Michael Jordan

1. Michael Jordan Author: Sarah Houghton PowerPoint by: Jacob Henderson

2. Introduction • Michael Jeffery Jordan was born on February 17, 1963. He was famous for being a basketball player. The reason I chose to do my project on Michael Jordan is because when he made money from playing basketball, he donated it to the people in need. He made a big impact on basketball and society. Michael Jordan was one of the best basketball players in the world.

3. Childhood • Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York. Soon after he was born, he and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. He had two brothers and two sisters. Michael loved sports just as much as his father; his favorite sport was baseball. As a kid, Michael’s dad built a basketball court in the back yard. He always played with his brother, Larry. He never won because Larry was older and taller, but that just made him try harder. Their name for the basketball court was ‘The Rack’. Michael won his first game against Larry by dunking the ball over Larry’s head(I think that is what started Michael’s career). After Michael beat Larry, he went on to beating Larry’s friends. Michael began to get better at basketball. He was raised to not judge people by the color of their skin, but the problem came to him. When he and a girl got into an Argument, she called him the “N” word; so he shoved a popsicle in her hair. He got suspended for doing that, and his parents took it seriously.

4. Adolescence • Michael started getting into basketball. In high school that became a problem. Michael’s love for basketball became so strong, that he started cutting class to go and play. His parents took that very seriously. Michael got in trouble by being so competitive. All Michael wanted to be was the best. Michael tried out for the high school team, but did not make it. That, however, made him try even harder to make the team. The next year, Michael started doing good and school, and in his free time practiced basketball. He tried out for the basketball team that year and made it. That year, Michael showed how good he was. When Michael graduated from high school, he went to college. He went to UNC, or University of North Carolina, because he liked the campus and the coach. Michael was not offered to play on the first team, and he respected that. That made him try even harder. Pretty soon, Michael proved himself good enough to play on the first team. Michael studied hard in college, and became a star in basketball. Michael’s dream was to play on the U.S. Olympic basketball team. In 1984, that dream came true. The U.S. team won 69 out of 70 of their games. Michael won a gold medal for winning in the finals. Michael had the highest scoring average. After playing in the Olympics, Michael was offered to go pro. He took the offer.

5. Adulthood • In the NBA Draft, Michael was picked to play on the Chicago Bulls. The bulls were not doing to good, but that just gave Michael a challenge. The Bulls had high hopes for Michael. He found out that pro basketball is a lot harder than college, because in the NBA, there were better players. Everyone loved Michael’s high fly dunks. Everyone cheered for him like he was a rock star. Michael made a shot called ‘the shot’ many times. It means that he got the ball and made a shot that won a game seconds before the buzzer. Michael stayed on the Bulls for years. In 1992 he was offered to play in the U.S. Olympics again. Once again he had the highest scoring average. Soon after Michael’s father died, he retired. He decided he wanted to play baseball. He wanted to play on the Chicago White Sox. This decision surprised everyone. Before he could play in the major league, he had to start in the minor league. Michael did not want to play baseball for the money, but to pursue his child-life dream. He decided that he was not good enough to play in the major league so he gave up his dream. Once again, he surprised everyone and went back to the Bulls. When he went back to the Bulls, he started to involve his teammates more. In 1999 Michael retired again because his coach, Phil Jackson, had left the team. On January 19, 2000 Michael became the part owner of the Washington Wizards, another NBA team. Once again, Michael went back to the NBA. He signed a two year contract with the Wizards. He donated all of his salary to the people that suffered the September 11 attack. After the two year contract, Michael retired for good.

6. Contributions • Michael made many contributions to the NBA and to people in need. He made much money from playing in the NBA, and he donated it all to the people in need: such as the people that suffered the September 11 terrorist attack. He also donated to charity. Michael did a lot of good things for people and inspired a lot of kids to get active. I think Michael Jordan was one of the best NBA players to play. He was also one of the nicest people to live. He played basketball for fun and donated all the money he made to charity, instead of keeping and spending it like any other person would do. He made a lot of contributions to the NBA, too. He inspired a lot of players, kids, and many other people to try their best and never give up. A lot of people looked up to Michael, because in his childhood, he never gave up and always tried to be the best player in the sport.

7. Most Interesting Story Michael had many interesting stories, but I only chose one. I think this story is what started Michael’s career. The story started when Michael was playing in one of his high school games. They were playing a very important game and against a good team. In the final part of the game, his high school was losing by one point with only a few seconds left. Michael’s high school called a time out, and they said give it to someone that’s going to make the shot. Who knew they would’ve passed it to Michael. The ball was passed to Michael and everyone went silent. He shot it and it was slowly going to the basket. Right as the buzzer sounded, Michael made the shot. His high school won the game, and it boosted Michael’s career. I think that was Michael Jordan’s most interesting story.

8. What Questions Would I Ask There are many questions I would like to ask Michael Jordan, but I only chose three. I think they are good questions, but I wish I could ask more. Here are the three questions I would ask Michael. 1. “How did it feel to beat your brother by dunking the ball?” 2.“After all of those years of wanting to be the best, how did it feel to finally become the best?” 3.“How did you end up becoming the part owner of the Washington Wizards?”

9. Who was President • The president when Michael Jordan was born was John F. Kennedy. Sadly, a few months after Michael was born, John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

10. Bibliography • Houghton, S. (2002). Michael Jordan: The Best Ever. Bloomington, Minnesota: Red Brick.