Word: jordaning
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Jordan's delight in the sport is not the main reason he plays basketball. Competition drives Michael Jordan. Incessantly. Whether on the court or weaving his bright red Ferrari Testarossa in and out of Chicago's midday traffic or even putting golf balls on the Astroturf green in his basement, he is constantly testing himself and the opposition. Sometimes that burning competitive drive overrides Jordan's legendary coolness. Last year during a full-court scrimmage with teammates, Jordan stormed out of practice after angrily accusing coach Doug Collins of miscounting the score. Jordan finds motivation for the court each night...
...Jordan's appeal shines through on the bottom line: he may be the biggest draw in professional sports. Since he entered the NBA after helping the U.S. basketball team win the Olympic gold medal in 1984, the association's gross revenues have nearly doubled, to $300 million, and average attendance is up . nearly 4,000 seats a game, to 13,420. At home the Bulls sold out more games over the past 18 months than they had during their entire 22-year history. In a sport that too often becomes sheer drudgery -- the season begins around Halloween...
That ferocious competitive drive has propelled Jordan since his boyhood in Wilmington, N.C., where he grew up the fourth of five children in a close-knit middle-class family. Although his parents James and Deloris pushed education, not sports, Michael developed into an athlete for all seasons, successfully competing in baseball, football and basketball. Larry Jordan, one year his elder, would prove a motivating force. Though Michael eventually outpaced and outgrew Larry, who still plays semipro basketball, he credits his elder brother for his aggressive style of play. "When you see me play," he says, "you see Larry play...
...high school that Jordan began a lifelong obsession with basketball shoes. "There is something about new basketball sneakers that makes you feel better and play better," he says. Nike, Inc., was smart enough to exploit that passion. The firm had done reasonably well with its running shoes, but his namesake black-and-red Air Jordan sneakers put Nike on the basketball-shoe map in 1985 and sent its revenues into orbit, helping to generate more than $70 million in sales the first year. During the season, Jordan satisfies the dreams of dozens of admiring fans by giving away a pair...
...Jordan first became a national sensation on an evening in March 1982 with "the Shot," as appreciative locals still call it. Jordan, then a freshman at the University of North Carolina, nailed a 17-ft. jumper to win the school's first national championship in 25 years. Over the next two seasons, as accolades and awards poured in, Jordan maintained a healthy perspective. Dean Smith, the coach at Chapel Hill, had a lot to do with that. "Coach Smith challenged us on the court," says Jordan, "but also encouraged us in the classroom...