Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan, born on February 17,1963 in Brooklyn, New York is considered by many to be the best basketball player ever to play in the NBA (National Basketball Association). Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six championship title and was named MVP of each of those six times, holding the record for the number of post-season MVP titles. “His Airness” also holds five regular season MVP titles as well as being a 14-time All-Star team player and holding another record with his 51 appearances in Sports Illustrated. Jordan also has had international success with the game proven by his three Olympic medals- two gold and one silver, as well as a non-international honor of the retired jersey number 23 hanging at the Bulls home-court. Jordan doesn’t only consume our attention on court, but also on screen. In 1996, Jordan became the star of the movie Space Jam in which he helped save Bugs Bunny and friends from the evil invaders from space.Quite a few of Jordan's icon-building games were won by close calls or coming from behind, and required a lot of determination to finish. However, the basketball legend always fought to the end and caused many upsets by always keeping in mind that "It's not over until there are triple zeros on the scoreboard." While his on-court success has put him in the Hall of Fame, he has also revolutionized sports merchandize. Jordan has received endorsements from many companies including Wheaties, McDonalds, Gatorade, and most of all Nike. Through Nike the sports icon has created his own brand called air Jordan. This brand has infiltrated the industries for both sports apparel and basketball shoes. While consumers flock the stores to buy something with Jordan’s name on it in an attempt to either be cool or try and make themselves as iconic and successful as the man behind the brand, Jordan has recently celebrated his 50th birthday and is currently the primary owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. After losing many important games early on in his career with the Bulls, Jordan said that him and his team "learned that it took a little bit more than just desire, that you had to put the work on the basketball court, the determination." Jordan teaches this to the members of the Bobcats, to try and encourage/persuade the players that hard work is essential for success.