Jordan Does It All Essay Research Paper

Jordan Does It All Essay, Research Paper

JORDAN DOES IT ALL

Everyone who reads the sports section of the daily news knows about Michael Jordan. Although the name is not uncommon, there is only one Michael Jordan. He is the fundamental sports hero that has not been plagued by scandal. Jordan appears on all kinds of commercials. Some of those commercials are for Nike, Wheaties cereal, Hanes underwear, Rayovac batteries, MCI phone company, Ball Park hot dogs, and the latest is for his own brand, Jordan. Michael is as big as an icon off the court as when he still played basketball. Jordan can do it all.

No matter when you see Michael Jordan he is always in the good light. No one ever sees Michael selling or doing drugs, unlike some other celebrities. Michael has always been conscious of his image; therefore, the media never can find anything negative about him. Jordan is a positive role model for children. Parents couldn’t ask for much more from any person.

Most people don’t really know where Michael Jordan was born. They think he was born some where other than where he was actually born. He was really born in Brooklyn, New York (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). Later in his childhood his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). He attended and graduated from Laney High School in Wilmington. Now Michael can be found living in Highland Park with his family and dog. He has a wife, Juanita, and has three children; Jeffrey; Marcus; and Jasmine (Michael Jordan’s, 1999).

It doesn’t hurt Jordan’s image being the greatest basketball player to ever play the game (Costas, 1999). Not only is he a great basketball player, but he is a great all around athlete. Jordan can do more than just play basketball. He can play baseball at the higher level too. He is not as good in baseball as in basketball, but better than most people could ever be. Jordan is also a pretty good golfer. Golfing is what Jordan does when he isn’t playing basketball or spending time with his family. Michael can just do it all. That’s the kind of athlete he has been throughout his professional career.

Although Jordan has become the greatest basketball player of all time he was not always good at basketball. He wasn’t gifted with great basketball skills. Michael worked hard for his skills on the basketball court. Michael Jordan is the greatest practice player in the history of sports (Vancil, 1996, p. 28). Michael always thought practice was a proving ground(Vancil, 1996, p. 29).

Jordan didn’t make the basketball team the first year that he went out (Sporting News, 1999). Being cut from the Laney High School basketball team in his sophomore year made Michael go home and work harder on his game. He worked so hard in order to get better so that he could make the team the next year. Jordan then made his high school team the next year. After two years of high school basketball and going to Five-Star Basketball Camp, Jordan had the reputation as the best guard in the south (Sporting News, 1999).

In 1981 Michael Jordan announced that he going to the University of North Carolina to play basketball. North Carolina was a team Jordan grew up hating (Sporting News, 1999). Michael became well known after he hit a 20-foot game winning basket to win the NCAA championship game in 1982 (Sporting News, 1999). That was just one of the great things that Jordan accomplished in college.

Jordan won two awards in his second year at North Carolina. He won the award for the NCAA College Player of the Year and also had a unanimous selection for First Team All-American (Sporting News, 1999). All of the above was accomplished in Jordan’s sophomore year at UNC which was in 1983.

Michael had a great year in 1984. He was again the NCAA College Player of the Year and had a unanimous selection for First Team All-American (Sporting News, 1999). Along with that Jordan was the winner of the John Wooden Award and also the winner of the Dr. James Naismith Award (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). After the 1984 collegiate basketball season, Jordan announced that he was going to leave North Carolina early to go to the pros. Jordan then was taken third overall in the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. Being co-captain of the U.S. gold medal- winning Olympic basketball team was also one of Jordan’s accomplishments. Jordan had more success in this year then most athletes have in their careers.

Jordan’s accomplishments didn’t stop there though. That was just the start of the best basketball player to ever play the game (Brown, 1999). Michael won the honor of being the NBA rookie of the year in 1985. On October 29, Michael broke his left foot and had to sit on the sideline watching for the rest of the season and the start of the 1986 season (Sporting News, 1999). After missing 64 games, Jordan was finally healed and ready to play (Sporting News, 1999).

In 1987, Michael Jordan, was winning more awards. He was named to the All-NBA first team for the first time. He also won the NBA scoring title for the first time (Sporting News, 1999). Along with his two awards, Michael made 26 of 27 free throws against the Nets to set a career high (Michael Jordan’s, 1999). The career highs were free throws made and free throws attempted in a single game.

Jordan does it all in 1988. Being the leading scorer and the defensive player of the year, he was named NBA regular-