Michael Jordan Essay Research Paper Term PaperPHED

Michael Jordan Essay, Research Paper

Term Paper

PHED 196

November 28, 2000

I had originally planned to write a paper on Michael Jordan’s economical effect on today’s sports in America. I had even researched and written two pages before I stopped and realized that I would like to instead discuss Michael Jordan’s life and mystical career. Over the last twenty years Michael Jordan has captivated and awed me with his brilliant success both on and off the basketball court. I have wanted for some time to write about him and try to rationalize his seemingly unbelievable life and this paper has given me a chance.

The legend began in 1981 with seventeen seconds left on the clock and seventeen feet between Michael and the basket. It was a shot any coach drawing up a play for a talented player for the final shot would die for. He knocked it in and North Carolina had its first National championship.

Even though North Carolina had the best college player in the country in James Worthy and other great stars in Sam Perkins and Matt Doherty, it was the scrawny freshman who had come on the scene that year to become the first Carolina freshman to ever start that took the biggest shot in the program’s history. It was Michael Jordan who was the man that night and he was determined either consciously or unconsciously to never let anyone question who the man is again.

Michael went on to become two-time national college player of the year and in 1999, was voted the greatest college basketball player ever. (CNN/Sports Illustrated) After his junior year, having accomplished everything possible for a college player, Michael decided to turn professional. (He later completed his degree taking summer school courses) But first he would go on to dominated the 1984 Olympics and lead the United States to the gold medal. It could be left up to Spanish Olympian Fernando Martin to sum up the Michael Jordan phenomenon, circa 1984.

“Michael Jordan.” he asked. “Jump, jump, jump. Very quick. Very fast. Very, very good. Jump, jump, jump.”

No NBA scouting report could have been more pertinent. By the time Michael detonated on the league in 1984, he had sprouted from a precocious and exciting young talent into a full-fledged human event. As his rookie season marched on, Jordan upstaged proven giants like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Dr. J., and already was becoming the first player to transcend team affiliation on the road. Fan’s didn’t come out to see their hometown heroes beat the Bulls; they bought tickets to watch Michael Jordan fly.

In his rookie year Michael averaged an astonishing 28.2 points per game (third overall) and was selected to the all-star game. He also led the team to the playoffs for the first time in four years. A feat he would continue to ensure every year of his career.

It was in his second year that Jordan’s bitter relationship with Bulls general manager Jerry Krause and owner Jerry Reinsdorf began. Michael had broken his foot three games into the season and had spent the next months rehabilitating in order to come back as soon as possible. When he was finally healthy to play the Bulls record was 24-43. Michael believed that the team could still make the playoffs and was excited for the challenge. Krause and Reinsdorf had other ideas. They wanted to keep Michael from playing so that they could keep losing and secure a place in the draft lottery. To someone as competitive as Michael Jordan, this idea was simply sinful. It meant that the people who employed him were not as committed to winning as he was, that they accepted the idea of defeat as he did not, and that they were wiling to bag the current season and any chance at the playoffs in order to improve their roster for the future. Even on a bad team with marginal players like the early Bulls, the remarkable thing about Michael Jordan was that he never accepted the idea of defeat. He believed that as long as he played, the Bulls could make the playoffs, and that if he got there, he could carry them on to victory.

Management finally did let him play and the Bulls did make the playoffs where they faced the best team in the league, the Boston Celtics. It was the stage that Michael lived for and he took full advantage. Although the Bulls were swept by the eventual champions, Michael’s fame and notoriety had a quantum increase after the series. No one was really prepared for what happened. In the first game Michael came out blistering and scored forty-nine points. A great performance against the top defensive team in the league, but not extraordinary. In the second game Michael performed at a playoff level that no one had witnessed before. The CBS sports broadcast seemed more like a personal highlight reel than an actual game. By the end of the double overtime war, he’d hit for 63 points, the most points ever scored in playoff history. Celtic Danny Ainge later said, “We knew when we had gone into the game that he was very good, but none of us knew yet that he was going to be the best player who ever laced up sneakers, but we were in the process of learning it, and that afternoon was a good beginning.” Perhaps Larry Bird, the MVP of the league at the time, put it best, “That was god disguised as Michael Jordan.”

In his rookie year Michael already had become one of the top product endorser in the league. He had signed a then unheard of con