Black history Month
GERREN SMITH SPORTS EDITOR’S NOTE: IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH IN FEBRUARY, A FAMOUS AND LOCAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN SPORTS FIGURE WILL BE FEATURED AS THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE DAY THROUGHOUT THE MONTH TO RECOGNIZE THEIR SIGNIFICANCE, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND THE IMPACT THEY HAVE MADE IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.
FAMOUS SPORTS
SPOTLIGHT OF THE DAY
HISTORY IN THE MAKING:
THE goat on his 60th birthday
HIS AIRNESS MICHAEL JORDAN
The Greatest of All Time Pro Basketball Icon NBA Hall of Famer/6-time NBA Champion Successful Businessman/owner
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official National Basketball Association (NBA) website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He was integral in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process. Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Jordan’s individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP Awards, ten ALL-NBA First Team designations, nine All-defensive First Team honors ( joint record), fourteen NBA All-star Game selections, three All-star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the 20th century’s greatest North American athlete by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press’ list of athletes of the century. Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career and again in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men’s Olympic basketball team (“The Dream Team”). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015. Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 20th-most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike. In June 2014, Jordan was named the first NBA player to become a billionaire, after he increased his stake in the Charlotte Hornets from 80% to 89.5%. On January 20, 2015, Jordan was honored with the Charlotte Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year for 2014. In 2017, he became a part owner of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. As of 2021, his net worth is estimated at $1.6 billion by Forbes, making him the fifth-richest African-american, behind Robert F. Smith, David Steward, Oprah Winfrey, and Kanye West.