Michael Jordan

Memories Team Jordan was born in Brooklyn on February 17, 1963. He started his basketball career while he attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington. Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity team, and tallied several 40-point games. As a senior, he was selected to play in the 1981 McDonald's All-American Game and scored 30 points

Memories Team Michael Jordan with his parents, James and Deloris, on November 1, 1980 - the day he announced his decision to play basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dennis Ezomo

Sianee Marshall

Memories Team Michael Jordan is one of the richest athlete’s of all-time thanks to his lucrative shoe deal with Nike. Both Converse and Adidas passed on Jordan for a shoe deal, with the NBA star admitting to not even want to sign with Nike. He begrudgingly signed with Nike after they offered him a $500,000-a-year deal for five years, as well as his signature shoe, the Air Jordon. “Nike’s expectation, when we signed the deal, was at the end of year four they hoped to sell $US3 million worth of Air Jordans,” Jordan’s agent David Falk said. “In year one, we sold $US126 million.”

Memories Team Jordan’s penchant for carrying grudges to motivate himself became clear in the documentary. If he felt snubbed or mocked, he made it a point to exact revenge on the court. Before Game two of the Bulls' first-round series against the Celtics in 1986, Jordan and Danny Ainge played a round of golf together. Ainge walked away the victor, with Jordan responding by putting up 63 points in Game two. "I talked some trash to him that day," Ainge said. "That might have been a mistake."

Memories Team Jordan's teammates would often question whether he was human or whether he had feelings, with the superstar solely focused on winning. When the Bulls won the their first title in 1991, Jordan broke down in tears and shocked his teammates who had never seen such an outpour of emotion from the star. "We were literally stunned to see those emotions," Perdue said. Watch The Last Dance here: https://www.netflix.com

Memories Team After losing to Detroit in the playoffs in three straight seasons, Jordan put on 15 pounds of muscle over the summer to hang tough with the Pistons. "I was getting brutally beaten up," Jordan said in episode four of the series. "And I wanted to administer pain. I wanted to start fighting back."

Memories Team James Jordan was his son's biggest fan and rarely missed a game. The pair had an extremely close relationship, with Michael Jordan left devastated after his father was killed in 1993 - his body was found in a river with gun wounds to the chest. Questions remain over what unfolded on the night of his murder, with the case still unsolved. In the documentary, Jordan claimed his father's death has played a role in him walking away from the Chicago Bulls in 1993. “I needed a break, you know, my father just passed and I retired. I retired with the notion that I wasn’t going to come back,” Jordan said.

Memories Team Charles Barkley was one of the NBA's most dominant power forwards. The eternally confident Barkley hilariously said Michael Jordan was the first person to make him realise he wasn't the best basketball player on Earth. Barkley also spoke on Jordan's well-known obsession with competition and gambling. "Every night — not one night, not two nights, not 10 nights — me, Magic, Scottie, and [Michael Jordan] played cards every single night," Barkley told SportsCenter. "Michael tried to buy the pot every single night. It was really awesome."

Memories Team In 1994, the year after Jordan walked away from basketball, he played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Baron- an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. It came after discussions on making the transition with his father, before his untimely death. He ended up batting .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, 114 strikeouts, 51 base on balls and 11 errors. Many applauded the success he had in such a short period.

Memories Team Jordan's tough love approach was a frequent theme in the series. “Once you joined the team, you live by a certain standard that I played the game, and I wasn’t going to take any less,” Jordan said. His teammates didn't hold back when describing Jordan's odd motivation tactics, but ultimately agreed it made them better players. “He was a jerk, he crossed the line numerous times,” Will Perdue said on The Last Dance. “But as time goes on and you think back about what he was actually trying to accomplish, you’re like, ‘Yeah, he was a hell of a teammate.’”

Memories Team In 1996, Jordan's stardom saw him act along side Bugs Bunny in the live-action/animated sports comedy film Space Jam

Memories Team Dennis Rodman was known for his wild antics on and off the court, with Jordan famously tasked with bringing him back from a mid-season bender in Las Vegas. Rodman decided he needed a holiday to Las Vegas and Bulls coach Phil Jackson agreed, giving him 48 hours. The NBA's wild-child ended up spending five days partying with Carmen Electra before being dragged back to the team by Michael Jordan. Rodman eventually returned, worked his way back into shape and played 80 of 82 regular season games in 1997-98 as the Bulls secured their sixth title of the decade.

Memories Team After playing 11 seasons for the Chicago Bulls, Scottie Pippen moved to Houston Rockets for a $67 million deal. He had six titles but always lived in the shadow of Michael Jordan. A sizable chunk of screen time of the documentary focused on Pippen’s increasing unhappiness about being underpaid throughout his career. It also explored the trade rumours that surrounded him during the 1997-98 season. The former Bulls forward has said he is “wounded and disappointed” by his portrayal in The Last Dance. Teammate Dennis Rodman had different thoughts; "Scottie was so underrated—and so underpaid. He should be holding his head up higher than Michael Jordan in this documentary," Rodman said

Memories Team While the 1997/1998 season was the focus of the documentary, "The Last Dance" explored a wide narrative of Jordan's life. And it only happened on the stipulation that Jordan had the final say on any topic he wanted. The star loomed over the entire production, with the behind-the-scenes footage only used with Jordan's approval. "He didn't want his words to be twisted around," director Jason Hehir said. "He gave notes on episodes, but he didn't give any more notes than any of the other partners did. And oftentimes, his notes were just as good if not better than the other partners because he knew what the truth was."

Memories Team ESPN's 10-part documentary series about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls offered unprecedented access to one of the greatest sporting dynasties and players of all time. With "The Last Dance" now concluded, Memories reflects on Michael Jordan's legacy. https://www.espn.com.au/nba/story/_/id/28973557/the-last-dance-updates-untold-story-michael-jordan-chicago-bulls

Memories Team Kobe Bryant was interviewed for The Last Dance before he passed away in a helicopter accident in February 2020. In the episode he was praising Jordan for advice. "Nobody was really thinking much of me. I was the kid that shot a bunch of airballs," Bryant said. "At that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me." "I had a question about shooting his turnaround shot so I asked him about it," he added. "He gave me a great, detailed answer, but on top of that he said 'If you ever need anything give me a call.'" Have a look at our Kobe Bryant Memories Page: https://www.memories.net/page/2767/kobe-bryant

Memories Team The Bulls may have been able to tolerate Rodman's antics, but the Lakers did not. He signed with the franchise in the 1999 offseason, but lasted only 23 games before being released. He played another 12 games with the The Dallas Mavericks before being forced into retirement in 2000. Rodman has become nearly as big of an off-court celebrity as Jordan thanks to his personality, with the former player known to have an ongoing friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Memories Team Scottie Pippen's longstanding feud with Bulls management came to an end after the 1998 championship, with the NBA star securing a hefty five-year, $67 million contract from the Houston Rockets. He left after one year, hoping to be traded to the LA Lakers. Instead he landed at the Portland Trail Blazers, where he remained until the Bulls gave him a two-year, $10 million golden parachute in 2003. He played 23 games on that contract before retiring. He is a Hall of Famer and named as one of the 50 Greatest Players. Pippen is also an ambassador for the Bulls and comments on ESPN's "The Jump"

Memories Team True to form, Dennis Rodman's bizarre behaviour extended to his interview for the ESPN documentary series. "The Last Dance" director Jason Hehir said Rodman showed up to their agreed-upon location two hours late and was allegedly unsure why he was being interviewed. He told Hehir he only had 10 minutes for the interview, and requested a tuna sub and chamomile tea. "So we got him the tuna sub, we got him the chamomile tea, and he sat down for three hours. That is a difficult guy to interview,” he said.

Memories Team Head coach Phil Jackson was the last to win a title for the Bulls. He famously ran the "Triangle" offense and dubbed the '97-98 season the "Last dance" because he was told by Bulls management he would not be brought back the next season. Jackson went on to coach the Lakers, winning five championships over 11 years. He also had a small stint as president of the Knicks from 2014-2017.