Michael Jordan

Six-time NBA champion and universally regarded as the greatest basketball player in history.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn in 1963 and became the most statistically dominant and culturally significant basketball player in history. He was drafted 3rd overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1984 after winning the 1982 NCAA Championship at North Carolina. His Bulls career across two spells (1984–1993, 1995–1998) produced 6 championships in 6 Finals appearances — each time winning Finals MVP — a unique record of perfection in championship play. His 30.1 points per game career average is the highest in NBA history. He added 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game — making him the only player in NBA history to win both the scoring title and Defensive Player of the Year award. He scored 32,292 career points across 1,072 regular season games. His top speed of 44.7 km/h was measured during a breakaway dunk attempt — among the fastest ever recorded for a basketball player. He played 41,011 career regular season minutes. He won 5 league MVPs and was named to the All-NBA First Team 10 consecutive times. A brief baseball career (1993–95) interrupted his basketball dominance. He returned and won 3 more titles. His Washington Wizards stint (2001–2003) at 38–40 still averaged 20 points per game. He won Olympic gold in 1984 and with the Dream Team in 1992. The Air Jordan Nike line, launched in 1984, now generates over £5 billion annually.

Elite scorer, lockdown defender, unmatched competitiveness and clutch gene

Global icon who popularized basketball worldwide and defined clutch performance

• NBA Champion 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 (Chicago Bulls)
• NBA MVP 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
• Finals MVP 6x
• Defensive Player of Year 1988
• Olympic Gold 1984, 1992
• All-Star 14x
• Scoring Title 10x