Ep. 166: Michael Jordan – Top 5 Achievements
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on a man considered as the greatest player of all time, in his sport of basketball, Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan also known as “Air Jordan,” “His Airness,” and MJ was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1963. He grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina where he earned a scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Here he worked extremely hard on his game which culminated with his team at UNC winning a national championship in 1982.
He credits his older brother Larry as his primary influence after countless hours of one on one, in which Larry would always come out on top. It wasn’t until Jordan had a growth spurt that he finally beat his older brother and forged an indominable spirit and ultimate confidence in his ability.
He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and soon wowed crowds with his athleticism and bringing the sport of basketball to new heights. The 90’s was his “miraculum decennium” winning three titles in a row from 91 to 93. After which he retired to then play baseball, then coming back out of retirement to win another three in a row from 96 to 98.
He is a marketing juggernaut with brands like Nike and Gatorade along with the fact that to this day everyone still wants to be like “Mike.”
Today’s mnemonic will be on the top 6 achievements of Michael Jordan.
So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Jordan_in_2014.jpg
Wikipedia Summary
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ,[9] is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 1984 and 2003, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was integral in popularizing basketball and the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s,[10] becoming a global cultural icon.[11] His profile on the NBA website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time."[12][13]
Jordan played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982.[5] Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick[5][14] and quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring while gaining a reputation as one of the best defensive players.[15] His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free-throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness".[5][14]
Jordan won his first NBA title with the Bulls in 1991 and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a three-peat. Citing physical and mental exhaustion from basketball and superstardom, Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the 1993–94 NBA season to play Minor League Baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. He returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three more championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season.[5]
Jordan retired for the second time in January 1999, returning for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.[5][14] He was selected to play for the United States national team during his college and NBA careers, winning four gold medals—at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1984 Summer Olympics, 1992 Tournament of the Americas and 1992 Summer Olympics—while also being undefeated.[16]
In 1999, Jordan 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.[5] Jordan was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, once in 2009 for his individual career,[18] and again in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team").[19]
He became a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2009,[20] a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2010,[21] and an individual member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015 and a "Dream Team" member in 2017.[22][23] Jordan was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team in 1996 and to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.[24] The trophy for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award is named in his honor.
One of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation, Jordan made many product endorsements.[10][25] He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular.[26] Jordan starred as himself in the live-action/animation hybrid film Space Jam (1996) and was the central focus of the Emmy-winning documentary series The Last Dance (2020).
He became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Hornets (then named the Bobcats) in 2006 and bought a controlling interest in 2010, before selling his majority stake in 2023. Jordan is also a co-owner of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2016, he became the first billionaire player in NBA history.[27] That same year, President Barack Obama awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[28] As of November 2024, his net worth is estimated at $3.5 billion by Forbes.[29]
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Jordan_and_Barack_Obama_at_the_White_House.jpg
Mnemonic
Michael Jordan – Top 6 Achievements – TENNIS
(Picture Michael Jordan taking up tennis after he finished his basketball career)
1. Two Olympic gold medals
2. Entry to United States Olympic Hall of Fame
3. NBA Finals Most Valuable Player six times
4. NBA Most Valuable Player five times
5. Inducted twice into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
6. Six NBA championships
Five Fun Facts
1. We address the myth that Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team which then apparently motivated him to new levels. The actual truth according to his former coach, Clifton “Pop” Herring is that Jordan just missed being promoted to the Varsity team and instead, was placed on the junior varsity team.
2. Jordan and Nike are synonymous, but this relationship may have never existed if Jordan had his way. He did not want to meet with Nike representatives, instead, he wanted to make a deal with Adidas whose shoes he loved. So, with a bit of a nudge from his manager along with his parents, he signed with Nike and as of 2022 the Jordan brand has reached over $ 5 billion in sales.
3. Michael Jordan was a man of rituals and good luck charms. After winning the NBA championship in 1991 Jordan smoked his first cigar. From 1993 he decided to smoke a cigar as part of his pregame ritual for home games. Why only home games? Well, apparently, to ease the stress from the traffic coming to the game.
Another ritual was his wearing of his UNC shorts under his Chicago Bulls shorts. He believed them to be his lucky charm as they were the shorts he wore when UNC won the 1982 NCAA championship thanks to Jordan’s winning shot.
4. Michael Jordan suffered from aquaphobia. This came about when he was a child when he was around seven or eight years old when he was playing in the waves with his friend. A strong current dragged his friend under who then grabbed Mike in what they call a “death lock,” where someone can die and they hold onto what is next to them. Michael had to break this lock to save himself from being dragged under.
5. Throughout his career Michael Jordan has given back to the community. He came out of retirement and donated a year’s salary playing for the Wizards to the 9/11 relief fund. While for his 60th birthday, he donated $10 million to Make-A-Wish America, a non-profit, which grants wishes to critically ill children.
Now, remarkably I don’t have a joke for Michael Jordan today, but I do have a fact about his teammate Dennis Rodman. Now, apparently after his basketball career, he tried to start a topless women’s basketball team. But unfortunately for him, it just didn’t work out, and the league flopped, due to a lack of support!
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jordan_by_Lipofsky_16577.jpg
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. What was Michael Jordan’s major in college? Options are Health Science, Kinesiology, or Geography
Q.2. Where was Michael Jordan born?
Q.3. How many seasons did Michael Jordan play in the NBA?
Bonus Q. What number did Michael Jordan wear?
Bonus Q. What pick was Michael Jordan when he was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 draft?
Mnemonic Recap
Michael Jordan – Top 6 Achievements – TENNIS
(Picture Michael Jordan taking up tennis after he finished his basketball career)
1. Two Olympic gold medals
2. Entry to United States Olympic Hall of Fame
3. NBA Finals Most Valuable Player six times
4. NBA Most Valuable Player five times
5. Inducted twice into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
6. Six NBA championships
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. What was Michael Jordan’s major in college? Options are Health Science, Kinesiology, or Geography
A. Geography
Q.2. Where was Michael Jordan born?
A. Brooklyn, New York
Q.3. How many seasons did Michael Jordan play in the NBA?
A. 15 seasons
Bonus Q. What number did Michael Jordan wear?
A. 23
Bonus Q. What pick was Michael Jordan when he was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 draft?
A. Pick No.3
Word of the Week
saturnine
[ sat-er-nahyn ]
adjective
sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn
Example
Michael Jordan was saturnine for months following the murder of his dad, when he was shot in his Lexus while sleeping, a car which was gifted to him by Michael.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
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References
https://www.23jordan.com/achievements
https://play.howstuffworks.com/quiz/michael-jordan-quiz
Word of the Day - saturnine | Dictionary.com
https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/10-fascinating-facts-about-michael-jordan.htm