Interesting and True Facts About Michael Jordan
Although Michael Jordan last laced up professionally nearly two-decades ago, the fascination and aura surrounding him is as strong as ever. And since the release of the ESPN and Netflix documentary, The Last Dance, talk of the greatest basketball player of all-time has once again heated up.
Below, we are going to review some of the best, most interesting and true facts about Michael Jordan. From his younger years, to his fifteen years spent in the league, to his time after the NBA, Michael Jordan is a legend in his own right and few, if any, players can ever fully surpass his basketball greatness and acumen.
Facts About Michael Jordan’s Early Life
- Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963
- He was born at Cumberland Hospital in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City
- Michael Jordan’s middle name is Jeffrey
- He is the son of Deloris and James R. Jordan Sr.
- His mother was a bank employee and his father was an equipment supervisor
- He is the fourth of five children
- In 1986, his family moved from New York to Wilmington, North Carolina
- In high school, Michael Jordan played basketball, baseball, and football
- As a child, he idolized Magic Johnson and nicknamed himself “Magic Jordan”
- He has aquaphobia, or the fear of water, due to a close friend’s death up close in a body of water
- Both his father and grandfather stuck their tongues out while concentrating, leading him to do the same
Facts About Michael Jordan in High School
- Michael Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington
- As a sophomore, Michael Jordan stood in at 5’11”
- He tried out for the high school varsity team but was deemed too short
- His friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, would be the only sophomore to make the varsity team that year
- Jordan would later state on not making the cut for the varsity team, “It all started when Coach Herring cut me. What it did was instill some values in me. It was a lesson to me to dig within myself.”
- Jordan has been known to check into hotels under the alias of Leroy Smith, an ode to his high school friend
- Jordan would join the high school’s junior varsity team
- Motivated to prove his worth, he would become the star of the junior varsity team and put up multiple 40-point games
- The summer after his sophomore year, and before his junior one, he grew an additional four inches
- In his junior year, he earned a spot on the high school varsity team
- As a high school basketball player, he averaged more than 25 points per game
- Before the start of his senior year, his father advised him to pursue a career as a mechanic
- As a senior, he was selected to play in the esteemed McDonald’s All-American Game in 1981
- It would be his first game against future rival Patrick Ewing, though Ewing did not play
- In the McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan would score 30 points
- Jordan was heavily recruited out of high school by the top college programs
- He received numerous scholarship offers, including from Duke University, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Virginia
- Ultimately, he decided on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Facts About Michael Jordan in College
- As a college student, he majored in cultural geography
- Jordan played for one of the top basketball coaches of all time, Dean Smith
- As a freshman, he was named the ACC Freshman of the Year
- And in his freshman year he averaged 13.4 points per game on 53.4% shooting
- In 1982, Michael Jordan and UNC advanced to the NCAA Championship game
- In the NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, he sunk the game winning jump shot
- Incidentally, Patrick Ewing was playing for Georgetown that day
- Michael Jordan would later describe that shot as a major turning point in his basketball career
- Jordan played for the Tar Heels for three years
- During his three seasons, he averaged 17.7 points, on 54% shooting, 5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game
- As a sophomore and junior in college, he was named to the NCAA All-American First Team by consensus
- In his junior year, he won both the Naismith and Wooden College Player of the Year awards
- Jordan left UNC one year before he was meant to graduate but would return in 1986 to complete his degree
- He officially graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography
- In 2002, Jordan was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team, which honored the 50 greatest players in ACC history
Facts About Michael Jordan in the NBA
- Michael Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the third overall pick in the 198 NBA draft
- In the 1984 draft, Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie were selected first and second respectively
- Citing the need by both the Rockets and Trail Blazers for a center, ESPN named the Blazers’ choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history
- Jordan made his NBA debut at Chicago Stadium on October 26, 1984 and scored 16 points
- In 2021, a ticket stub from the game sold for a record $264,000
- During his rookie 1984–85 season with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting
- Jordan helped lift the Bulls to the playoffs in his first year, after the team had only won 35% of their games the previous year
- Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times described him as “the phenomenal rookie of the Bulls”
- As a rookie, Jordan appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading “A Star Is Born”
- He was also voted by fans as an All-Star starter in just his first year in the league
- Many NBA veterans were upset with the attention Jordan received his first year and would not pass him the ball during the All-Star Game
- Jordan would go on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award
- On August 26, 1985, Jordan played an exhibition game for Nike in Trieste, Italy and would shatter the glass backboard after a dunk
- The shoes Jordan wore during the game were auctioned in August 2020 and sold for $615,000, a record for a pair of sneakers
- Jordan broke his foot in the 1985-86 season and would miss 64 games
- Returning for the 1986-87 season, he would become the second player after Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a single season
- In the same season, he averaged 37.1 points on 48.2% shooting
- He would also become the first NBA player to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a single season
- Jordan would win his first league-wide MVP in the 1987-88 season
- He was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 1.6 blocks and 3.1 steals per game
- On March 28, 1990, Jordan scored a career-high 69 points in a 117–113 road win over the Cavaliers
- In the 1990–91 NBA season, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 point per game on 53.9% shooting, 6.0 rebounds per game, and 5.5 assists per game for the regular season
- The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in sixteen years
- The Bulls advanced to the Finals for the first time in franchise history to face the Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson. The Bulls won the series four games to one, and compiled a 15–2 playoff record along the way.
- Jordan would win his first Finals MVP award
- In the 1991-92 season, Jordan would win his second regular season MVP award
- They would win their second championship and Jordan would again be named the Finals MVP
- And in the 1992-93 season, Michael Jordan and the Bulls would once agin win the NBA finals and Jordan would be the first and only NBA payer to win three Finals MVP awards in a row
- During his time in the NBA, Jordan was notorious for his gambling addiction
- In 1992, he admitted to having to cover $57,000 in gambling losses
- Rumor states that Jordan’s 1993 retirement was a secret suspension by the league for gambling but David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, denied those claims
- In 2005, Jordan discussed his gambling habits with Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes, stating, “Yeah, I’ve gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I’ve pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you’re willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah.”
- James R. Jordan Sr., Michael Jordan’s father, was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina
- He was murdered by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery, who carjacked his Lexus bearing the license plate “UNC 0023”
- His body was dumped in a South Carolina swamp and was not discovered until August 3
- The teens were found after making calls on James’ cell phone and were convicted at trial and sentenced to life in prison
- On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, initially stating that he lost his desire to play basketball
- However, he would later say that the death of his father three months earlier helped to shape his decision to retire
- However, on February 7, 1994, Jordan would sign with the Chicago White Sox of the MLB
- Jordan would say the decision was spurred by his father, who had always dreamed of seeing his son play in the MLB
- The White Sox were owned by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan’s basketball contract during the years he played baseball
- Playing for the Birmingham Barons, a Double-A minor league affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, Jordan would bat .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, 114 strikeouts, 51 bases on balls, and 11 errors
- During this time, the Chicago Bulls retired his number 23 and erected a permanent sculpture known as The Spirit outside the new United Center
- In 1995, Jordan would return to the NBA and the Chicago Bulls, announcing his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: “I’m back”
- When he returned, he opted to wear the number 45, though he could have worn his retired number
- However, he would resume wearing his old number soon after
- Interestingly, the NBA fined the Bulls $25,000 for failing to report the number change to the league
- In the 1995-96 season, Michael Jordan and the Bulls set a then NBA record regular season record of 72-10
- Jordan would lead the league in scoring and would be named the league’s regular season and All-Star Game MVP
- The Bulls would win the NBA championship once more and Jordan would be named to his fourth Finals MVP award
- During the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, Jordan posted the first triple-double in All-Star Game history
- That same year, the Bulls would win another NBA championship and Jordan would receive his fifth Finals MVP award
- In the 1997-98 NBA season, Jordan led the league with 28.7 points per game and secured his fifth regular season MVP award, plus honors for All-NBA First Team, First Defensive Team, and the All-Star Game MVP
- That same season, the Bulls won another NBA championship and Jordan would be awarded his sixth Finals MVP
- Jordan’s six Finals MVPs is a record
- The 1998 NBA Finals holds the highest television rating of any Finals series in history and Game 6 holds the highest television rating of any game in NBA history
- Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999
- On January 19, 2000, Jordan became part owner and president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards
- On September 25, 2001, Jordan announced his return to the NBA to play for the Washington Wizards
- While playing for the Wizards, Jordan would donate his salary as a player to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11 attacks
- Playing in his 14th and final NBA All-Star Game in 2003, Jordan passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer in All-Star Game history, a record since broken by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James
- In the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, he was offered the starting position from Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson but refused both and accepted Vince Carter’s offer
- Playing for the Washington Wizards in his last season, he received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd at the United Center in Chicago
- The Miami Heat retired the No. 23 jersey on April 11, 2003, even though Jordan never played for the team
Random Basketball Facts About Michael Jordan
- Jordan was a shooting guard who could also play as a small forward
- He was a clutch performer in the NBA and decided 25 games in the last 30 seconds, including two NBA Finals games and five playoff games
- Jordan often used perceived slights to fuel his performances, often describing the slightest offense as what fueled him harder
- Sportswriter Wright Thompson described him as “a killer, in the Darwinian sense of the word, immediately sensing and attacking someone’s weakest spot”
- The Bulls organization often had to trade players Jordan deemed were not “tough enough” to compete with him in practice
- Although Jordan spent countless hours watching film, on offense he relied more on instinct and improvisation
- Noted as a durable player, Jordan did not miss four or more games while active for a full season
- He played all 82 regular season games nine times in his 15 season career in the NBA
- He has never lost three games in a row during his early career
- Jordan had a special “Love of the Game Clause” written into his contract which allowed him to play basketball against anyone at any time, anywhere
- Jordan has frequently cited David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Jerry West as influences
- His 8,772 free throw attempts are the 11th-highest total in NBA history and showcase his willingness and ability to drive to the basket
- Jordan ranks third in NBA history in total steals with 2,514
- The great basketball player Jerry West often stated that he was more impressed with Jordan’s defensive contributions than his offensive ones and Doc Rivers stated he was “the best superstar defender in the history of the game”
- Jordan was also known to have strong eyesight with broadcaster Al Michaels saying that he was able to read baseball box scores on a 27-inch television clearly from about 50 feet away
- Larry Bird said that rookie Jordan was the best player he ever saw, and that he was “one of a kind”, and comparable to Wayne Gretzky as an athlete and on April 20, 1986, after scoring 63 points against the Celtics, Bird would describe him as “God disguised as Michael Jordan”
- Jordan led the NBA in scoring in 10 seasons, an NBA record, and tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record of seven consecutive scoring titles
- Jordan also holds the top career regular season and playoff scoring averages of 30.1 and 33.4 points per game respectively
- Jordan’s total of 5,987 points in the playoffs is the second-highest among NBA career playoff scoring leaders
- In addition, he is currently fifth in the all-time scoring list with 32,292 regular season points
- He was also named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996 and selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021
- Jordan is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA championship, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal
- In the All-Star Game fan ballot, Jordan received the most votes nine times, more than any other player
- Magic Johnson would quip on Jordan, “there’s Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us”
- Jordan has appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record 50 times
- He also won back-to-back Slam Dunk Contest championships in 1987 and 1988
- Television ratings for the NBA only increased during his time in the league
- In August 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit that contained items from his college and NBA careers as well as from the 1992 “Dream Team”; the exhibit also has a batting baseball glove to signify Jordan’s short career in the Minor League Baseball
- Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009
- In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Facts About Michael Jordan’s Personal Life
- Jordan married Juanita Vanoy on September 2, 1989 and had two sons and a daughter together
- The couple filed for a divorce in 2002, citing irreconcilable differences
- The couple would reconcile but would once again file for divorce
- It has been reported that Juanita received a $168 million settlement at the divorce
- In 1991, Jordan purchased a lot in Highland Park, Illinois, where he built a 56,000 square-foot mansion
- He listed the mansion for sale in 2012
- Jordan owns multiple homes in North Carolina and Jupiter Island, Florida
- Jordan proposed to Yvette Prieto in 2011 and were married in 2013
- In 2014, Yvette gave birth to identical twin daughters
- In 2019, Jordan became a grandfather when his daughter Jasmine gave birth to a son
- His son-in-law is the professional basketball player Rakeem Christmas
Business and Money Facts About Michael Jordan
- Michael Jordan has authored several books on his life, basketball, and his own world views
- He also played himself in the box office film Space Jame, which made $230 million worldwide and over $1 billion through merchandise sales
- In 2000, he was the subject of an IMAX documentary titled Michael Jordan to the Max
- In 2020, the documentary The Last Dance debuted on ESPN which went more in-depth on his time with the Chicago Bulls
- The Make-A-Wish Foundation named Jordan its Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008 and in 2013 he granted his 200th wish for the organization
- From 2001 to 2014, Jordan hosted an annual golf tournament, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, that raised money for various charities
- In 2006, he pledged $5 million to Chicago’s Hales Franciscan High School
- Michael Jordan and The Jordan Brand have made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- On June 5, 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Jordan and his brand announced in a joint statement that they would be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to “ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education”
- He has also given size-able donations to help those affected by hurricanes in his home state of North Carolin
- Jordan has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald’s, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI.
- He has appeared in over 20 commercials for Gatorade
- In 1984, Nike created the signature Jordan shoe, called the Air Jordan
- Jordan’s endorsement with Nike was engineered by his agent David Falk, who came up with the concept of Air Jordan
- Jordan would state on Falk as being, “the best at what he does”
- Since 2008, Jordan’s yearly income from the endorsements is estimated to be over $40 million
- Jordan’s yearly contracts in the NBA were typically in excess of $30 million due to his ability to bring fans to the stadium
- The Jordan brand generates over $1 billion in sales for Nike
- Michael Jordan is also majority owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats and part owner of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball
- He is the first player in the history of the NBA to become a majority owner of an NBA team
- In 2014, Jordan became the first NBA player to become a billionaire
- As of 2022, his net worth is estimated to be in excess of $1.6 billion, making him the fifth-richest African-American, behind Robert F. Smith, David Steward, Oprah Winfrey, and Kanye West
- In 2020, he also became an investor and advisor for DraftKings
- Michael Jordan is affiliated with several restaurants, including the Michael Jordan Steakhouse in Grand Central Station Terminal in New York City
- He also co-owns an automotive group in Durham, North Carolina
Random Fun and Interesting Facts About Michael Jordan
- Michael Jordan is an avid cigar smoker
- He enjoys playing golf and can often be seen on the golf course
- He had a meal tradition he followed 4 hours before the start of ever basketball game. The meal consisted of a 23 ounce New York steak, a side of mashed potatoes (or baked potatoes if it was not available), and a salad on the side served with some ginger ale
- His best friend works as a limousine driver
- A type of salmonella was named after him by a doctor, so called Salmonella mjordan
- He once commissioned an artist to design a dining room table for him. The table had exactly 32,292 holes in it to represent the total number of points Jordan scored in the regular season and it is proudly displayed in Jordan’s home
- Jordan has stated that his most memorable dunk was over Patrick Ewing in 1991
- Michael Jordan is widely credited with ending the era of short-shorts in the NBA as he preferred longer, baggier shorts to grab onto when tired and fatigued
- He has a single, small tattoo of an Omega horseshoe symbol over his heart, which references his time in his fraternity in college
- He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at UNC
- In the early 1990s, he was also a cartoon superhero in the series “ProStars” with Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky
- When Jordan first began wearing his Air Jordan shoes, the NBA fined him $5,000 each game as they were against dress code. These fines, coincidentally, helped to further popularize the brand
- The late Kim Jong-il of North Korea was a Michael Jordan fan in the 1990s. And he was given an autographed Michael Jordan basketball by Secretary of State Albright in 2000