50 Fun Facts About Michael Jordan

In which city was Michael Jordan born on 17 February 1963?

Brooklyn, New York is his birthplace: Jordan was born at Cumberland Hospital there on 17 February 1963, and the family moved south to Wilmington when he was a small child; his father James was an equipment supervisor.

As a sophomore at Laney High School, Jordan was left off the varsity team for what reason?

He was deemed too short is the standard account: at 5 ft 11 the sophomore was kept on the junior varsity while taller Leroy Smith took the last varsity spot, and Jordan answered with several 40-point JV games.

Jordan hit the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game against which team?

Georgetown was the opponent: Jordan, a freshman under Dean Smith, hit the go-ahead jumper in the final seconds of the 1982 final in New Orleans, and his team won 63-62 over a Hoyas side led by freshman Patrick Ewing.

At which pick did the Chicago Bulls select Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft?

Third is the pick: Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon first, Sam Bowie went second, a choice ESPN later called the worst draft pick in North American pro sports history, and the Bulls took Jordan.

How many points did Jordan score in his NBA debut on 26 October 1984?

16 is the number: in his debut against the Washington Bullets, Jordan scored 16 points with 7 assists and 6 rebounds in a Bulls win, then averaged 28.2 points over his rookie season.

Against which team did Jordan score a playoff-record 63 points in April 1986?

Boston Celtics: on 20 April 1986 at Boston Garden, Jordan scored 63 in a double-overtime Game 2 loss, beating Elgin Baylor's playoff record of 61, and Larry Bird called him 'God disguised as Michael Jordan'.

In 1986-87 Jordan averaged 37.1 a night and became only the second man ever to do what?

Score 3,000 points in a season is the feat: Jordan finished 1986-87 with 3,041 points, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to reach the mark, yet the MVP vote went to Magic Johnson.

In 1988 Jordan became the first man ever to win which two awards in a career?

MVP and Defensive Player of the Year is the pair: in 1987-88 Jordan averaged 35.0 points, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks, and no player had held both trophies before, let alone in the same season.

Jordan's 1989 buzzer-beater known as 'The Shot' went over which Cleveland defender?

Craig Ehlo was the defender: in Game 5 of the 1989 first round, Jordan took the inbound pass, hung in the air at the foul line and hit the buzzer-beater over Ehlo for a one-point win at Richfield Coliseum.

Which Isiah Thomas-led Pistons squad eliminated Jordan's Bulls three years running from 1988 to 1990?

The Bad Boys is the nickname: Detroit's physical, Isiah Thomas-led Pistons knocked the Bulls out in 1988, 1989 and 1990 with the 'Jordan Rules' defence, before Chicago swept them in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals.

What was Jordan's career-high single-game point total, set against Cleveland in March 1990?

69 is his career high: on 28 March 1990 at Richfield Coliseum, Jordan scored 69 points with 18 rebounds in an overtime win, 117-113, at the age of 27.

Which offensive system did Phil Jackson and Tex Winter install to make the Bulls less reliant on Jordan?

The triangle offense is the system: assistant Tex Winter's triple-post scheme, adopted when Phil Jackson took over in 1989, spread the ball among the Bulls, and Jordan admitted in The Last Dance that he resisted it at first.

Jordan's famous mid-air hand switch on a layup in the 1991 Finals came against which team?

Los Angeles Lakers: in Game 2 of the 1991 Finals Jordan went up right-handed, switched to his left hand in mid-air to avoid Sam Perkins and scooped it in; the Bulls won the series 4-1 for his first title.

Jordan's 'shrug' came after six first-half threes in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals against which opponent?

Portland Trail Blazers: after his barrage of first-half three-pointers in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals, Jordan had 35 points at the break and shrugged at the broadcast table, in a series hyped as Jordan versus Clyde Drexler.

Which friend beat Jordan to the 1993 regular-season MVP, then lost to him in that year's Finals?

Charles Barkley took the 1993 MVP, then watched Jordan average a Finals-record 41 points a game as the Bulls beat his Suns 4-2; Jordan became the first player to win three straight Finals MVPs.

Jordan's dad James was murdered in July 1993 at a highway rest area in which state?

North Carolina is the state: James Jordan was shot dead on 23 July 1993 while napping in his car at a rest area off US Highway 74 near Lumberton, and a pair of 18-year-olds were convicted of the murder.

Jordan's habit of sticking out his tongue while playing was copied from which person?

James Jordan did it while absorbed in work; Michael made it a signature on drives to the basket.

Which Double-A team did Jordan play for in 1994, batting .202 with three home runs?

Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox's Double-A affiliate, were Jordan's team in 1994: he hit .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs and 30 stolen bases, while White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf kept paying his basketball salary.

Jordan announced his 1995 NBA comeback with what two-word press release?

'I'm back.' was the whole statement, faxed through his agent on 18 March 1995; his first game, at Indiana the next day, drew the highest Nielsen rating of any regular-season NBA game since 1975.

What jersey number did Jordan wear on his 1995 return before switching back to 23?

45 was the number: his No. 23 had been retired in November 1994, so he took 45, his baseball number, and switched back to 23 during the 1995 Orlando series after Nick Anderson jibed that 45 lacked 23's explosiveness.

The 1995-96 Bulls set a then-record regular-season mark of what?

72-10 was the mark: the 1995-96 Bulls, with new arrival Dennis Rodman, started 41-3 and beat Seattle in the Finals, while Jordan won the All-Star, regular-season and Finals MVPs in the same season.

How many points did Jordan score in the 1997 'Flu Game' against Utah?

38 is the tally: in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals in Salt Lake City, a feverish, dehydrated Jordan, who blamed a late-night pizza, scored 38 including the go-ahead three-pointer, and the Bulls won 90-88.

Jordan's title-clinching 'Last Shot' in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals came over which Jazz defender?

Bryon Russell was the defender: with 5.2 seconds left Jordan crossed over, with a possible push-off, and hit the jumper for an 87-86 lead; John Stockton's three-pointer at the buzzer missed.

Jordan's 1995 'double nickel' game, 55 points in his fifth game back, came at which arena?

Madison Square Garden hosted the 'double nickel' game on 28 March 1995, when Jordan, in only his fifth game back from baseball, scored 55 against the Knicks, and the Bulls won 113-111 on Bill Wennington's late dunk.

How many NBA Finals MVP awards did Jordan win, an all-time record?

Six Finals MVP awards is the tally, one for each Bulls championship, in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998; the trophy has carried Bill Russell's name since 2009.

What is Jordan's NBA career regular-season scoring average, the highest of all time?

30.1 is the figure: Jordan averaged 30.12 points over 1,072 regular-season games, a shade ahead of Wilt Chamberlain's 30.07, and his 33.4 playoff average was also the highest when he retired.

On which date did Jordan retire for the second time, amid the NBA lockout?

13 January 1999 was the date: with Phil Jackson gone and Pippen and Rodman on their way out, Jordan announced his second retirement at the United Center days before the lockout ended; a year later he became a Wizards part-owner.

Jordan said he would donate his 2001-02 Wizards salary to what cause?

Relief for victims of the 9/11 attacks: when Jordan announced his Wizards comeback on 25 September 2001, a fortnight after the attacks, he pledged his salary of about $1 million for the season to the relief effort.

In February 2003 Jordan became the first 40-year-old in NBA history to do what?

Score 43 points in a game is the feat: four days after turning 40, Jordan scored 43 against the New Jersey Nets on 21 February 2003, the first player of that age to top 40 points in an NBA game.

Which player gave up his 2003 All-Star starting spot so Jordan could start his final All-Star Game?

Vince Carter gave up his starting spot at the 2003 game in Atlanta after Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady had offered theirs; Jordan started, scored 20 points and the East lost in double overtime.

Jordan's final NBA game, on 16 April 2003, was played in which city?

Philadelphia was the stage: at the First Union Center, Jordan sat down with 13 points late in the game, then answered chants of 'We want Mike!' by returning to sink a pair of free throws for 15.

Which team retired Jordan's No. 23 in April 2003 even though he never played for them?

Miami Heat did it: Pat Riley's club raised a No. 23 jersey to the rafters on 11 April 2003, before Jordan's last game in Miami, a tribute to a player who never wore their uniform.

How many Olympic gold medals did Jordan win as a player?

Two golds: one as a college player before his NBA debut and one in Barcelona in 1992 with the Dream Team, where he was the only player to start all eight games.

Which boyhood idol of Jordan's presented him at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction?

David Thompson, the former NC State high-flyer, presented Jordan in 2009; Jordan admitted in his speech that he grew up a Wolfpack fan rather than a Tar Heels fan, and the speech turned emotional and score-settling.

The NBA's MVP trophy, named for Jordan since 2022–23, replaced a trophy named for whom?

Maurice Podoloff, the NBA's first commissioner, had his name on the MVP trophy from 1956 until the Michael Jordan Trophy replaced it in 2022-23; the Podoloff name moved to the award for the best regular-season record.

Which Nike designer created the original Air Jordan I and its winged-basketball logo?

Peter Moore designed the Air Jordan I for Nike, choosing the red-and-black colourway and drawing the winged basketball 'Wings' logo; Tinker Hatfield took over the line from the Air Jordan III.

Jordan shattered a backboard with a dunk during a 1985 Nike exhibition game in which country?

Italy is the country: on 25 August 1985 in Trieste, playing for Stefanel Trieste in a Nike exhibition, Jordan shattered the backboard with a dunk, and the glass-flecked Air Jordan 1s sold at auction for $615,000 in 2020.

Jordan starred as himself alongside Bugs Bunny in which 1996 film?

Space Jam, released in 1996, paired Jordan with Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes against the alien Monstars, grossed more than $230 million worldwide and launched the Air Jordan XI 'Space Jam' colourway.

Jordan bought a controlling stake in which NBA franchise in 2010?

Charlotte Bobcats: Jordan, a minority investor since 2006, bought the controlling stake from founder Bob Johnson that year, oversaw the return of the Hornets name in 2014 and sold his majority share in 2023.

Which NASCAR Cup Series team did Jordan co-found with Denny Hamlin in 2020?

23XI Racing, pronounced 'twenty-three eleven', combines Jordan's 23 with Denny Hamlin's car number 11; it debuted in the 2021 Cup Series with Bubba Wallace driving the No. 23 Toyota.

Michael Jordan's 2006 divorce from Juanita Vanoy reportedly cost him how much?

$168 million is the reported figure for the 2006 settlement with Juanita Vanoy, whom he married at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in 1989; they had three children, and the sum ranked among the costliest celebrity divorces.

Jordan and his second wife, Yvette Prieto, welcomed what in February 2014?

Identical twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel, were born on 9 February 2014; Jordan and Yvette Prieto had married the previous April at Bethesda-by-the-Sea church in Palm Beach, and he became a grandfather in 2019.

Which US president awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016?

Barack Obama presented the medal at the White House on 22 November that year, joking that Jordan was more than an internet meme, a nod to the Crying Jordan image, and that everyone gets called 'the Michael Jordan of' something.

Jordan's teammate Scottie Pippen and he are the only two players since the 1976 merger to do what?

Win six titles together as teammates is the distinction: Jordan and Scottie Pippen were on all six Bulls championship teams, in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and no other pair of teammates since the merger has matched it.

How many seasons did Jordan lead the NBA in scoring, a league record?

10 scoring titles is the record: Jordan led the league for seven straight seasons ending in 1993, tying Wilt Chamberlain's run, then three more times during the 1996-98 three-peat, and he was All-Defensive First Team nine times.

Which personal trainer ran Jordan's early-morning 'Breakfast Club' workouts in the late 1990s?

Tim Grover began training Jordan in 1989 and ran the 'Breakfast Club', dawn weight sessions at Jordan's home that Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper joined during the second three-peat; Grover later wrote the book Relentless.

Which agent negotiated Jordan's first Nike deal and is credited with coining 'Air Jordan'?

David Falk was Jordan's agent from his rookie year, negotiated the first Nike contract and came up with the 'Air Jordan' name; he went on to represent Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson among others.

Which two Slam Dunk Contests did Jordan win with his free-throw-line dunks?

1987 and 1988 were his wins: he took off from the free-throw line in Seattle in 1987 and again at Chicago Stadium in 1988, where he edged Dominique Wilkins in a contested hometown decision.

When the Bulls retired Jordan's No. 23 in November 1994, they unveiled which sculpture?

The Spirit is the bronze by Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany unveiled outside the United Center on 1 November 1994, showing Jordan soaring over faceless defenders; he was playing minor-league baseball at the time.

Which Bulls coach moved Jordan to point guard in 1988-89?

Doug Collins made the switch in March 1989, and Jordan answered with seven straight triple-doubles before the Bulls reached the conference finals; Collins coached him again with the Wizards from 2001 to 2003.