Jordan The Man That Is The Legend Essays - , Term Papers

Jordan: The Man That Is The Legend Jordan: The Man That Is the Legend Everyone in western civilization knows who Michael Jordan is and what he is known for. His name is known worldwide but most prominently in these United States of America. His skills as a basketball player have thrilled, entertained, and amazed us all. Jordans most well known accomplishments are that he has six championships to his name, ten scoring titles, and vertical leap that not only won him many slam dunk contests but also the name Air Jordan. In the game of basketball there has been no other star whose statistics and accomplishments have equaled his. However, the accomplishments of Jordan, while brilliant, are almost common knowledge. It is not the accomplishments but the drive in the man behind those accomplishments that can be intriguing if looked at more closely. The story of this man, as told in his autobiography For Love of the Game: My Story, in todays world can teach the old and young many valuable lessons. Jordans abilities on the court stemmed from an incredible work e thic and his determination; also, Jordan provides a role model for youth of all races. In his autobiography, For Love Of The Game: My Story, Jordan goes through his career from his being drafted into the NBA in 1984 till 1998 when he won his last NBA championship. The reader is lead through three different sections in Jordans book, which represent three different periods of his life. In the first section we are made familiar with the events leading to his third overall draft pick by the Chicago Bulls in 1984. In this beginning section we are also made familiar with the events leading to his illustrious signing with the shoe company Nike. The other main point from this section is the idea of Jordan striving to mature and come into his own as a player. Jordan wants to be considered among the best in the business. To do this, in his mind, Jordan had to come out of the shadow of the greats of this time period such as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Jordan wants to be considered not only an offensive threat but also a defensive threat. This he accomplishes by winning both the scoring title and defensive player of the year awards in 1988. Jordans rise to immortal status is talked about in great detail in the next two sections of his autobiography. The second section of this book is started off with the phrase, In the years between 1989 and 1993 I became a man. This very effectively sums up the main message of this next section. Jordan continued to mature on the court and put up incredible statistics. In this time period Jordan was able to overcome any negative conceptions of his play and really make his mark on history as one of the, if not the, best players ever. As he put it, I knew all the pieces of the puzzle were there for the 1990 season. Jordan was speaking of his team in the 90-91 season, which was the first year he won a championship. It seemed all the puzzle pieces of the puzzle were there for the next two years as well because Jordans Bulls won the championship three years in a row. They had consecutive final wins against Los Angeles, Portland, and Phoenix. The next and last section of this autobiography be gan with the words, It was like being a kid again. Jordan was speaking of the time period in his life when he walked away from the game of basketball. After his third championship his father died in less than ideal circumstances. This plus the growing burden of being a superstar had made playing the game almost burdensome for Jordan. In this section we learn about the time he spent with the Chicago White Sox baseball organization before the baseball strike in 1995. Also, his eventual return to the basketball court, where he won three more consecutive titles before retiring, is spoken about in great detail. Jordan was able to regain his love and passion for the game of basketball during the time period while he was away from the game. This made