THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN

You know who that is, but do you ever wonder how you came to know?

Who IS Michael Jordan?

The simple answer is that Michael Jordan was a basketball player who became a star. He went from being a star to being a NBA superstar. When people believed he could go no higher, he transcended sports altogether and became a international icon. To many, he was simply GOAT, the Greatest Of All Time.

Michael Jordan was basketball, and basketball was Michael Jordan. At one point during the peak of his career, Michael Jordan became an international celebrity. He filled stadiums where ever he went. Children from remote villages in China went to sleep with Michael Jordan’s poster on their walls. And every kid on a playground trying to dunk a basketball pretended to be like Mike.

So how did he become the Michael Jordan that we all know today?

Now that’s the question I want to answer.

It may come as a surprise, but Michael Jordan was not always destined to become a NBA player, much less the greatest NBA player of all time. He didn’t come from an athletic family. His dad was a mechanic and mom a bank teller. And no one else in his family was over 6 feet tall. Genetically at least, the odds were stacked against him.

Michael was not a basketball prodigy either. To most people who knew him growing up, Michael was just a goofy kid who liked to play basketball. He wasn’t the most popular kid at school and the older boys often made fun of Michael for sticking out his tongue during ball games. In fact, Michael Jordan learned how to iron his own clothes because he thought he would never get a girlfriend!

And yet somehow, that goofy kid with the wagging tongue made his dreams come true…

To truly answer the question of how Michael Jordan became Michael Jordan, we have to go back the past, and watch him evolve in front of our eyes.

We have to watch how the young boy with a nose for trouble evolved into a young man with a fierce competitive streak,

and how that young man with a passion for basketball evolved into a budding college star,

and how the college star who learned to fly evolved into a NBA scoring champion,

and how that NBA scoring champion with something to prove evolved into a NBA legend.

They say that evolution is the survival of the fittest, where the weak ones die out leaving only the strong. Michael Jordan took that same approach with himself. Any time he found a weakness in himself, he worked at it until it became a strength.

His life is composed of a series of obstacles, each of which he turned into an evolutionary step. With each step he discarded another weakness, and picked up another strength, eventually becoming the Michael Jordan that we all know. His life is a story of challenge, of struggle, and of ultimate triumph. We should learn all we can from this incredible story.

And now here I am, attempting to tell this incredible journey like it has never been told before. And we start, from the very beginning.

THE EVOLUTION OF MICHAEL JORDAN

From New York to Laney

• Chapter 1: The wonder years
• Chapter 2: Love and basketball

From a Tar Heel to a Bull

• Chapter 3: Jordan First ever TV appearance
• Chapter 4: Jordan’s first game as a starter in college
• Chapter 5: 1982 NCAA national championship
• Chapter 6: Birth of Air Jordan
• Chapter 7: 1983 Pan American games

From a rookie to a contender

1984-1985

• Chapter 8: 1984 NBA draft
• Chapter 9: 1984 Olympic Games
• Chapter 10: NBA debut
• Chapter 11: Rookie year in Chicago
• Chapter 12: First 40+ point game
• Chapter 13: 1985 All-star slam dunk contest
• Chapter 14: 1985 All-star game
• Chapter 15: the Air Jordan I and his other trademarks
• Chapter 16: 1985 Playoffs
• Chapter 17: Rookie of the year

1985-1986

• Chapter 18: The broken foot
• Chapter 19: 63 points at the Boston Garden

1986-1987

• Chapter 20: 86-87 Jordan’s assault on the record books (part 1)
• Chapter 21: 86-87 Jordan’s assault on the record books (part 2)
• Chapter 22: 23 points in a row vs. Hawks
• Chapter 23:  First slam dunk championship

1987-1988

• Chapter 24: The arrival of Pippen and Grant
• Chapter 25: The dynamic duo of Jordan and Pippen
• Chapter 26: The new and improved Bulls
• Chapter 27: Dominique Wilkins vs. Michael Jordan, the slam dunk showdown
• Chapter 28: 1988 All-star game MVP
• Chapter 29: A strong run to the playoffs
• Chapter 30: MVP and Defensive player of the year
• Chapter 31: Round 1 vs. the Cavs
• Chapter 32: The Pistons and the “Jordan Rules”

From a contender to a champion

1988-1989

• Chapter 33: Heightened expectations and early challenges
• Chapter 34: 10,000 points
• Chapter 35: Michael and his critics
• Chapter 36: Michael Jordan becomes a point guard
• Chapter 37: The triple double run
• Chapter 38: Tight series against Cleveland
• Chapter 39: Game 5 and “The Shot”
• Chapter 40: MJ rolls over the Knicks
• Chapter 41: Pistons, round 2

1989-1990

Chapter 42: The Phil Jackson era

From a champion to a legend

Chapter : First NBA championship

Chapter : The three-peat

Chapter : 1992 Olympic games

Chapter : Michael and his gambling

Chapter : The murder of his father and his retirement

Chapter : Michael plays baseball

and much more!

Any questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please let me know! Feedback is always encouraged.