50 Fun Facts About Michael Jordan

In which city was Michael Jordan born on 17 February 1963?

The family moved to Wilmington in 1968; his mother Deloris worked at a bank and his father James was an equipment supervisor.

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

He was 5 ft 11 at the time; he responded by starring on the JV team with several 40-point games and grew four inches over the summer.

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

He was a freshman under Dean Smith and had already been named ACC Freshman of the Year.

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

Houston took Hakeem Olajuwon and Portland took Sam Bowie, a choice ESPN later called the worst draft pick in North American pro sports history.

How many points did Jordan score in his NBA debut on 26 October 1984?

A ticket stub from the game sold for $264,000 in 2021, a record; he averaged 28.2 points as a rookie.

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

The Bulls lost the double-overtime game and were swept, but Elgin Baylor's single-game playoff record was gone.

In 1986-87 Jordan averaged 37.1 a night and became only the second man ever to do what?

Wilt Chamberlain was the other; Jordan still lost the MVP vote that year to Magic Johnson.

In 1988 Jordan became the first man ever to win which two awards in a career?

He averaged 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks that season while also winning the Slam Dunk Contest for a second straight year.

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

The Bulls then lost the Eastern Conference Finals to Detroit's 'Bad Boys' for the second of three straight years.

Which Isiah Thomas-led Pistons squad eliminated Jordan's Bulls three years running from 1988 to 1990?

Isiah had also led a rookie-year All-Star 'freeze-out' of Jordan; the Bulls finally swept Detroit in 1991.

What was Jordan's career-high single-game point total, set against Cleveland in March 1990?

The Bulls won 117-113 on the road; his 63 against Boston remains the playoff record.

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

Jordan admitted in The Last Dance that he was initially reluctant to buy in.

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

He avoided a possible Sam Perkins block, won his first Finals MVP, and cried holding the trophy.

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

He scored a Finals-record 35 in the half; the media had hyped the series as 'Air' Jordan versus Clyde 'The Glide' Drexler.

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

Jordan averaged a Finals-record 41 points against Barkley's Suns and became the first to win three straight Finals MVPs.

Jordan's dad James was murdered in July 1993 at a highway rest area in which state?

The two teenage killers received life sentences; Jordan later said the loss shaped his first retirement three months later.

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

James Jordan did it while absorbed in work; Michael made it a signature on drives to the basket.

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

The White Sox affiliate's owner Jerry Reinsdorf also owned the Bulls and kept paying Jordan's basketball contract; he stole 30 bases.

Jordan announced his 1995 NBA comeback with what two-word press release?

His first game back, against Indiana, drew the highest Nielsen rating of any regular-season NBA game since 1975.

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

His No. 23 had been retired in November 1994; the Bulls were fined $25,000 when he switched back mid-series without notice.

The 1995-96 Bulls set a then-record regular-season mark of what?

They started 41-3 with new signing Dennis Rodman and beat Seattle in the Finals; Jordan swept the All-Star, regular-season and Finals MVPs.

How many points did Jordan score in the 1997 'Flu Game' against Utah?

He was feverish and dehydrated, reportedly from a bad pizza; the Bulls won 90-88 and took the series in six.

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

With 5.2 seconds left he crossed over, possibly pushing off, and gave Chicago an 87-86 lead; Stockton missed the reply.

Jordan's 45 in the 1998 Finals clincher in Utah set which record, tied by Jalen Brunson in 2026?

It capped a sixth Finals MVP; the 1998 Finals remain the highest-rated in TV history.

How many NBA Finals MVP awards did Jordan win, an all-time record?

One for each championship; he also holds the record with ten scoring titles.

What is Jordan's NBA career regular-season scoring average, the highest of all time?

His 33.4 playoff average is also the record; only eight players have won the NCAA title, an NBA title and Olympic gold, as he did.

On which date did Jordan retire for the second time, amid the NBA lockout?

Phil Jackson's contract was expiring and Pippen and Rodman were leaving; a year later he became part-owner of the Wizards.

Jordan said he would donate his 2001-02 Wizards salary to what cause?

He announced the comeback on 25 September 2001; a friend, Mario Lemieux's NHL return, had inspired him.

In February 2003 Jordan became the first 40-year-old in NBA history to do what?

He also passed Kareem as the All-Star Game's all-time scorer that season, a mark Kobe and LeBron later broke.

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

McGrady and Iverson offered first; Jordan refused them but accepted Carter's.

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

He scored 13, sat down in the third quarter, and returned to sink two free throws after chants of 'We want Mike!'

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

Pat Riley's Heat hung the number as a tribute during his farewell tour.

How many Olympic gold medals did Jordan win as a player?

Once as a collegian and once in Barcelona with the Dream Team, where he was the only player to start all eight games.

Which former NC State star, his boyhood idol, presented Jordan at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction?

He admitted in his speech he grew up a Wolfpack fan, not a Tar Heels fan; the speech famously turned emotional and score-settling.

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

Podoloff was the league's first commissioner; the Finals trophy remains the Larry O'Brien.

Nike introduced the Air Jordan sneaker line in which year?

His shoes from a 1985 exhibition in Trieste, where he shattered a backboard, sold for a then-record $615,000 in 2020.

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

The Trieste dunk was filmed and is treated as a milestone in the making of the Air Jordan brand.

Jordan starred as himself alongside Bugs Bunny in which 1996 film?

The Emmy-winning documentary series The Last Dance followed in 2020, chronicling the 1997-98 Bulls.

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

They became the Hornets in 2013; he sold his majority stake in 2023, having first bought in as minority owner in 2006.

Which NASCAR Cup Series team did Jordan co-found with Denny Hamlin in 2020?

The name is a nod to his jersey number; he has also owned a motorcycle road-racing team since 2004.

Michael Jordan's 2006 divorce from Juanita Vanoy reportedly cost him how much?

They had married at A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in 1989 and had three children.

Jordan and his second wife, Yvette Prieto, welcomed what in February 2014?

They married in April 2013 at Bethesda-by-the-Sea; Jordan became a grandfather in 2019.

Which US president awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016?

The Chicagoan president called him more than an internet meme; Jordan is also on a record 50 Sports Illustrated covers.

Jordan's teammate Scottie Pippen and he are the only two players since the 1976 merger to do what?

Pippen developed into an All-Star while Jordan adjusted to the triangle, and both were on the 1992 Dream Team.

How many seasons did Jordan lead the NBA in scoring, a league record?

He tied Wilt Chamberlain's mark of seven consecutive titles and made the All-Defensive First Team nine times.

Which broadcaster claimed Jordan could read baseball box scores on a 27-inch TV from about 50 feet away?

Phil Jackson said Jordan would have been fouled on every play and still averaged 30 in the physical 2001 Finals era.

Jordan's total of 32,292 regular-season points places him where on the all-time list?

LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant are ahead of him, all with more seasons.

Which two Slam Dunk Contests did Jordan win with his free-throw-line dunks?

The leaps earned him the nicknames 'Air Jordan' and 'His Airness'.

When the Bulls retired Jordan's No. 23 in November 1994, they unveiled which sculpture?

He was still a minor-league baseball player at the time; the statue became a Chicago landmark.

Which Bulls coach moved Jordan to point guard in 1988-89?

Jordan responded with a run of triple-doubles; Collins later coached him again with the Wizards.