Michael Jordan: The Greatest Of All Time Michael Jordan is a household name known for his remarkable achievements including numerous gold medals, recognitions, and awards. Jordan’s time with the Chicago Bulls laid the foundations for his long-lasting legacy, fueled by passion, dedication, and determination that was admired by generations of players. Despite leaving the NBA to pursue the MLB, Jordan always returned to basketball and even played in the Olympics. Eventually leading the Bulls to six NBA championships and winning five MVP awards for himself, Michael Jordan arguably became the greatest basketball player of all time and an unbreakable force on the court. His incredible skills and relentless drive left an everlasting mark on the culture …show more content…
“When you see me play, you see Larry play,” Michael explained (Roland 2014). Pop Herring, the brothers’ high school coach, would later go on to say that if Larry was taller Michael would have been known as “Larry’s brother”, instead of the other way around (Roland 2014). Larry wasn’t as passionate about basketball as Michael, but whenever he would play there was always a distinguishable drive radiating from him, making it obvious where Michael had gotten his from. Entering high school, Michael Jordan wasn’t yet “built for basketball”, he stood a little over 5-foot-7 and was skinny. Although he wasn’t the ideal size, he was still growing, and had enough skills to make up for the lack of length. He was a student at Laney High School, but he wasn’t a stranger to the coaches. Before his high school debut, Michael attended D.C. Virgo Middle School where he caught the attention of varsity coaches. “I remember Jim Hebron telling me when he was a ninth grader he was going to be something special,” said coach Marshall Hamilton, from Southern Wayne High School (Roland 2014). Along with basketball, Michael still played baseball, and even a little …show more content…
Ironically, I wanted them to lose to prove to them that I could help them. This is what I was thinking at the time: You made a mistake by not putting me on the team and you’re going to see it because you’re going to lose,” Michael later explained (Roland 2014). They lost, and that was the first time Michael Jordan had been face-to-face with his own selfishness (Roland 2014). That very next year, Michael was now 6-foot-3. The summer before his junior year, he spent his time praying and putting salt in his shoes. His mother had told him the salt would make him grow, it wouldn’t, but she didn’t have the heart to tell him she had made it up. That junior year he made varsity and his athletic ability completely changed. He had the skills, but now he had the height. “He comes back for junior year, he’s a different guy, no longer skinny little Mike,” Todd Parker, Michael’s former teammate recalled (Roland 2014). He ended up being named McDonald’s All-American that year. Throughout that 1980 season, he caught the attention of many college scouts, he was a great prospect. Pop Herring even wrote a letter to the University of North Carolina (UNC) recommending they take a look at