Michael Jordan was born on January 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in
Wilmington, North Carolina. He has two brothers, is married, and has three kids. He is considered by
many to be the greatest basketball player of all time (Kornbluth). My focus will be on his hardships,
accomplishments, and people who influenced him.
First, I would like to touch on some general information about Michael. He wears number 23 on
his jersey because he considered it to be half of his brother's number, 45. He had wanted 45 because it was
his brother's number and he deeply admired his brother, but he was on the same team as his brother so he
needed to pick a different number. His most well known superstition is that he wears his University of
North Carolina basketball shorts under his game shorts.
When Michael was a kid, his favorite sport was not basketball. In fact, it was baseball. He was a
pitcher on a little league team. He played baseball because he was short (Kornbluth). Later in his life, he
would try to leave the NBA and play major league baseball.
Michael was not always rich. His parents had to work two and three jobs each to support the family.
Before Michael's dad built him a basketball court in his back yard Michael shot, basketballs into a trash can
Michael was not always good at basketball, either. People told Michael that he was too short to
play basketball. Michael now stands six feet six inches tall. He also went to the school gym before school
to shoot baskets, stayed after school to shoot baskets, and could be found in the school gym on weekends
shooting baskets. He also played his brother, Larry, one-on-one in basketball. His brother was only a year
older than Michael was, but he was much better and taller than Michael was. Michael would often times
lose and end up getting in a fight with his brother. Thi...