"How did Michael Jordan revolutionize the sport of Basketball?"
This is an independant research project I am doing for my Senior year english class. I was told to ask a question, any question, about something that interests me, someting I dont know alot about, something I am willing to become an expert on. Me being a football player who takes the game of football and turns it into a year round sport i concider a full time job decided to pick a sport I normally do not pay much attention to, Basketball. So now that I have the sport picked I have to formulate some sort of question so I asked myself "Who was the best? who was the one who changed the way people watched the sport, who is the face of basketball?". After some research i decided to ask the question "How did Michael Jordan revolutionize the game of basketball?". I want to learn about Michael Jordans life from day one, I am going to blog as I read his Biography and do other online research on his career on and off the court.

BLOG STARTS AT BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!

 

*Must click on "older posts" to start from beginning*

 

Thank you :D

 

Conclusion



How did Michael Jordan Revolutionize the sport of Basketball?


I hope after reading my blog you can answer this question with ease, but to sum it up Michael Jordan is considered the greatest player of all-time, enough said. Not only did Michael change the sport of Basketball he even changed the entire marketing side of the sport as well. Michael Jordan's Brand alone each year feeds 1 Billion dollars into out nations economy with statistics such as:

• The Jordan brand has a 10.8 percent share of the overall US shoe market, which makes it the second biggest brand in the country and more than twice the size of Adidas’ share.
• Three out of every four pairs of basketball shoes sold in this country are Jordan, while 86.5 percent of all basketball shoes sold over $100 are Jordan.

What Michael Jordan did on an off the court is truly inspiring, Michael will go down as one of the most successful players, and business men in history, and will never be forgotten

The Rise of Air Jordan


In the early showing of Michael Jordan's true talent after he won his first MVP title and Championship with the bulls he released his first signature shoe, the Air Jordan I , the the NBA immediately stepped in and banned the shoe because they featured "non-regulation" colors, the rule stated that all shoes worn by players must be white. Keep in mind that back in these days there was no such thing as "swagger" in the Basketball world, they all for the most part wore the same shoes, they didn't have signature wristbands, shooting sleeves, calf sleeves, headbands it was just classic basketball apparel. Jordan ignored the ban of the shoe and rather chose to  pay a fine for every single game he wore them in until they revoked the rule, a very bold statement from such a young star in the league. This young star started the one of greatest shoe company's in history, and was responsible for the shoe boom that followed,  and was branded by one of the most iconic  recognized symbols in marketing history, Air Jordan.

Since the release of the Jordan I, he has released 58 different versions of shoes, he releases signature shoes made by current NBA All-stars. His shoe brand is a worldwide phenomenon and it is the sole creator of the "sneaker head image". For example, a barber in New York owns over 1100 pairs of shoes, he spends nearly half his salary on shoes, some pairs worth up to $10,000 dollars. He said this collection started after the first pair of jordans released and he has fought to collect as many pairs of Jordan's he can get his hand on. In his shop he has hung this clock up showing the first 12 pairs of Jordan's made, these shoes are so rare that the net worth of all the first 12 is over $70,000 dollars. 

Jordan is the single most successful shoe brand in history and it continues to grow even after Michael Jordan has left the game of basketball forever, his greatness continues even after his career is over which symbolizes the brand of Jordan and how he truly revolutionized the sport of Basketball.

The Dynasty & NBA Achievements

Michael Jordan was declared the most recognizable face in the world in 2010, and its because of what he did with the chicago bulls from 1991-1998, winning a record breaking 6 NBA championship's out of the 8 years he played there, also earning MVP 5 out of the 6 times, when Michael played for Chicago, he was considered a god like player for the city of Chicago, a player that "Could not be contained"

Michael didn't just win Rings and Championships he broke records and by the end of his NBA career he had compiled one of the longest lists of accolades in basketball history:

 Six-time NBA champion- (1991-93, 1996-98)
 NBA MVP- (1988, '91, '92, '96, '98);
10-time All-NBA First Team- (1987-93, 1996-98)
 All-NBA Second Team- (1985)
  Defensive Player of the Year- (1988)
 Nine-time All-Defensive First Team- (1988-93, 1996-98)
 Rookie of the Year- (1985)
 14-time All-Star; All-Star MVP- (1988, '96, '98)
 One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History- (1996)
Two-time Olympic gold medalist -(1984, '92)

he also averaged the most points per game out of anyone to play a game in NBA history: 30.12

 

 

 

Michael was a living legend for the city of Chicago and will never be forgotten, he changed Chicago's franchise to one that will be around forever and will go down in history as the best basketball player to ever play the sport.

 

 

 

 

 

The Draft


Michael Jordan declared for the draft after his junior season, in the same class as hall of famer Hakeem Olajuwan, and Same Bowie who at the time were both projected to be the next "legends in the making" as well, Michael Jordan was just another average name in the Draft. He was selected 3rd Overall by the Chicago Bulls, the team where he would become a star, Hakeem was selected first by the Houston Rockets, Bowie who was battling injury's at the time was picked second by the Portland trail blazers.

 

Sam Bowie, a big name out of the University of Kentucky, was still picked second after fighting injurys his sophomore, junior, and senior year. Portland told Bowie he would get the 2nd pick in the draft if he passed their physical set a week before the draft. Bowie had broke his tibulla just before his sophmore season at Kentucky, the doctors casted it up for 6 months to heal and and when they took it off they found bowie had a rare disease that caused his body to make very little natural calcium, the cast had not healed him at all, in resuly it caused him to sit out his junior and senior season as well. When he came back and declared for the draft, known for his oustanding freshman year he was knowhere near 100%, but he didn't tell that to Portland. He fought threw the pain of a physical because he knew his career would be over if he didn't, and he passed. Portland was "a small city looking for a big man."  In the ESPN documentary on Sam's career he admited that the physical was very painful to him but he said "if what i did was lieing, if what i did was wrong, at the end of the day when your family has needs, i did what anyone would of done."  They even said that Michael didnt even get a look after he passed that physical.

This is particularly interesting to me because Sam Bowie rebroke his tibulla late in his rookie year for the Trail Blazers, if he didnt lie about his readiness to play, then Michael would of never went to the Bulls, one player completely changed the history of the sport of basketball simply by lieing about a physical. Who knows what would of happened if Bowie wouldn't of went to Portland, what would of happened to what people now call the greatest basketball dynasty in hisory, the Chicago Bulls.. What about Michael? do you think he still would of been considered the "best basketball player ever" if he went to Portland? The fact is that Michael was happier than ever when dreafted by the Bulls putting up 30 point games, 40 point games over and over and in reality all  Portland could do is watch. One of my favorite quotes from Jordan was when he won Rookie of the year and in his acceptance speech he thanked Portland for "Not picking him". His rookie year was also the year he had 42 points alone against Portland where "The shrug" became a peice of basketball history, symbolizing that Portland missed their chance.

The history of basketball was changed by one players lie, and to me that is amazing,  but for michael it was the best thing that had ever happened to him, it led him to start the next chapter in his life.  The greatest dynasty in Basketball history: The Chicago Bulls.

College


When Michael got to Chapel Hill he was quickly accepted by the team and the coaches, Nobody had heard the name Jordan until his first game when he was introduced on the starting lineup, as a freshman. Fans of North Carolina knew immediately they were going to see greatness because Dean Smith, the head coach, was never a supporter of putting freshman on the court. He believed that players should mature and get in tune with the program before the idea of playing time was a factor. For Michael Jordan, this did effect Coach Smith's decision. The fans were awestruck when they heard his name for the first time but soon were mezmorized by his play on the court.

As his freshman year went on they dominated NCAA basketball. He was instrumental in the Tar Heels' run to the 1982 National Championshipl, averaging 13.5 points per game. When they entered the tournament the run continued. It wasnt until the title game against Patrick Ewing and Georgetown that Michael had his first breakout game. The Hoyas led, 62-61 with 32 seconds left in the game. After a timeout, Michael Jordan took a pass from teammate Jimmy Black, and pivoted to take a 16-foot jump shot that went through the basket with 15 seconds remaining. The Tar Heels would take home the national championship with a 63-62 win. After Jordan's game-winning basket, UNC assistant coach Eddie Fogler said, "The kid doesn't even realize it yet, but he's part of history now. People will remember that shot 25 years from now."

Although he wouldn't win another National Championship while at North Carolina, Jordan had a storybook college career. He was named an All-American in both his sophomore and junior seasons, and was the College Player of the Year after his junior campaign. He averaged 17.7 points per game over his college career with North Carolina. He then enters the next chapter of his revolution, the NBA.