Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player and active businessman. Proclaimed by the National Basketball Association (NBA) as the "greatest player of all time", bio.html" target="_blank">Michael Jordan, nba.com/history, accessed January 15, 2007. Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation, and was instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
After a stand-out career at the _University of North Carolina, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as one of the stars of the league, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line at Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation as one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Though Jordan abruptly left the NBA at the beginning of the 1993-94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but he returned for two more NBA seasons in 2001 as a member of the Washington Wizards. Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances and three All-Star MVP, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA record for highest career regular season scoring average with 30.1 points per game, as well as averaging a record 33.4 points per game in the playoffs. In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press's list of athletes of the century.
Jordan is also noted for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1985 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred in the 1996 feature film Space Jam. He is currently a part-owner and Managing Member of Basketball Operations of the Charlotte Bobcats in his home state of North Carolina.
Michael Jordan (born April 7, 1986 in Enfield, London) is an English football goalkeeper. He is currently has no team after leaving Chesterfield by mutual consent, having formerly been at Arsenal.
He signed as a professional on November 1, 2004 after making impressive performances for the youth team. However, he never played for the Arsenal first team; the closest he came was appearing on the bench for a Carling Cup match on November 9, 2005 against Reading, a match Arsenal won 3-1.
On March 9 2006 Jordan was signed by Yeovil Town on a month's loan, as goalkeeping cover during an injury crisis. The loan was later extended to the end of the season, but at the end of it Yeovil declined to make the deal permanent and Jordan returned to Arsenal in May. blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/yeovil/4751783.stm On June 30 2006, Arsenal released Jordan on a free transfer. http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=399712&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Three+youngsters+are+released+by+Arsenal
In July 2006, Jordan was invited for a week's trial at Chesterfield by manager _Roy McFarland. The trial materialised into a more permanent deal, with Jordan playing six times for Chesterfield in the following twelve months.
He left Chesterfield by mutual consent on 7th of March 2008 after learning he would not be offered a new contract at the end of the season, so he went to seek football elsewhere.
Jordan has represented England at under-17 and under-19 levels.
