Air Jordan, is one of the two most explosive dunkers of all-time, the other being Dr. J. He has won the Slam Dunk
Contest Twice (1987 and 1988, competing previously in 1985), then basically retired from the competition. Michael
dons a brand new pair of Air Jordans for each game, usually donating the pair after the game.
Jordan's father, James, was killed in a robbery in 1993. This devastating event in Michael's life was partially
responsible for him leaving the NBA. He claimed that basketball held no more challenges for him. He turned to
Baseball for a challenge where he played in the White Sox organization. He was quick, and could play defense, but
he just couldn't do enough with the bat. His return to basketball came on March 19, 1995 against Indiana. The Bulls
had retired Jordan's number 23 on November 11, 1994.
When Michael returned he wore number 45, but soon returned to his familiar number 23. After a shaky return at the
end of the 1995 season (only scoring 26.9 ppg), he was back in full form for 1995-96, winning another scoring title.
He was named the MVP for the fourth time in 1996 and won his fourth NBA Championship and won his fourth
NBA Finals MVP Trophy. Jordan was only the second person; the other was Willis Reed in 1970, to win the MVP
for the regular season, Finals and AS Game. Jordan did it in 1996 after making his return and leading the Bulls to an
NBA record 72 wins.
Jordan led his Bull's to a Sixth NBA Championship in 1998, and he added a fifth MVP Trophy in 1998, after losing
out to Karl Malone in 1997. He also beat Karl's Jazz for the Title that year. Jordan joins Kareem Abdul Jabbar and
Bill Russell as the only five time winners of the MVP, Jabbar has actually won it six times. Jordan was named MVP
in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996 and now in 1998. In 1996 he was also selected to be on the All-Interview team, along
with Malone, Barkley, Magic and Jayson Williams. He was a repeat on the All-Interview in 1998 when everyone
asked him about his retirement. During the summer of 1996, Michael starred in his first feature movie, Space Jam
alongside Bugs Bunny, Marvin Martian and Porky Pig.
The movie idea was born in a series of McDonalds commercials. The movie was definitely Michael's vehicle, as it focused on his life, giving us some tidbits of what it was like to grow up as MJ. Jordan signed a huge one year contract for 1996-97 in which he will make over 30 million dollars. Finally, since Jordan has always been one of the most underpaid players in the league, making most of his salary from endorsements. The Bulls renewed his contract in 1997-98 for a reported 33 million for one year. Michael announced his retirement from basketball and the Chicago Bulls for a second and final time on January 13, 1999. Debate will continue for years whether or not he was the greatest of all time. No one can replace Michael, but here are some of my suggestions of some players who could Be Like Mike.