were led by seven-foot center Patrick Ewing.
The game was played on March 29, 1982, in the Superdome, in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was an exciting contest that wasn? t decided until the final seconds. UNC was trailing, 62 - 61, with 15 seconds left to play. As would happen many times later in his career, Michael had the ball with the game on the line. The freshmen coolly launched a 17 -foot jump shot.
It went in! UNC won, 63 - 62, to earn its first national title in 25 years. The Shot made Michael famous among college basketball fans. In Michael?
s sophomore and junior seasons, Michael led the NCAA in scoring, and was also named college player of the year. Shortly after his junior season, Michael had a big decision to make: Should he leave college before graduation and turn pro? Michael? s mom wanted him to stay in school.
Michael argued that playing another season of college basketball would not challenge him, and that becoming a pro would mean his family wouldn? t have to worry about money. On May 5, 1984, Michael announced that he would forgo his senior year and enter the NBA draft. The Olympics Shortly, after being drafted third overall by the Chicago Bulls, Michael was invited to play on the 1984 U. S. Men?
s Olympic Basketball Team under head coach Bobby Knight. Many people considered the 1984 U. S. squad to be one of the best Olympic basketball teams ever.
Michael? s play awed the other teams. He scored 14 points against China, 20 against Canada, and 16 against Uruguay. In a game against Spain, Michael jumped over and dribbled around defenders to score 24 points. The U. S.
won the game 101 - 68. The U. S. won all eight of its games by an average of 32. 1 points per game. Michael led the team in scoring with an average of 17. 1 points per game. He proved that he had the talent to play in the NBA.
But how good would he be? The world was about to learn the answer. Two months after the Olympics, Michael would begin his rookie season for the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan?
s NBA Career Michael burst into the bigtime with a fabulous first season, earning the NBA Rookie of the Year award. He averaged 28. 2 points per game, and had the honor of being the first rookie in NBA history to start in the All-Star game. An injured foot sidelined Michael for 64 games in his second NBA season, but he came back late in the season to score an NBA playoff record 63 points against the Boston Celtics. Starting with th 1986 - 1987 season Michael began a career-long onslaught on the NBA record book. That year saw him average 37. 1 points per game, which was the first of seven consecutive seasons in which he led the league in scoring (a feat matched only by Wilt Chamberlain). Michael proved to be more than a scoring machine when he led Chicago to three consecutive championships.
After already being considered a legend, Michael added to his mystique with an unexpected retirement just before the 1993 - 1994 season. He spent an unsuccessful year in minor league baseball, before realizing that it was time to author another chapter in his story by returning to Chicago late in the 1994 - 1995 season. In 1995 - 1996, Michael won a record eighth scoring title, and led his team to thier fourth championship in the 1990? s. From the 1996 - 1997 season to his retirement after the 1997 - 1998 season, Michael recieved a record ten scoring titles, and six NBA championship rings. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, power, artistry, and improvisational ability, Michael Jordan has single-handedly refined the NBA superstar.
The most recognizable athlete in the world, he is not only the top player of his era, but is quite possibly the best player to ever wear the uniform of an NBA team. Not only has Michael Jordan had an affect on the sport of basketball, but he has captivated the hearts of the American public, and will spark our imaginations for years to come.
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Research essay sample on Points Per Game University Of North Carolina
