Michael Jordan played basketball for the Chicago Bulls. Before 1992 the U.S. sent amateurs to the Olympics; the 1984 team was the last amateur team to win gold, and 1992 brought the first Dream Team of NBA players. Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing led the U.S. men's basketball team at the 1984 Olympics, coached by Bob Knight, and the 1984 team went 8-0 in Los Angeles, with an average margin of victory of 32.1 points. The 1992 U.S. Olympic men's team is considered the best basketball team of all time; it won every game by at least 30 points, and it won by an average of 43.8 points per game, and it beat Croatia 117-85 in the gold-medal game. Michael Jordan won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a member of the Dream Team, and he started every game for the U.S. and averaged 14.9 points; Charles Barkley led the team at 18.

Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, and he went to Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, and he went to college at the University of North Carolina. In the 1982 NCAA title game, North Carolina was behind 62-61 when Jordan, a 19-year-old freshman, hit a jump shot against Georgetown, and North Carolina won 63-62. Georgetown was led by 7-foot center Patrick Ewing, who scored 28 points.

Michael Jordan played his first NBA game on October 26, 1984. In 1985 Michael Jordan was Rookie of the Year, while Bernard King led the NBA in scoring that season. In 1984-85, his rookie season, Jordan averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game, and the Bulls went 38-44 and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs. On April 20, 1986, he scored 63 points against the Boston Celtics, an NBA playoff record as of November 2026.

Michael Jordan wore number 23 for the Chicago Bulls; in November 1994, the Bulls held a two-hour ceremony at the new United Center for Michael Jordan's number 23. At that ceremony the Bulls unveiled an 11-foot bronze sculpture of Jordan at their new home; after the 1993 title, Michael Jordan retired from basketball and played professional baseball; the Bulls finished the 1994-95 season 47-35 after Jordan's return for the last 17 games, and lost to the Orlando Magic four games to two.

Michael Jordan led the NBA in scoring at 31.5 (1990-91), 32.6 (1992-93), 30.4 (1995-96) and 28.7 (1997-98) points a game; as of November 2026, his career scoring average of about 30.1 points a game is the highest in the record book, and his playoff scoring average of 33.45 points a game is also the highest in that record book. As of November 2026, Michael Jordan won the Most Valuable Player award five times, he led the NBA in steals three times, and he was chosen for the NBA All-Defensive team nine times and named to the All-NBA team 11 times. He was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 1987-88 season, and he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. As of November 2026, since 2022-23 the NBA's Most Valuable Player award has been called the Michael Jordan Trophy. In 2009, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Words to know

• amateurs: players not paid
• margin: win size
• sculpture: a carved statue
• ceremony: a special event