Michael Jordan is one of the best former American professional basketball players whose achievements made him to gain tremendous popularity around the world. He is depicted as a role and a hero because of his excellence and courage inside and outside the pitch. After successfully playing basketball at the University of North Carolina, the Chicago Bulls recruited him as the third pick for their 1984-1985 season and he signed a $6.15 million contract with the team (Houghton, 27).
During his rookie season with the Bulls, he was very influential in the National Basketball Association such that he was chosen as an alternate on the Eastern Division All-Star squad. Averaging 28.2 points per game and establishing a team record with 2,313 points, he led the Bulls to a 38 win and 44 loss season.
Because of his growing popularity, companies started to use his image in promoting their products. One of these is Nike, which paid him $2.5 million for them to use his name in promoting their products. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Gatorade are some other companies that also attempted to endorse Michael.
During the 1987-88 season, averaging 35 points per game, he led his team in wining 81 games out of the 82 game season. During the 1990-91 season, averaging 31.5 points, he led the Bulls to have 61 wins and 21 losses, which made them to reach the NBA for the first time in Michael’s career.
Michael is the only other player, besides Wilt Chamberlain, to have scored three thousand points in one season, and he received other awards and recognitions, such as the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, Sportsman of the Year in 1991, and he received five MVP awards. As a majority shareholder of the Charlotte Bobcats, Michael is also a successful businessperson.
Another successful basketball player who also played for the Chicago Bulls was Scotty Pippen. He complemented his teammate Michael Jordan in transforming the Bulls into a vehicle for making the National Basketball Association to be admirable throughout the world in the 1990s.
His NBA career began when he was chosen the fifth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft. He was ultimately traded to the Chicago Bulls for a six-year contract worth over $5 million and he became part of their young forward tandem in supporting Michael Jordan. With fellow teammate Michael Jordan guidance, he managed to improve his skills in the pitch. The two players honed one another’s skills on offense and defense and they enabled their team to reach the Conference semifinals in 1988. In that year, he averaged 14.4 points per game.
This was almost double that of his total during the rookie season. During the 1989-1990 season, he averaged 16.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game, which earned him his first appearance NBA All-Star selection in 1990. After the 1990-91 season, he was guaranteed a yearly income of $3.5 million up to 1997-98 season.
He supplemented his annual income from endorsing products of companies at over $7 million. He also appeared on television programs such as ER and Chicago sons. His most profitable endorsement was with Nike. This earned him about $3.5 million.
With the retirement of Michael Jordan before the 1993-94 season, he came out from Jordan’s shadow, and averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, he assisted his team in winning several matches in that season. He was voted to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight times, All-NBA First Team three times, NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994, and one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history during the 1996-97 season.
Works Cited
Houghton, Sarah. Michael Jordan: the best ever. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press, 2002.