Michael Jordan tried out for his high-school varsity basketball team as a sophomore in North Carolina. He didn’t make it. He went home, cried, and started practicing harder than anyone else. By his senior year he was a college recruit, and a year later he made the winning shot in the NCAA championship game.
In 1984 the Chicago Bulls drafted him. Over the next 15 years Jordan averaged just over 30 points per game (the highest in NBA history), won 6 NBA championships, and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player 5 times. He could glide through the air for what seemed like seconds before dunking the ball.
Jordan briefly retired in 1993 to try professional baseball - partly to honor his father, who had recently died. He came back to basketball and won three more championships. His Air Jordan sneakers, released in 1985, are still one of the best-selling shoe lines in the world.
