You may know a thing or two about the 6-foot-6 guard out of North Carolina. The Bulls certainly caught a break when not one but two teams passed over Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft, which allowed them to take the guard at No. 3 overall. The Houston Rockets going with Hakeem Olajuwon at No. 1 was defensible, but the Portland Trail Blazers’ pick of Sam Bowie at No. 2 will go down as one of the all-time backfires.
The Bulls may not have known they had the G.O.A.T. on their hands during Jordan’s first few seasons, but it was immediately apparent they had a transcendent talent. He recorded a whopping 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game en route to Rookie of the Year, and in his second season he scored a playoff-record 63 points against the mighty Boston Celtics. This despite missing most of the year with a foot injury:
It took some time for Jordan to enjoy team success in the playoffs, and the Detroit Pistons proved to be an excellent foil for three straight years with their “Jordan Rules” tactics. But once Jordan and Co. vanquished the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and ultimately won the title, the Bulls’ dynasty was born.
Jordan’s Bulls won six titles in eight years, with his brief first retirement and foray into baseball getting in the way of a potential eight straight titles. The final shot of his Bulls career may just be the most memorable in NBA history:
Jordan racked up countless other accolades and memories along the way. He won five MVPs and six Finals MVPs. He won 10 scoring titles and is the NBA’s scoring average leader at 30.12 points per game. Jordan made 12 All-Star Games as a Bull and was voted first-team All-NBA 10 times. He won Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 and was named to the All-Defensive first team nine times. His Airness won two Slam Dunk Contests and has one of the most iconic dunks ever:
There’s “The Flu Game” and “The Shot.” There was even “The Shot II.” Jordan’s killer instinct is stuff of legends, and nobody ripped the heart out of opponents quite like No. 23. In addition to all his on-court heroics, Jordan became bigger than the game off the court and helped turn it into the global phenomenon it is today.
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Jordan has his own statue at the United Center and has his jersey in the rafters. He entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and produced one of the most popular memes ever during his speech. There will never be another player quite like him, even if somebody (LeBron James?) surpasses him as the G.O.A.T. in the future.