Michael Jordan: Legends in Sports (2 page)

Everyone in the family loved competition. When James Jordan played with his sons, he didn’t ease off and allow them to win.
The boys had to earn their success on their own. As the youngest son in the Jordan household, Michael was usually on the losing
end when playing against his brothers.

At first, baseball was Michael Jordan’s favorite sport. James Jordan was a big fan and he taught Michael to throw and hit.
In Little League, Michael pitched, and played shortstop and outfield. He threw several no-hitters, and his team won the championship.

Then Larry fell in love with the game of basketball. To help his son, James Jordan built something very special in the backyard.
At opposite ends of the yard, he put up two wooden backboards and two baskets. Then he gave the boys a basketball.

In only a few days, the Jordan boys played so much they wore down the grass in the yard between the two baskets. The dirt
became as hard and smooth as
concrete. Although they knew it was no Chicago Stadium, the Jordan boys thought their backyard court was the best in the world.
They called it “the Rack.”

Larry and Michael spent hours each day playing one-on-one at the Rack. At first, Larry beat Michael every single time.

While Larry gave Michael the occasional tip, he never just let his younger brother win. Michael learned quickly that he would
have to earn each victory.

Although Larry was only five foot six, he towered over young Michael. He dribbled the ball better than Michael, shot the ball
over Michael’s raised arms, and jumped higher. Michael watched in wonder as his older brother soared through the air. Larry
eventually became the first member of the Jordan family to dunk the basketball. But Michael was determined. He didn’t give
up. Everyone in the family started calling him “Rabbit” because of the way he bounded back and forth after Larry.

Michael spent hours at the Rack practicing shooting, dribbling back and forth, and trying to reach over his brother’s arms.
Without even realizing it, he
started sticking his tongue out and curling it around his lower lip as he practiced. His father did the very same thing when
he was concentrating hard.

Despite the long hours of practice, Michael still wasn’t as good as his brother. When he and Larry joined a youth basketball
league, Larry was a big star. Michael was just another member of the team.

The Jordan boys were playing for fun. Like other kids, they dreamed of becoming professional athletes, but they never really
thought those dreams would come true. Homework was always more important at the Jordan house than basketball. The one sure
way to get into trouble was to fall behind in school. In order to play ball, all the Jordan children had to excel in school.
They loved to play so much that James and Deloris rarely had a difficult time making sure the children worked hard at school.

By the time Michael entered D. C. Virgo Junior High School, he was a good all-around athlete. While Larry starred in the backcourt
for the Laney High School Buccaneers basketball team, Michael played quarterback on the junior high football team, guard on
the basketball team, and pitched and played outfield on the baseball team. Michael was a good athlete
for his age, but no one was predicting greatness. Besides, Michael stood only five feet five inches tall.

None of the Jordans was very tall. Michael’s father and his brother Larry were barely five foot six. But something happened
to Michael. He just kept growing.

By the time Michael entered high school, he stood five foot ten. During his sophomore year, he quarterbacked the junior varsity
football team and ran some track. He also tried out for the varsity basketball team.

It may seem amazing, but Michael Jordan didn’t make the team. He was cut and placed on the junior varsity. When Laney coach
Clifton Herring told Michael he was putting him on the JV team, Michael’s eyes stung with disappointment. He was embarrassed
and hurt. One of Michael’s best friends, also a sophomore, had made the varsity. Michael thought about quitting the game of
basketball altogether.

But he didn’t. Instead, Michael was determined to become the best player on the junior varsity team.

Michael didn’t know it, but Coach Herring secretly thought he was good enough to play for the varsity.
The coach simply wanted him to get more experience, and he would have a greater opportunity to play and improve with the JV
team.

The extra playing time helped. Over the course of the JV season, Michael became a little faster and a little quicker than
most of his teammates. He jumped higher and seemed to stay in the air just a little bit longer. His jump shot became more
and more accurate. In practice, his teammates couldn’t keep up with him. Neither could their junior varsity opponents.

Michael averaged 28 points per game as point guard for the JV team. Near the end of the season, Michael hoped he would be
added to the varsity squad for the state tournament.

The varsity team had had a winning season and hoped to do well in the state basketball tournament. But when Coach Herring
announced the squad, he selected one of Michael’s JV teammates, Leroy Smith, to join the team for the tournament.

Coach Herring knew Michael hustled on the court and could score. But the varsity team needed rebounding in the tournament,
not scoring. Coach Herring chose Smith because he was six foot five. Michael was disappointed again.

The day the team was scheduled to travel to the regionals, Michael heard the team manager was ill. He wanted to be a part
of the team so badly that he volunteered to take the manager’s place. He rode to the game with the team and got inside the
gym carrying the equipment. While his friends played in the state tournament, Michael sat on the end of the bench in his street
clothes, passing out towels and yelling words of encouragement.

The time Michael spent as team manager wasn’t wasted. He learned from the experience and later told an interviewer, “I vowed
to myself to never let that happen again.” From that moment on, Michael was determined to
play
. Each day that summer he played basketball in his backyard for hours on end.

By the beginning of his junior year, all Michael’s hard work began to have an effect. It was as if the running and leaping
Michael had been doing had somehow stretched out his body. The slight five-foot-ten-inch sophomore had turned into a powerful
six-foot-three-inch junior. His father later said, “I think Michael just willed himself to grow.”

The added height made Michael an imposing figure on the court. Few players his size had his speed
and grace. At basketball tryouts, Michael Jordan made the varsity squad easily and was named starting point guard. In this
position, Michael was expected to run the offense and do his share of scoring. His teammates would look to him to provide
leadership.

Yet when the season began, Michael Jordan struggled. He was rushing everything and forcing his play instead of allowing the
game to bring opportunities to him. As a result, he was making too many turnovers and taking wild shots. Then, after making
a mistake or two, Michael would try to do everything himself and make even more mistakes.

By the time Christmas came around, Michael was a disappointment not only to himself but to Coach Herring and his teammates.
He knew that if he didn’t start playing better soon, Coach Herring would try someone else at point guard.

Laney was entered in a holiday basketball tournament. In the first game, Michael struggled again. Nevertheless, Laney won
and reached the tournament finals against its archrival, New Hanover High School.

The teams were evenly matched. For most of the game, neither was able to pull ahead. Michael was
playing pretty well, but Laney needed someone to do something more.

Michael Jordan became that someone. As time ran down in the fourth quarter, all the hours of practice and hard work started
to pay off. Michael Jordan simply took over the game.

He was unstoppable. When New Hanover had the ball, there was Michael, hounding the dribbler and stealing the pass. When Laney
had possession, Michael’s teammates simply threw him the ball and got out of the way. They watched in awe as he slashed to
the hoop, spun in the air, and put the ball in the basket over and over again. The crowd was going crazy.

With only seconds left in the game, Laney still trailed by a point. Once more, Michael’s teammates passed him the ball. The
New Hanover defense collapsed toward the basket, expecting Michael to drive to the hoop.

Michael started to drive, but seeing the defense packed in, he pulled up and calmly launched a fifteen-foot jumper. The ball
was still in the air when the buzzer sounded. The spectators held their breath.

Swish!
Two points! Laney won!

A quick glance at the scorekeeper’s sheet showed something remarkable — Michael Jordan had scored Laney High’s last 15 points!

From that moment, Michael was a different player. Throughout the rest of the season, whenever Laney needed something — a basket,
a rebound, a pass to an open player — Michael was the player who came through.

Michael’s perseverance and attitude made an impression on Coach Herring, but he thought his star player had a chance to become
even better. In his opinion, Michael needed more experience and would benefit from playing against better competition. With
college scouts beginning to ask about the lanky point guard, Coach Herring and an assistant coach at the University of North
Carolina recommended that Michael be invited to a summer basketball camp known as the Five Star camp.

The Five Star camp, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of the most important basketball camps for high school players
in the country. Over a three-week period, players receive intense instruction from top coaches and scrimmage against each
other over
and over again. Scouts from colleges all over the country attend. Only the very best players in the United States are invited
to participate. Most players go to the camp thinking they are great, only to return home realizing they have a lot of work
left to do.

Michael was stunned when he received his invitation to Five Star. He wasn’t sure that he belonged there. And when Coach Herring
told him that some college scouts thought he could play Division I basketball, the highest level in college hoops, Michael
couldn’t believe it. No player from Laney High School had ever played Division I before. Michael was determined not to let
this opportunity pass him by.

At the beginning of the camp, hardly anyone knew who Michael Jordan was. But playing against better competition made Michael
a better player. He hated to lose and did whatever it took to win. At the end of his first week, Michael had won five trophies
and was the most talked-about player in the camp.

College recruiters who had come to Five Star to scout other players began paying attention to Michael. They couldn’t believe
that some player they had never heard of was outplaying the best high school players in the country. They kept waiting for
Michael to fail.

He didn’t. If anything, Michael played even better the second week, and won four more trophies. By the end of the third week,
the colleges were very interested in Michael Jordan. Here, perhaps, was a player worthy of a college scholarship.

Michael returned home from Five Star excited and full of confidence. Before, he had never even considered the possibility
that he could get to college playing basketball. Now that he knew he had a chance to earn a scholarship, Michael Jordan became
absolutely possessed by basketball.

At the beginning of his senior year, Michael practically moved into the high school gym. Before school started, while it was
still dark outside, he went to the gym and practiced. After school, long after it was dark, he practiced some more. When basketball
season started, Michael practiced with both the varsity and the junior varsity teams. When he returned home late at night,
he shot baskets in the backyard or convinced Larry to play one-on-one. Now Michael usually won.

Then Michael went a little overboard. One day, he cut biology class and went to the gym instead. When he didn’t get caught,
he cut class again the next day.

After about a week of cutting classes, Michael’s absence was finally noticed. In the middle of the school day, the principal
called Michael’s home looking for him. James Jordan answered the phone, and when he was told Michael was missing from class,
he asked the principal, “Did you check the gym?” Sure enough, Michael was playing basketball. Michael might have been a big
high school basketball star, but that didn’t make him an exception to school rules. The principal suspended Michael from school.

James and Deloris Jordan were not happy with their son. They didn’t care how good Michael was at playing basketball. They
knew that unless he was a good student, too, all his athletic talent would go to waste. James Jordan sat Michael down and
told him straight out, “The way you’re going, you’ll never get to college.”

Michael swallowed hard. He realized his father was right. He knew he had to work just as hard in the classroom as he did on
the court in order to reach his dreams. A player who was all moves but no brain would never go far. Michael stopped cutting
class, and his grades soon improved dramatically.

Ever since he had returned from basketball camp, college coaches had been trying to convince Michael to attend their schools.
Coaches called the Jordan house at all hours to talk to Michael, and every day the mailbox was full of letters telling him
how great this or that school was and how much he’d enjoy playing for them. It started to get a little hectic.

After his suspension, Michael knew he couldn’t afford to have any more distractions during his senior year. He decided to
select a college before the basketball season started.

At first, Michael thought about attending North Carolina State. A few years before, NC State had won the National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. Their best player, David Thompson, had been Michael’s favorite player.