After losing the title in the 1984 Olympics, Jordan's rookie season was brilliant and he won the title of Rookie of the Year. That year he averaged 28.2 points per game (second only to Bernard King and Bird), 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists and was selected to the second team. More importantly, the Bulls won 11 more games than the previous year and successfully advanced to the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, Jordan scored 29.3 points per game, but unfortunately the team lost 1:3 to the Milwaukee Bucks and was eliminated.

"In his rookie season, his attack range was not wide enough and he seemed a bit loose on defense." His first NBA coach Kevin Loughery said. His mid-range shooting - 8-15 feet from the basket - is still very good (51.5% shooting), and his steals also cover up the shortcomings of his less than standard body posture when defending. Improving in both areas will ultimately allow him to become a threat anywhere on the court and make him the best one-on-one defender.

"Even before his rookie season officially started, people were convinced that the Rockets and Trail Blazers would regret their choices," Bernard King, the scoring champion of the year, said as early as the preseason. As he definitely told Hoop magazine - "All I can say," King said, "is that people in Chicago are making a lot of money."

Facts have proved this. Jordan conquered the public in his rookie season, and the number of spectators coming to the Chicago Stadium to watch games increased exponentially. As long as they can see Jordan's wonderful performance, fans of the opposing team are even willing to pay the price of losing the game.

And Jordan's off-court performance is as unique and charming as he is on the basketball court. Because of his unlimited prospects, Nike signed him early as its main sneaker spokesperson, but the results far exceeded expectations. During Jordan's rookie preseason, he wore an unprecedented pair of Bulls red and black boots. The NBA initially considered this a violation of the "Uniform Consistency Code" and would be fined if he continued to wear it. He still wore it a few more times, and as a result, this shoe and other MJ series sneakers caused unprecedented craze in the market. Unlike most NBA players, his contract allows him to play at any time during the offseason - a clause known as the "Basketball Love Clause."

He had a habit of sticking his tongue out as he flew toward the hoop—just like his father did when doing mechanical work, a move that became one of his trademarks. He had been wearing his beloved North Carolina shorts under his Bulls shorts, which led him to start wearing longer shorts, perhaps because they were more comfortable. Whatever the reason, baggy shorts became a fashion that spread throughout the league and even other sports.

This rookie's magic even worked on the referees. They said that he enjoyed a little preferential treatment that veterans who have worked hard for many years can enjoy, so that he would not be blown away even if he took one more step. . Many people say that the reason he can get past defenders so easily is because he walks. But according to slow-motion analysis, the real reason was that his first step was too fast, and he did not break any rules.

Despite the spotlight, Jordan remained humble. He never ridiculed the Blazers for not selecting him, telling Sports Illustrated before his rookie season: "He (Bowie) is a better fit for them than I am. They already have enough big guards and small forwards." His self-effacement is even more obvious in another sentence in the same article: "I hope I can play in an All-Star game at least once in my life."

This goal was quickly achieved, and soon after he was voted as the starting shooting guard of the Eastern Team in the All-Star Game. At the All-Star Game, he encountered his first career obstacle: his teammate, Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons. The media believed that Thomas deliberately froze the performance of this golden rookie in the All-Star Game by not passing the ball, so that Jordan, as the starting shooting guard, only scored 7 points in 22 minutes of playing time. In the remaining days, he could only face this so-called conspiracy alone.

Speculations about this event persisted for a long time, but Thomas himself denied this theory. In the end, this feud ended with Thomas, then the head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, convincing Vince Carter to give up the starting position to Jordan, who participated in the last All-Star Game in the 2003 All-Star Game.

Playing only three games in the second season, Jordan broke a bone in his left foot and was unable to attend the All-Star Game despite being voted into the All-Star Game. But when he returned to the court at the end of the season, he scored 63 points in the first round of the playoffs against the Celtics, a historical playoff scoring record. After two overtimes, the Bulls finally lost 131-135 and left the playoffs with the fate of being swept; but in this series of games, Jordan scored an average of 43.7, which made everyone who had doubted Jordan's ability Everyone shut their mouths.

Starting from the 1986-87 season, his career-long campaign to rewrite NBA records officially began. This year he averaged 37.1 points per game and maintained 3 points in the next 7 years; he scored 4 points in 9 consecutive games, and scored 23 points in a game in a row... These are NBA records. . He won the Slam Dunk Contest trophy in the All-Star Game and successfully defended it the following year. Unfortunately, the Celtics once again eliminated the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

After the season, the Bulls' management began to build a championship-level team. The team selected power forward Horace Grant, and on draft day, they traded center Olden Polyinice from the Seattle SuperSonics for versatile small forward Scottie Pippen. In the 1987-88 season, Jordan won all the important awards you can think of, including Most Valuable Player, Best Defensive Player, All-Star MVP... everything. With the help of strong teammates, Jordan led the Bulls to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers and pass the first round of the playoffs. However, they lost 1-4 to the Detroit Pistons in the second round. The Pistons are known as the "Bad Boys", and their extremely aggressive style of play allowed Jordan's Bulls to return with hatred in the Eastern Conference finals for two consecutive years. The Pistons coaching staff created a defensive strategy called the "Jordan Rules". Simply put, there are always two or three people double-teaming Jordan. Although the Bulls have been unable to overcome this difficulty, they are getting closer to the championship little by little!

Jordan had a great harvest in the 1988-89 season, averaging 32.5 points per game, a career-high 8.0 assists per game, ranking 10th in the league, and a career-high 8.0 rebounds, ranking third in the league. 2.89 steals. In the decisive Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs against the Cavaliers, Jordan shot a long buzzer-beating jumper over Craig Ehlo, giving the Bulls a victory. 101-100 narrowly defeated the opponent. This wonderful goal, known as "the shot" in history, will always remain in people's hearts.

Before the start of the 1989-90 season, Sports Illustrated published an article saying that Jordan was considering playing on the PGA tour after retiring. Meanwhile, Chicago's front office was making other moves. That summer, the Bulls fired head coach Doug Collins and brought in Phal Jackson. Under Jackson's guidance, the Bulls began to practice the "Triangle Offense," a tactical system that uses quick passes and cuts to create opportunities for five people on the field. However, when the tactics failed and there was not much offensive time, Jordan had the right to fire at will. . In the regular season that year, the Bulls won 55-27, which was the Bulls' best record since the 1971-72 season. Jordan scored a career-high 69 points against the Cavaliers, defeating their opponents 117-113 in overtime. His three-point shot has also begun to become a weapon, and his 37.6% shooting rate is a full 10% higher than before. However, the Pistons once again shattered the Bulls' dream in the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Losing to the Pistons for three consecutive years has made many people doubt that a scoring machine like Jordan cannot win the championship title.

There are many critics who think that he is not as good as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the two superstars of the 1980s. They think that Jordan is just a pure scorer and cannot make teammates like Larry Bird and Magic. Do better; Bird and Magic helped the team become a top team as soon as they joined the team, but Jordan's Bulls were still a mid-range team until the late 1980s. But the rise of the Bulls dynasty after 1991 and Jordan's gradual maturity made them shut up.

In the 1990-1991 season, Jordan led the Bulls to great success. They only lost two games in the entire playoffs and reached the top for the first time with absolute dominance. This included taking revenge by sweeping the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, and defeating the Lakers in straight games in the Finals after losing the first game at home. Since Magic Johnson soon retired due to AIDS, this game became the swan song of the Lakers' showtime ("Showtime"). Jordan averaged 31.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game and won the first of his six NBA Finals MVP trophies.

At this time, Jordan had completely shaved his head. On the one hand, he led a new trend in hairstyle, and on the other hand, he also made himself look more outstanding. He finally fulfilled his championship dream. Although he has harsh demands and harsh criticism on his teammates, victory is the best lubricant. In the next two years, the Bulls defeated Clyde Drexler's Trail Blazers and Charles Barkley's Suns in six games to win the championship.

In the later stages of this three-peat, Jordan is no longer just a star, he has reached the realm of a hero. Early in his career, he envied Peter Pan's gravity-defying jumps and his ability to stay young forever. However, in the past three years, players and teams seem to have recognized that it is Jordan who "jumps away from the gravity of the earth and can stay young forever." He has countless fans of all ages, especially for children. He seems to have a kind of magic, just like the slogan of the sports drink advertisement he endorses reads "Be Like Mike", which makes those children follow them crazily. Follow his footsteps.

The last shot in 1998

The last shot in 1998 (4 photos)

During the 1995-96 journey, Jordan won the regular season, Three Most Valuable Player Awards in the All-Star Game and the Finals (Jordan came again the next year to complete the award), and only Willis Reed of the New York Knicks had done it before in 1970. Since then, only Shaquille O'Neal has received it in 2000.

Although Karl Malone won the regular season MVP in the 1996-97 season (Jordan regained this honor in the 97-98 season) and once again led the Bulls to defeat Malone's Utah in 6 games Jazz to the top. Even though he suffered from severe stomach cramps, fever and dehydration during the crucial fifth game, he did not allow his team to lose easily. In that game, he scored 38 points to help the Bulls win, and finally won Game 6 at home, thus winning the Finals MVP title for the fifth time.

The Bulls won another three consecutive championships, defeating the Jazz in 6 games again in the 1997-98 season. Jordan and his team were still 3 points behind in the final moments of Game 6. After scoring 2 points on a breakaway layup, he stole the basketball from Malone, rushed to the hoop, and passed Byron Russell who was guarding him. (Bryon Russel), who hit the game-winning shot with 6.6 seconds left. The wonderful shot of this goal is engraved in the memory of countless fans, and the famous photo that recorded the moment of the ball will also be recorded in history forever.

In 1999, the NBA had only one shortened season left due to labor disputes, and Jordan also left the court again. "I'm not as motivated as I used to be to continue being a basketball player," he said. Although Jordan did not play for three full seasons after his second retirement, he was still the most widely known athlete in the world at the time. At the beginning of the 2001-02 season, Jordan donated $1 million to help the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

After taking the position of shareholder and team operations manager of the Washington Wizards in 2000, he once again returned to his beloved sport due to dissatisfaction with the team's performance. On September 25, 2001, Jordan, who was the chairman of the Wizards team at the time, walked out of his office, signed a two-year contract with the Wizards at a veteran's minimum salary, and brought his old coach from the Bulls, Doug Collins, with him, hoping to turn this team around. Only teams pull out of the swamp of bad teams. Although his body is not as good as before due to age and he is tortured by injuries, he is still able to average almost 23 points per game. Despite the pain (especially the knee injury), he is still an important member of the team. It's a pity that although the Wizards qualified for the playoffs, they have not made it to the playoffs for two years. But Jordan still left many great moments, such as his 43-point score in the 2002-2003 season when he was just over 40 years old.

Jordan's jersey is "retired"

Jordan's jersey is "retired"

Jordan made a healthy comeback in the 2002-2003 season by wearing specially designed sneakers that could reduce knee pressure. On the court, he averaged 20 points per game. That year, he played in his final All-Star Game; at the end of the season, he said goodbye to the fans for the third and final time. The battle in Philadelphia was the last game of Jordan's career. On April 16, 2003, Jordan scored 15 points in limited playing time, but failed to help the Wizards win. In the last 1.44 seconds, Jordan made his last two free throws and was substituted. The audience applauded enthusiastically for 3 minutes.

Out of respect for Jordan, even though he never played for the Florida team, the Miami Heat retired his No. 23 jersey on April 11, 2003. This is the Miami Heat 15 For the first time in team history, his jersey was retired. The dress was Wizards blue on one side and Bulls red on the other.

In the 2004-2005 season, the Wizards without Jordan broke out of the siege and entered the playoffs. They destroyed the Bulls in the first round and were kicked out of the playoffs by the Heat in the second round with a sweep.

The transformation of the ball king

He left the court as a player and returned to the management. He looked at

a different Jordan

These young superstars are convinced that the NBA is functioning well. In his book "For the Love of The Game: My Story," he wrote: "There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I never believed it. There is one greatest player; everyone lives in a different era. I stand on the shoulders of my predecessors and contribute my own talents. I believe that "greatness" is a process of continuous evolution from period to period. Without Julius Erving, David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Elgin Baylor, there would be no Michael Jordan from whom I evolved."

Jordan loved proving his naysayers wrong. In a game against the Utah Jazz, Jordan dunked a basketball over John Stockton, and a Jazz fan yelled, "You can dunk a big guy!" The next possession, Jordan was 6-foot-11. , 285-pound center Melvin Turpin poured one on his head, and then asked the fan, "Is this big enough?"

On March 19, 2010, Jordan spent $275 million to complete this project. The acquisition of the Bobcats not only made him the first retired player owner in history, but also the second black owner in the history of the league.