Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan is the standard against which every athlete in every sport is measured. Six NBA championships. Six Finals MVP awards. Five regular season MVP awards. Ten scoring titles. A career that redefined excellence, competitiveness, and the commercial potential of athletic stardom. When people debate who is the greatest basketball player of all time, his name is always the first one spoken.

Born in Brooklyn in 1963 and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, Jordan was famously cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore — a slight that fueled a competitive fire that never dimmed. He attended the University of North Carolina, where he hit the game-winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game as a freshman, and was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1984.

Jordan's six championships with the Bulls, won in two three-peats (1991-93, 1996-98), were achieved with a combination of athletic brilliance, psychological warfare, and an absolute refusal to lose. His Air Jordan brand, launched with Nike in 1984, became the most successful athlete endorsement in history and turned him into a billionaire. His ownership of the Charlotte Hornets made him the first former player to become a majority NBA team owner. His cultural impact — from "Be Like Mike" to The Last Dance — transcends basketball entirely.