History UsefulNotes / MichaelJordan

Jordan then retired again, only to come out of retirement a second time in 2001 to play for the Wizards before retiring for good in 2003. Despite age and injuries diminishing his performance from his Bulls-era heights, Jordan wasn't bad at all in Washington; he received the last two of his 14 All-Star nods there. Today, MJ still holds almost all of the Bulls major statistical records and remains the NBA's all-time leader in points per game, and it seems likely that he ''could'' have tallied even greater career stats and accomplishments were it not for his two retirements; he was obviously a lock for the Hall of Fame either way.

Jordan was one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised athletes in any sport ''ever'', and [[CelebrityEndorsement his name-recognition and marketing savvy]] made him a multi-billionaire. The NBA has never had higher ratings than when he played, and anyone who didn't already have a team in that era tended to root for the Bulls (ensuring the team has kept a high value despite coming nowhere close to the Jordan-era heights). In addition his stardom gave way to a massive endorsement enterprise including Wheaties, Gatorade, UsefulNotes/McDonalds, and his massively popular "Air Jordan" Nike basketball shoes, all of which changed the way athletes made marketing deals forever (to the point the ''creation of the shoes'' got its [[Film/Air2023 own movie]]). Jordan used his fortune to become the first NBA player to become an NBA team owner, purchasing his home-state Charlotte Hornets in 2010; his ownership failed to materialize in any success, including the worst record any NBA team has ever had with a 7-59 2011-12 season, and he sold his majority stake in 2023. He is also the co-owner of the UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} team [=23XI=] Racing[[note]]pronounced as "Twenty-Three Eleven Racing"[[/note]] alongside veteran driver Denny Hamlin.

In fiction, he starred in a series of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' / Nike crossover commercials and that led to the 1996 film ''Film/SpaceJam'', and has also been featured in several video games, including ''VideoGame/MichaelJordanChaosInTheWindyCity'' and ''VideoGame/NBA2K'' from [=2K11=] onward (including the covers of ''11'' and special editions of ''12'', ''16'', and ''23''). He can also be seen doing commercials for Hanes underwear. In 2020, Creator/{{ESPN}} and Creator/{{Netflix}} aired a ten-part documentary series titled ''The Last Dance'', which covered Jordan and the Bulls' 1997–98 season, pulled in ''huge'' ratings, and spawned a wealth of MemeticMutation regarding Jordan's unfiltered and almost maniacal ambition.

Jordan's #23 jersey is retired by two teams, the Bulls (obviously)... and the ''Heat'', who he never played for- Jordan really was ''that'' good. Since 2022, the league MVP trophy has been named after him. As always, [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has more information on him, but if you need some cold hard reasons why many modern players want to retire his number altogether, you can peruse [[http://www.nba.com/jordan/list_honors.html this list of accomplishments]].

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Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}} player for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards of the UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation. One of the greatest, if not ''the'' greatest player to ever play the game, due to his skill, leadership, eye-popping highlights, charisma, and professionalism. While he is outpaced in a number of statistical categories by other players who played more seasons, Jordan's versatility and dominance in the late '80s and '90s remain the stuff of legend.