1963-
Basketball Player, Entrepreneur

Tar Heel Roots.

Michael Jef-frey Jordan was born 17 February 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, but he attended high school in Wilmington, North Carolina. His high school coach did not recognize Jordan as a budding basketball star, however, and he was cut from the team as a sophomore. Despite this shaky start, he was recruited by the University of North Carolina, leading them to the national championship as a freshman in 1982. Two years later he was named College Player of the Year (1984), winning both the Naismith and Wooden awards. After his junior season, he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, the third over-all pick in 1984.

Air Jordan.

There was something transcendent about Jordan's movements on the court, and he inspired commentary, even from jaded sports reporters, that bordered on adulation. After Jordan set a National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff record for most points scored...