On February 17, 1963, Michael Jordan was born in a Catholic hospital in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is the fourth child of Delores and James Jordan and the youngest of three sons. He also has an older sister and a younger sister.
The old Jordan couple have consciously cultivated their children's self-confidence and racial self-esteem since childhood, and paid attention to giving their children a good family upbringing, educating them to be polite, honest and respect the elderly. "My home has given me The belief in success. The education I received as a child has been very beneficial and has always pushed and helped me become who I am today. My character and laughter are like my father, and my business acumen and strictness are like my mother,” Jordan said affectionately. .
The five children of Mr. and Mrs. Jordan grew up healthily under the care and education of their parents. They did not cause their parents too much trouble. Only Michael often made some pranks that upset his parents. As a child, Michael looked a lot like the waif Tom Sawyer. He once talked about an interesting adventure he had as a child on the CBA's "David Ritman Night Talk" program in 1989. When he was two years old, one day old Jordan was checking the car's engine with a flashlight in his backyard. He didn't notice that Michael was curiously playing with the live wires. His little hand touched the connector of the wire and he was thrown more than a meter away. He almost died. life. When he was five years old, his parents forbade him from playing with an axe, but he refused to listen. One time, he secretly took an ax outside to chop firewood, but accidentally, the ax missed the firewood, but cut off his own toe. He screamed in pain, and when he got home, his parents were at a loss. They had to invite a female neighbor who did not have a medical license but claimed to be a doctor. This female "doctor" came up and poured a large amount of water on Michael's bloody toes. A cup of kerosene made Michael scream in pain, but it stopped the bleeding.
In 1970, when Michael was thirteen years old, his family moved to Wilmington, a small town in the southern suburbs of North Carolina. There, the old Jordan couple bought a large piece of land for the children to play ball, ride bicycles and hold motorcycle competitions, but the naughty Michael often rolled himself into the ditch. Once, in order to imitate the news figures who flew over and drove motorcycles at that time, Jordan was riding a motorcycle with his brother Larry, and tried to rush up a mud mound and fly over a ditch. The result was unsuccessful and both of them fell. The skin is torn apart. Jordan wanted to hide the scar from his father and covered it with cloth, but the honest Larry "betrayed" his brother. Although he was severely criticized by his father, Jordan did not stop there. He practiced secretly several times until the old Jordan found out and ordered him to sell the motorcycle.
When the Jordan family arrived in Wilmington, local racial disputes had eased and the social environment was relatively better than before. Since a joint school for black children and white children to attend together has not yet been built, the main activity of the five Michael sisters is sports. They play basketball, pick up balls, and sometimes compete in running and long jump.
Of all the sports that children love, swimming is the only one that scares Michael. When he was seven years old, he once went to the sea with a friend to play in the water. He lay flat on the shallows on the shore and let the waves gently rock them. Suddenly... a turning wave swept them deep into the sea. The two children, who could not swim, were frightened and struggled desperately. The little friends tried their best to pull Jordan and sink into the water. The frightened Jordan desperately rowed towards the shore, but his friend let go of his little hand... and watched helplessly as his friend drowned, which made him stay away from the water. "I will be particularly careful whenever I go to a place where I may fall into the water." As an adult, Jordan honestly admitted, "If it is a large cocktail party held by the swimming pool, and there are many people, I may accidentally fall into it. If I miss him, I will stay away from the pool. First, I will figure out which side is deeper. Then I will stay farther away. Even if I stand on the shallower side, I will never stand close to the edge. ”
Because there were many children and they were all fun-loving, Jordan's house quickly became a gathering and play center for the neighborhood children. "Michael was the most playful of all my children," said DeLotus Jordan. "He always liked to hang out in crowded places, and if there was something to try, he would be the first.
He needs restraint more than anyone else. "James Jordan said: "Michael always deliberately goes against us. If we tell him that the stove is hot and not to touch it, he will touch it anyway; if he sees a telephone pole with "wet paint" written on it, he will reach out and touch it to see if it is really wet. "All the children are assigned some chores, and Michael often gets into a bad temper and deliberately makes a mess of what he is supposed to do, which often makes us very annoyed." One time I even caught him giving his pocket money to other children to help him with chores. "
Not only was he unwilling to work at home, Jordan was also unwilling to "use his brain more" when he was in school, let alone do those "annoying" homework. Throughout elementary school and junior high school, Jordan's His academic performance has been hovering between B and C, but he is very keen on various competitions. His father fully understands that Michael will not be able to inherit his career. After becoming a qualified mechanic, he decided to take advantage of the situation and guide his son in his career. The simple basketball court in his backyard soon became a member of the elementary school basketball team. Michael gradually understood some truths from challenging others. Knowing that proper self-discipline can protect him from injury when participating in various competitions, he challenges his brother Larry who is one year older than him in sports; in studies, he challenges his sister Suslin who is one year younger than him. games; among other things, he challenged his parents. The onset of adolescence brought trouble to Michael's life. He was suspended from school three times during his freshman year, once for leaving school and once for practicing jump shooting. Throwing a popsicle over the head of a girl who called him "nigger"; once getting into a fight with a boy who erased the ground line Michael had worked so hard to paint on the school basketball court in his third year of high school. At that time, Michael had his "last real fight in his life." One afternoon, Jordan was going to play baseball with his classmates. With the teacher's permission, he ended get out of class a few minutes early with a close classmate and went to the open space to draw. Just as Erbaji was happily drawing the baseball field with chalk and was about to invite his classmates to come over to play, a Japanese kid came over and wondered why they didn't go to class. Jordan patted Qiang Yushang's chalk dust. He replied that some of his classmates were going to play baseball after class. Unexpectedly, the Japanese man muttered dismissively: "Who cares what you niggas are going to do!" "
When Jordan heard this, he immediately became furious. At that time, the TV series "Roots", which reflected the lives of black Americans, was being screened, and people all over the country seemed to be watching this TV series, so he felt that he was affected by this. Due to the influence of the TV series, I should be careful when I speak, but this child is so unscrupulous, Jordan rushed up to him almost without thinking, grabbed him and beat him into a ball until other classmates who were rushing to pick him up. Pulled apart. Jordan was very sensitive about the hairstyle that his friends nicknamed "kid-head". He once told host Diana Sawyer on CBA's "60 Minutes" program: "A lot of people pick on me. , and laughed at me in front of girls. They laughed at my hairstyle, my tendency to stick out my tongue, and other unusual details in my life. The girls also followed suit. In this way, I would not be favored by them, and I would not be able to have sex with any of them. "There is a girl who is in the first grade of Jordan, Angela West, who is very beautiful. Jordan has wanted her to like him since he was in fifth grade. Every morning when he goes to school, Jordan goes out of his way to help her occupy a seat on the school bus. But every day When Angela gets on the bus, she always prefers to sit with other people. Even if three or four people squeeze into one seat, she never sits next to Jordan. "Despite this, I still help her occupy a seat every day. "Jordan recalled, "She never had a date with me until she graduated from high school.
This resulted in Jordan becoming one of the few boys to take home economics classes at Laney High School when he was in 10th grade. His ability to do household chores improved, as shown in CBA's "60 Minutes Celebrity Interviews" "In the show, Jordan recalled that almost everyone who came to his home would see him cleaning with a vacuum cleaner or sorting clothes.
These things were spread, making people regard him as a good and qualified young man - a qualified young man in a sensitive era - you should know that he did not idle around all day long, drink and fight like many of his peers.
At that time, Michael's best friend and toughest rival was his brother Larry. Larry worked harder than Jordan in participating in sports, and his jumping ability was quite amazing. Jordan has great respect for his brother. When he was playing on the Laney High School baseball team, he insisted on wearing jersey No. 23 because the number was almost exactly half of his brother Larry's jersey number, "45."
At the age of 15, Jordan's height reached 1.88 meters and he was in the 10th grade of high school. Parents are very strict with their children's tutoring, so even though Jordan is playful, his academic performance is not bad and he is still excellent in mathematics. As his bones developed, Jordan's athletic genius became increasingly apparent, and he truly fell in love with basketball. However, what made his basketball skills leap forward was a period of shame that was unforgettable in his mind.
American high school basketball teams are divided into two levels. The first team represents the school to play games, and the second team is a sparring partner. Michael thought that with his own ability, he could enter the first team and play the main role, so he signed up with his friend Rorio. On the day the list was released, the two of them went to the school gymnasium to look at the list. It turned out that his friend was on the list, but he read the list from beginning to end several times and could not find his name. After school, Michael ran home, closed the door and cried in his arms. His pride was greatly wounded. However, he was stubborn and went to the coach, hoping to allow him to train with the team. The coach told him: "You are short and short, and your reactions are not fast. You have little future in basketball." Michael returned disappointed.
When the school team participated in the regional competition, Michael came again and asked the coach to watch the game with the team. After he begged hard, the coach relented and agreed to his request, but he had to take care of the clothes of the school team members. In order to watch the game, Jordan had to enter the stadium holding his clothes. During this time, Jordan began to practice hard on his skills. He practiced for 4 hours every day. The first two hours are spent practicing with the second team, and the last two hours are spent practicing with the first team. After the training, he pushed himself even harder. Whenever he had time, he would find a basketball stand to pat the ball and sweat like rain. This habit has been carried over to the NBA. Hard training enabled Jordan to develop extremely solid and excellent basic skills. A year later, the door to the first varsity team could no longer refuse him. At that time, his height increased to 1.91 meters, and his basketball skills became increasingly outstanding.
When Jordan recalled this experience later, he said: "This may be a good thing. After feeling frustrated, I secretly vowed that you will never suffer such torture again in the future." And the person who rejected him said The school team coach also became famous for this. He said: "Although I rejected him from joining the team, I discovered him after all." When the old Jordan couple watched their two sons pushing each other and fighting for each other on the dirt basketball court in their backyard, they I didn't immediately realize how deep the brotherhood between the two was. At the beginning, Larry always surpassed Jordan in score, which made Jordan very angry. When Jordan was starting his sophomore year of high school, the two played basketball games in their backyard. Most of those games ended with blows to each other. Michael had already developed a fundamental element of his personality: his love of competition. No matter what the game was, formal or informal, Jordan always found ways to win and was willing to accept any challenge. Jordan believed competition was sacred because it was a golden key to his self-discovery. But Jordan only knew how to play basketball at the time and knew nothing about the path to a professional basketball career. At that time, many rising basketball stars had to first sign with a college basketball team and then gradually increase their reputation. Although there was news that Jordan was expected to develop into a professional player, by the time he was a junior in high school, he had not yet entered the list of the 300 most promising rookies released by various college basketball teams.
For Jordan, not attracting attention at that time was certainly painful, but it also had its benefits. Because Jordan is not like those young sports stars who have one kind of pressure or another. He has no reason to imagine himself as a star or to worry about living up to others' expectations by poor grades or poor performance. All of this gave Jordan the opportunity to grow normally.
The basketball course at the University of North Carolina is the best among the basketball courses in various universities. Some people call it "the NBA in college basketball." Smith is obsessed with collective offensive tactics, which suppresses personal enthusiasm. Breakthrough ability, no matter how outstanding you are. After Jordan joined the NBA, there was a joke that asked: "Who is the only person who can let Jordan score less than 25 points per game?" The answer is: "Death Smith." Despite this, Smith's tactics continued To be imitated and learned from. And Smith has trained players like Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, and Walter. NBA superstars such as Dai Xiongsi, James Werth, Sherm Perkins and Michael Jordan. More importantly, he manages the team well and is good at motivating the morale of his players. His students train during the day and participate in cultural studies at night. They all strictly abide by school discipline and actively participate in community welfare activities.
Smith knew that Jordan was a rare basketball talent when he recruited him, but it was not until the end of the first week of training that he realized that he had underestimated Jordan's talent. During a "one-on-one" defensive training, Smith realized, "We can defend Jordan with our input." In autumn training, Jordan has been able to break through the defense of five people and go directly to the layup. At this time, Jordan also gained a bad reputation for being "put down". A party to celebrate Jordan's departure from North Carolina was held on December 3, 1981. The University of North Carolina team had just defeated the Tulsa team, which ranked ninth among college teams, 78:70. "Michael Jordan, a first-year college student, has finally broken out of his shell, and he will dominate the football world with his unique skills." Al Fesselson, a reporter from the "Durheim Sun", commented on this unusual event with this title. A lively little party was reported. In the game against Tulsa, Jordan took 15 shots, hit 11 times, scored 22 points, had one steal and one "block". In the last three quarters of the game, Jordan only committed one foul and his shooting percentage reached over 65%. His teammates were delighted with his performance on the court, saying, "Jordan is such an all-around talent." Guard Jamie Blake enthused: "He can do it all, shoot, defend, lead the team, rebound, intercept in the air. Is there anything he can't do?" "Frankly, I've never seen a better player than him. "He is a fast basketball player," Voss said, "and Michael rarely makes mistakes on the court." "When playing on the court, he sees all directions and listens to all directions," forward Doherty praised. /p>
"I tell you, he's going to have a blast before he leaves Kingley."
Some reporters compared his jumping ability to that of David Thompson; others said, He's on par with former UNC linebacker Phil Ford. When explaining why he performed well at the University of North Carolina, Jordan said: "I have a foundation. In high school, we trained according to the current tactics, so I don't have many new things to learn here." What Jordan learned here The best thing is self-confidence. "When I came here, I thought everyone here was a superstar and I was going to be the worst one. After the first game (in which Jordan scored 20 points), I Just know that I'm no worse than anyone here." You can see him becoming more and more confident in everything he does. Voss, who has coached in the NBA for nearly 9 years, recalled, "Every time he played a game, his prestige increased. His contribution to our team also became greater and greater, becoming the successor to Sam Pagoda of the University of North Carolina team. The third strongest player after Kings and me. Many years ago, Falk, who is now the agent of famous stars such as Jordan, clearly realized one thing: "In the era of TV sports, if you want to create a 90s Sports stars and sports geniuses with strong news effect - such geniuses must have amazing performance skills, moderate body shape, eloquence, strong appeal, approachability, civility and courtesy, simplicity and naturalness, relatively conservative values, and cannot There is not the slightest trace of hypocrisy or evil - such a genius is only Michael. Jordan. "In a word, Michael Jordan is a perfect image created by God to adapt to modern television sports.
Falk’s words reveal the fact that if a perfect sports genius like Jordan had not been spread by television, he would not have such a sensation and huge star effect today, and there would be no such thing. His fame, wealth and everything he has today. At the same time, legendary figures like Jordan who are close to myths are exactly what is needed in the television era and highly developed commodity society, because Jordan is a living hero in the real world without scripts and directors. His games are an absolute guarantee of television ratings. Naturally, he has become a figure of great commercial value and an advertising spokesperson with unparalleled appeal.
So from a certain perspective, it was television that made the genius Jordan a reality. The countless brilliant images he has appeared on the TV screen so far can be traced back to 1982. That was a historic shot. From that moment on, people said that a "magical flying man" was born and entered the orbit destined to belong to him.