97 Fun Facts About Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan grew up in Wilmington, but in which New York City borough was he born?

Brooklyn: his parents had moved north so his father could train as a mechanic on the GI Bill, and they took the family back south soon after Michael was born.

As a sophomore at Laney High School, Jordan was left off the varsity team for what reason?

He was deemed too short at 5 ft 11 and starred for the junior varsity instead, then grew about four inches over the summer and made the varsity as a junior.

Jordan hit the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game against which team?

Georgetown still had time to answer, but guard Fred Brown threw a pass straight to Jordan's teammate James Worthy, and the 63-62 lead held.

At which pick did the Chicago Bulls select Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft?

Third: Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon, and the next team, having drafted guard Clyde Drexler a year earlier, chose center Sam Bowie and left Jordan to the Bulls.

Which sports drink launched its 'Be Like Mike' commercials with Jordan in 1991?

Gatorade wanted the Jungle Book song 'I Wan'na Be Like You' for the ad, but Disney asked too much for it, so the agency wrote its own jingle instead.

Against which team did Jordan score a playoff-record 63 points in April 1986?

Boston Celtics: on 20 April 1986 at Boston Garden, Jordan scored 63 in a double-overtime Game 2 loss, beating Elgin Baylor's playoff record of 61, and Larry Bird called him 'God disguised as Michael Jordan'.

Jordan scored 3,041 points in 1986-87, yet which Lakers star beat him to that season's MVP award?

Magic Johnson won his first MVP award as his Lakers went 65-17, while Jordan's 37.1 points a game lifted the Bulls to only 40 wins.

In 1988 Jordan became the first NBA player to win MVP and which other award in one season?

Defensive Player of the Year: Jordan led the league in scoring and steals that season, and through 2025 only Hakeem Olajuwon and Giannis Antetokounmpo had matched the same-season double.

Jordan's 1989 buzzer-beater known as 'The Shot' went over which Cleveland defender?

Craig Ehlo's Cavaliers had swept Chicago in the regular season, but Jordan hung in the air at the foul line and hit over him at the buzzer for a 101-100 win.

The Pistons teams that knocked Jordan's Bulls out of the playoffs three years running, 1988 to 1990, had which nickname?

The Bad Boys beat Chicago in 1988, 1989 and 1990 with a rough defensive plan they called the 'Jordan Rules', until the Bulls swept them in the 1991 conference finals.

Jordan scored his career-high 69 points in a 1990 overtime win against which team?

Cleveland Cavaliers: a year after 'The Shot' sank them on the same floor, they took Jordan to overtime, and he finished with 69 points and 18 rebounds in a 117-113 win.

Which offensive system did Phil Jackson and Tex Winter install to make the Bulls less reliant on Jordan?

The triangle offense kept all five Bulls passing and cutting, so defenses like Detroit's could no longer load up on Jordan, who still took over when a play broke down.

Jordan's famous mid-air hand switch on a layup in the 1991 Finals came against which team?

Los Angeles Lakers: they had won Game 1 in Chicago, but after the Game 2 switch that dodged Sam Perkins the Bulls took four straight for Jordan's first title.

Jordan's 'shrug' came after six first-half threes in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals against which opponent?

Portland Trail Blazers: after his sixth three-pointer of the half Jordan looked courtside and shrugged, as if he couldn't believe it either, on the way to 35 first-half points.

Which player beat Jordan to the 1993 regular-season MVP, then lost to him in that year's Finals?

Charles Barkley took the 1993 MVP, then watched Jordan average a Finals-record 41 points a game as the Bulls beat his Suns 4-2; Jordan became the first player to win three straight Finals MVPs.

Jordan's father James was murdered in July 1993 after pulling off a highway to rest in which state?

North Carolina: James Jordan had stopped near Lumberton to sleep during a night drive, and less than three months later his grieving son retired from basketball.

Jordan's habit of sticking out his tongue while playing was copied from which person?

His dad James stuck his tongue out whenever he was absorbed in fixing something, and Michael copied him until it became his own trademark on drives to the basket.

Which Double-A team did Jordan play for in 1994, batting .202 with three home runs?

Birmingham Barons: Jordan said he was chasing his late father's dream of seeing him in the major leagues, and the White Sox, who shared an owner with the Bulls, gave him the chance.

Jordan announced his 1995 return to the NBA with what two-word press release?

'I'm back.' was the whole statement: with baseball's players on strike and his road to the majors blocked, Jordan gave up the sport and suited up for the Bulls the next day.

What jersey number did Jordan wear on his 1995 return before switching back to 23?

45 was his baseball number, and he went back to 23 in the 1995 playoffs after Orlando's Nick Anderson stole the ball from him and said 45 didn't explode like 23 used to.

The 1995-96 Bulls' 72-10 record stood as the NBA's best until which team went 73-9 in 2016?

Golden State Warriors were coached by Steve Kerr, a guard on that Bulls team, but they let a 3-1 lead slip in the Finals, so their 73 wins brought no title.

Jordan's title-clinching 'Last Shot' in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals came over which Jazz defender?

Bryon Russell was the defender: with 5.2 seconds left Jordan crossed over, with a possible push-off, and hit the jumper for an 87-86 lead; John Stockton's three-pointer at the buzzer missed.

Jordan's 1995 'double nickel' game, 55 points in his fifth game back, came at which arena?

Madison Square Garden saw Jordan pour 55 on the Knicks, yet the winning basket was a pass: with the defense drawn to him, he fed Bill Wennington under the rim for a 113-111 win.

Jordan won a record six Finals MVP awards; through 2025, which player ranked second with four?

LeBron James won his four with three different teams; the last came in 2020 at Walt Disney World, where the NBA finished its season inside a 'bubble' with no fans because of the pandemic.

Through 2025, Jordan's career average of 30.12 points a game led the NBA, just ahead of whose 30.07?

Wilt Chamberlain trails by five hundredths of a point: Jordan averaged 31.5 as a Bull, and his final two seasons, played around the age of 40, nearly dragged him below that mark.

After retiring from the Bulls in 1999, Jordan joined which team as an executive and later played for it?

Washington Wizards made him president of basketball operations in 2000, and a year later he gave up the job and his ownership share to put himself on the roster at 38.

Jordan pledged his salary from the first season of his final comeback to what cause?

Relief for victims of the 9/11 attacks: Jordan announced his return as a player on 25 September 2001, two weeks after the attacks, and pledged the whole salary, in effect offering to play the season for nothing.

Which player gave up his 2003 All-Star starting spot so Jordan could start his final All-Star Game?

Vince Carter gave up his starting spot at the 2003 game in Atlanta after Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady had offered theirs; Jordan started, scored 20 points and the East lost in double overtime.

Jordan's final NBA game, on 16 April 2003, was played in which city?

Philadelphia's crowd chanted 'We want Mike!' until Jordan, benched with 13 points, came back on, was fouled on purpose and sank two free throws for the last points of his career.

Which team retired Jordan's No. 23 in April 2003 even though he never played for them?

Miami Heat raised No. 23 before Jordan's last game in Miami, which made a visiting opponent the first player the franchise ever honored, six years before it retired a number for one of its own.

Which boyhood idol of Jordan's presented him at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction?

David Thompson starred for NC State, the rival of Jordan's own college, and Jordan told the hall that as a boy he had been no Tar Heels fan at all, but an admirer of Thompson.

The NBA's MVP trophy, named for Jordan since 2022–23, replaced a trophy named for whom?

Maurice Podoloff, the NBA's first commissioner, lost the MVP trophy to Jordan in 2022-23 but kept a place in the trophy case: his name moved to the prize for the best regular-season record.

Why did the NBA object to the Nike sneakers Jordan wore as a rookie?

They broke uniform color rules: shoes had to be mostly white and match the team's, and Nike built its 'Banned' commercial for the Air Jordan around the league's objection to the black-and-red pair.

Jordan shattered a backboard with a dunk during a 1985 Nike exhibition game in which country?

Italy: at a Nike exhibition in Trieste, Jordan dunked so hard the backboard glass shattered, and the sneakers he wore that night sold at auction in 2020 for $615,000.

Which comedian turns up to play alongside Jordan and the Looney Tunes in the final game of Space Jam?

Bill Murray, playing himself, arrives with ten seconds left, just as the Tune Squad runs out of fit players, and helps get Jordan the ball for the winning stretch-armed dunk.

Jordan bought a controlling stake in which NBA franchise in 2010?

Charlotte Bobcats: Jordan had been a minority owner since 2006, and two seasons after he took control the six-time champion's team won just 7 of its 66 games.

Jordan co-founded the NASCAR team 23XI Racing in 2020 with which Cup Series driver?

Denny Hamlin's car number, 11, supplies the 'XI' beside Jordan's 23, and in 2021 their driver Bubba Wallace became only the second Black driver to win a Cup Series race.

The 'Crying Jordan' meme comes from a photo of Jordan in tears at which event?

His Hall of Fame induction in 2009 brought Jordan to tears at the podium, and years later the wire photo became the internet's stock image for anyone who had just lost.

Which coach did Jordan play for in college, winning the 1982 national title as a freshman?

Dean Smith coached him for three seasons before Jordan left a year early for the NBA, though he went back to finish his geography degree in 1986.

Which US president awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Barack Obama joked at the 2016 ceremony that Jordan was 'more than just an Internet meme', a nod to the Crying Jordan photo, and called him 'the Michael Jordan of greatness'.

Which teammate played alongside Jordan on all six of the Bulls' championship teams?

Scottie Pippen was the only other player on all six; Chicago landed him in a 1987 draft-night trade with Seattle after he had starred at little-known Central Arkansas.

Which 2020 documentary series retold Jordan's 1997-98 season with the Bulls?

The Last Dance took its title from coach Phil Jackson, who gave the season that name at training camp because everyone expected the team to be broken up afterwards.

ESPN named Jordan the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century in 1999, just ahead of which baseball legend?

Babe Ruth finished second in ESPN's survey, but the Associated Press list published that December flipped the pair and put Ruth ahead of Jordan.

Which agent negotiated Jordan's first Nike deal and is credited with coining 'Air Jordan'?

David Falk pitched 'Air Jordan' for a client who had worn Converse all through college; Nike hoped the line would earn $3 million in a few years, and it passed $100 million in its first year.

Jordan's free-throw-line dunk won the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest in Chicago over which rival?

Dominique Wilkins opened the final with two perfect 50s but got only 45 for his last dunk, so Jordan's 50 for the leap from the foul line won it 147-145 before his home crowd.

The bronze statue of Jordan known as 'The Spirit' was unveiled in 1994 outside which venue?

United Center got the statue as a farewell, its base reading 'The best there ever was. The best there ever will be', yet within five months the retired Jordan was back playing inside.

After coach Doug Collins moved him to point guard in 1989, Jordan recorded seven straight what?

Triple-doubles: Jordan had ten of them in eleven games after the switch, yet Collins was let go that summer even though the Bulls had reached the conference finals.

Michael Jordan kept wearing what from his amateur days under his Chicago Bulls uniform?

His college shorts stayed on under the Bulls kit, and the longer game shorts he wore over them started basketball's move to a baggy look.

Michael Jordan returned to his studies in 1986 to finish a bachelor's degree in which subject?

Geography, specifically cultural geography, was his major. He had left a year early for the 1984 draft and returned to graduate while already an NBA star.

At the 1992 Olympic medal ceremony, Michael Jordan used an American flag to cover up which brand's logo?

Reebok sponsored the US Olympic team, but Jordan and most of the Dream Team's biggest names were signed to Nike, so the flag hid a rival's badge.

Michael Jordan's 1997 'Flu Game' illness was likely caused by which food, ordered the night before?

Pizza ordered the night before is the usual suspect, and Jordan himself later insisted the famous 'flu' was really food poisoning.

Michael Jordan sobbed on the locker room floor after clinching the 1996 NBA title on which holiday?

Father's Day made it raw: this was his first championship since his father's murder in 1993, and he dedicated the win to him.

Bulls star Jordan trades basketball lessons for dance lessons with which singer in the 1992 video 'Jam'?

Michael Jackson teaches him to dance in return, and extended cuts of the video show the King of Pop coaching Jordan through the moonwalk.

Which film director played Mars Blackmon opposite Michael Jordan in Nike's Air Jordan commercials?

Spike Lee created Mars Blackmon for his 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, and thought Nike's offer to co-star with Jordan was a prank by his friends.

In the 2023 film Air, which actress plays Michael Jordan's mother, Deloris, after he asked for her himself?

Viola Davis was Jordan's own idea for the part, because his mother was the one who made up his mind about meeting Nike in the first place.

Before Nike won him over in 1984, Michael Jordan had been focused on signing with which shoe brand?

Adidas had been his focus until Nike's Sonny Vaccaro persuaded his own company to sign the rookie and build the Air Jordan line around him.

Which injury wiped out 64 games of Michael Jordan's second NBA season, 1985–86, after just three games?

A broken foot just three games in kept him out for most of the season, yet the Bulls still squeezed into the playoffs with a 30–52 record.

Which rebounding specialist, once a fierce Pistons rival, joined Michael Jordan's Bulls for the 72-win season?

Dennis Rodman came from San Antonio in 1995 and kept doing the one thing he loved: he led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven straight years.

Which Spanish city hosted the 1992 Olympics, where Michael Jordan and the Dream Team played?

Barcelona saw little of them in the Olympic Village: the team took 80 of the 98 rooms at a city hotel instead.

Space Jam grew out of Nike Super Bowl commercials that paired Michael Jordan with which cartoon character?

Bugs Bunny starred beside him in the 'Hare Jordan' ad of 1992, and its success showed Warner Bros. that the rabbit could still carry a feature film.

Michael Jordan signed a minor league baseball contract in February 1994 with which major league club?

Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf also owned the Bulls, and he kept honoring Jordan's basketball contract through the baseball experiment.

Michael Jordan has appeared on the box of which breakfast cereal a record 18 times?

Wheaties has pictured him 18 times, four more than runner-up Tiger Woods, and named him an official spokesperson in 1988.

Michael Jordan traded trick shots with which fellow NBA legend in a famous McDonald's Super Bowl commercial?

Larry Bird and Jordan were shooting for Jordan's lunch in the ad: the winner got the meal, and the loser had to watch him eat it.

In Game 6 of the 1997 Finals, a double-teamed Michael Jordan passed to which teammate for the title-winning shot?

Steve Kerr was left wide open when Utah sent two defenders at Jordan, and he sank a 17-footer with five seconds left.

Which Western Conference champion lost the 1996 NBA Finals in six games to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls?

Seattle SuperSonics star Gary Payton took over guarding Jordan once his team fell 3–0 behind, and Seattle won the next two games before Chicago finished the job.

Michael Jordan was the cover athlete of the 2011 edition of which basketball video game series?

NBA 2K gave its 2011 edition a 'Jordan Challenge' mode that asks players to recreate ten of his greatest feats, such as a 69-point game.

Which injury-prone Kentucky center was drafted one pick ahead of Michael Jordan in 1984?

Sam Bowie arrived with an injury-laden college career, and ESPN later named his selection the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history.

Which Detroit Pistons star was left off the 1992 Dream Team, reportedly at Michael Jordan's insistence?

Isiah Thomas lost the final professional roster spot to Clyde Drexler, and Jordan has since denied ever mentioning his name to the selectors.

Whose three-pointer in Game 6 of the 1993 Finals sealed a three-peat for Michael Jordan's Bulls?

John Paxson's shot sealed a 99–98 win and made Chicago the first team since the 1960s to win three championships in a row.

During the 1993 NBA playoffs, Michael Jordan stirred controversy by being seen gambling at which resort?

Atlantic City made headlines a year after he admitted covering $57,000 in gambling losses, and the same year an acquaintance's book claimed to have won $1.25 million from him.

Which coach devised the 'Jordan Rules' defense to rough up Michael Jordan, then coached him on the Dream Team?

Chuck Daly drew up the plan after Jordan scored 59 on his Pistons in April 1988, then started him in every game at the 1992 Olympics.

Which Chicago Bulls general manager built all six title teams yet clashed repeatedly with Michael Jordan?

Jerry Krause was twice named NBA Executive of the Year, yet Jordan reportedly mocked him with the nickname 'Crumbs' after years of clashes.

Which team took Michael Jordan's Bulls to a deciding seventh game in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals?

Indiana Pacers pushed Chicago to the limit: it was the first Game 7 Jordan had played since the 1992 semifinals against the Knicks.

As a team executive in 2001, Michael Jordan spent the NBA draft's first overall pick on which high schooler?

Kwame Brown was the first player ever drafted number one straight out of high school, but he fell short of expectations and was traded after four seasons.

Which forward, named Most Outstanding Player of the 1982 Final Four, played alongside freshman Michael Jordan?

James Worthy scored 28 points in the title game and went first overall in that summer's NBA draft, while Jordan stayed in school for two more seasons.

Which coach, notorious for once throwing a chair across the court, led Michael Jordan and the 1984 US Olympic team?

Bob Knight, nicknamed 'the General', took a young squad to those Games, with Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin and Sam Perkins alongside Jordan.

Michael Jordan led the whole NBA three times in which statistic, including the 1993 title season?

Steals were his signature off the ball: he was the first player in NBA history to record 200 of them along with 100 blocked shots in one season.

Michael Jordan marked his 60th birthday in 2023 with a $10 million gift to which charity?

Make-A-Wish named him its Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008, and in 2013 he fulfilled his 200th wish for the organization.

Which goggle-wearing power forward was the third scoring option on Michael Jordan's first three title teams?

Horace Grant kept his trademark goggles even after laser surgery fixed his eyesight, because parents told him he inspired children who wore glasses.

In Space Jam, Michael Jordan's Tune Squad plays a team of supersized aliens known by what name?

The Monstars start out as tiny creatures and bulk up by taking the talent of five NBA players, among them Shawn Bradley and Muggsy Bogues.

In the 1991 cartoon series ProStars, Michael Jordan was a crime-fighting superhero alongside which ice hockey great?

Wayne Gretzky and a two-sport football and baseball star completed the trio, in a show first intended for ESPN that ended up on NBC.

Michael Jordan took the court in a nameless No. 12 for one 1990 game for what reason?

His jersey was stolen before a Valentine's Day game against Orlando, leaving him in a spare top with no name on the back.

Which card company's 1986–87 basketball set contains Michael Jordan's most famous rookie card?

Fleer helped resurrect the basketball card industry with that 132-card set, which also holds the rookie cards of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

Grove XXIII, the Florida club where Michael Jordan is the majority investor, is devoted to which sport?

Golf has long been his other game: from 2001 to 2014 he hosted a celebrity tournament every year that raised money for charity.

Which Nike designer's Air Jordan III is credited with keeping Michael Jordan from leaving the company?

Tinker Hatfield went on to lead the design of every Air Jordan from the III to the XV, and Nike's co-founder credits that first one with saving the company.

Which future World Series-winning manager was Michael Jordan's skipper in minor league baseball in 1994?

Terry Francona managed Jordan's Double-A club in 1994, a decade before he led the Red Sox to their first championship since 1918.

Which Alan Parsons Project instrumental has been played at Chicago Bulls home games since Michael Jordan's rookie year?

Sirius lasts under two minutes and was written purely as a lead-in to the title track of the band's 1982 album Eye in the Sky.

Michael Jordan's early Bulls contract had an unusual 'Love of the Game' clause that let him do what?

Play basketball anywhere, anytime, against anyone: that was the promise of the clause, a freedom teams of the era rarely put in writing.

Which 2000 picture book about young Michael Jordan was written by his mother, Deloris, and his sister Roslyn?

Salt in His Shoes is named for a home remedy his mother suggests in the story, and its paintings are the work of illustrator Kadir Nelson.

Michael Jordan first played for the US national team at the 1983 Pan American Games in which city?

Caracas, Venezuela, saw his debut while he was still a student, the start of a national team career in which he never lost a tournament game.

Which head coach, who had earlier coached Julius Erving, led the Bulls in Michael Jordan's rookie season?

Kevin Loughery joined Chicago from the Hawks in 1983 on a three-year contract and, over his career, took five different teams to the NBA playoffs.

After his Double-A season in 1994, Michael Jordan played for which Arizona Fall League team?

Scottsdale Scorpions games pitted him against baseball's top prospects, and he batted .252, a clear step up from his summer average.

Which Chicago Bulls general manager made the call to draft Michael Jordan in 1984?

Rod Thorn ran the Bulls from 1978 until March 1985, so he was gone before his famous pick had even finished his rookie season.

Michael Jordan's Dream Team lost a 1992 practice game, 62–54, to a hand-picked squad of what?

College players such as Penny Hardaway and Allan Houston won it, though an assistant coach later said the head coach threw the game to teach his stars a lesson.

The pose in Nike's Jumpman logo of Michael Jordan matches a leap from which discipline?

Ballet's grand jeté is the leap he struck for a Life magazine photo shoot in 1984, before he had played an NBA game, and Nike later had him recreate it.

In the 1984 Life magazine photo that inspired the Jumpman logo, Michael Jordan wore which brand of sneakers?

New Balance sneakers and his Olympic jumpsuit appear in the original shot, so Nike restaged the pose in Chicago with Air Jordans on his feet.

Which personal trainer, first hired on a 30-day trial, went on to work with Michael Jordan for 15 years?

Tim Grover went on to train Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade too, and became an author drawing on that work.