Michael Jordan

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson. This week, we answer a question from Thailand about former basketball star Michael Jordan. DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from Thailand. Kitichai asks about the career of Michael Jordan, his favorite American basketball player. Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. He is most famous for playing for the Chicago Bulls, but later in his career he played briefly for the Washington Wizards. Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in the Brooklyn area of New York City in nineteen sixty-three. He went to high school and college in North Carolina. He played basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was chosen to play for the Chicago Bulls in nineteen eighty-four. Michael Jordan played for the Bulls for thirteen years. During this time, the team won six championships. Jordan became one of the highest scoring players in the National Basketball Association. He averaged thirty points a game during the regular season. He was recognized as the NBA's most valuable player five times during the regular season. Michael Jordan became famous for the way he jumped through the air to throw the ball into the net and score points. This skill earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness." Jordan also became known around the world for appearing in advertisements for companies including Nike, Gatorade and Coca-Cola.Michael Jordan also won gold medals in nineteen eighty-four and nineteen ninety-two representing the United States basketball team during the summer Olympic Games. Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls in nineteen ninety-four to play minor league baseball for one season. He retired from the team permanently in nineteen ninety-nine. He played briefly for the Washington Wizards starting in two thousand one. In two thousand six, Michael Jordan bought a minority ownership in the Charlotte Bobcats professional basketball team. In two thousand ten, his company, MJ Holdings, reached an agreement to buy the team from the Bobcats' majority owner. Last March, Michael Jordan became the first former National Basketball Association player to be majority owner of an NBA team.