Michael Jordan Biography: Net Worth, Salary, Family and Career Stats

The Greatest Man ever to play the sport of basketball, Michael Jordan, is more than a name for basketball enthusiasts. There was a certain artistry in his skills on the court that still made him different from all the other players who played before and after him. His hand movements, quick reflexes, and, most importantly, agility with stamina created the magic that fans used to witness on the court. But, apart from hardcore fans, most people don’t know that Michael was just like any other talented athlete who honed his skill and sport to perfection. He made it seamless with his vigorous hard work. Today, we are going to explore how long this journey was and how MJ paved his way through it.

Michael Jordan Early Life

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born to James and Deloris Jordan on February 17, 1963. He took his first breath in Brooklyn, New York. But later, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he grew up. His father was a mechanic, while his mother worked in the banking sector. That’s why, from an early age, Jordan was busy playing sports and indulging in the neighborhood playing games. Over time, it developed fierce competitiveness within him.

The great Michael Jordan was once removed from his sophomore high school team. However, he did not give up but retaliated and returned to the roster through guidance from his high school. As soon as he gained a significant height, there was no looking back for him, and he climbed up the stairs of success.

Michael Jordan Biography

Before moving ahead on the nuanced life exploration of Michael Jordan. let’s get to know the basic details about the life of His Airness, including his physical traits and relationship status along with net worth, among others:

Michael Jordan Career

Michael Jordan’s career was nothing short of legendary. However, it all started from somewhere, and someone sowed the seeds of competition in His Airness. The competitive fire in MJ’s heart was burning from his childhood that kept him motivated till her college life. Soon, at North Carolina Tar Heels, he learned the skills of basketball and developed them over the years. Later on, he went all-out on the NBA Floor. Today we are going to explore the details of his legendary career:

Michael Jordan High School Career

Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School and used to play basketball, baseball, and football there. He tried out for the basketball varsity team during his sophomore year, but at a height of 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m), he was deemed too short. That’s why Jordan was keen on proving himself and tallied some 40-point games on Laney’s junior varsity team. The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously. After earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points per game over his final two seasons of high school play. As a senior, he was selected for the 1981 McDonald’s All-American Game and scored 30 points after averaging 26.8 ppg, 11.6 rebounds, and 10.1 assists per game for the season.

Jordan was recruited by various college basketball programs, including Duke, North Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Virginia. But he accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981.

Michael Jordan Professional Career

Michael Jordan was an exceptional basketball player who led his team by example. That’s why his leadership was all about leading the pack with raw intensity and competitive nature. Here is a breakdown of the productivity that he gave to the league from 1990 to 2003 as per ESPN:

He was a Round 1 Pick 3 for the Chicago Bulls in 1984. But after his entrance into the league, it was all over for the contemporary stars of the NBA. He changed the face of the league, winning 6 Championships and 5 NBA MVPs. He took a break in 1993 after his father’s death but he looked on the positive and returned better than before in the league.

Michael Jordan Awards and Achievements

The awards that Michael Jordan earned for his generational performance among the greats of the league, like Magic Robinson and Scottie Pippe, can be given as follows:

In addition to the title achievements and flashy Olympic gold medals, Jordan is the only player in NBA history to score back-to-back 50-point games in the playoffs. scored 3,000 points in the 1986–87 season, averaging 37.1 points per game. That’s why he is fifth on the NBA’s all-time points list with 32,292 points. 

Michael Jordan Record

Apart from his above-mentioned career numbers, in terms of record, Michael Jordan won the NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and scoring title in a single 1987-88 season. He averaged 35 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game.

During his career, he won the scoring title 10 times, which is an NBA record of its own. In addition to it, he was the 6x NBA Finals MVP which is yet to be broken by modern-day players.

Michael Jordan Net Worth and Salary

The estimated net worth of Michael Jordan, according to Forbes, is $3.5 Billion. He earned about $93.9 million in salary during his 15 seasons in the NBA, according to Spotrac, and most chunk of his NBA salary came from the last two years of his stint with the Chicago Bulls. The endorsements were a big part of His Airness’ fortune since he accumulated over $1.8 billion from endorsement deals, including his partnership with Nike. Nike pays Jordan $60 million annually through the Jordan Brand royalties.

In addition to it, MJ bought a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 for $175 million, which he sold for $3 Billion in 2023. He also co-owns 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Coming to the non-movable assets, Jordan is an investor and special advisor to DraftKings, a sports-betting company along with real estate properties.

Michael Jordan Wife

Currently, Michael Jordan is married to Yvette Prieto. Before meeting Prieto in 2008, Jordan had already divorced his first wife in 2006. For the first time, MJ met Yvette in a nightclub in Miami. As soon as they met, they felt a connection and started living with each other in the year 2009. Soon after three years, both of them got engaged in a private ceremony. On April 27, 2013, Jordan and Prieto got married in front of 500 guests. Their current residence is in Jupiter, Florida, with their twin daughters.

Though the NBA legend and Cuban-born model keep their relationship private, they have made a few red-carpet appearances together. They have also attended basketball games, boxing matches, and NASCAR races. Most recently, Jordan and Prieto were seen on vacation in Saint-Tropez, France.

Michael Jordan Parents

Michael Jordan’s parents are Deloris and James R. Jordan, Sr. According to the 2020 ESPN The Last Dance, Michael revealed in the first episode how his parents were always “trying to keep me busy” and encouraged all their children to play organized sports to teach them “more about life.” This was the first push that Michael got as a child to pursue sports in life.

James Jordan, in archival footage from a docuseries, explained that with five kids and both parents working, they often worried about their children’s time at home. To keep them engaged and involved in the community, they decided to enroll them in sports, dropping them off at Little League fields or gyms.

Michael Jordan attributed his unyielding competitive spirit to these early experiences. Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris, made a huge contribution to securing the deal with Nike in 1984. After that, the world got the Air Jordan shoe, one of the bestseller shoes in the world.

Michael Jordan Kids

Michael Jordan has five children from his two wives. His first wife, Juanita Vanoy, had three children: two sons and a daughter. Their names are Jeffrey(36), Marcus(34) and Jasmine(32). All of them are not active on the on-court basketball. Rather, they are working in the business side of the basketball world and the management of the Air Jordan Line, as per People data.

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From his second wife, Yvette Prieto, Jordan had twin daughters in 2014, who were named Victoria and Ysabel. They are quite young and will turn 11 years old this year. Apart from these details, Michael Jordan is quite private about his personal life and does not speak on public platforms about them.

How Many Rings Does Michael Jordan Have?

Michael Jordan has won six NBA Championships while playing for the Chicago Bulls in the pro-basketball league. It was a golden era for the Bulls franchise since they won the finals series consecutively for three years two times. There was a gap of two years in Chicago’s championship streak, which was majorly due to the retirement of Michael Jordan. His Airness had so much impact on the team that when he was away from the sport for two years, the Bulls team could not even make it to the Finals let alone winning it. However, they were able to cut their way to the NBA playoffs.

Meanwhile, the primary Jordan cited for staying away from the game was physical and mental exhaustion. However, in 1995, he realized that it was hard to stay away from something he loved. So he rejoined the Bulls roster midway through the 1995 season and led them to the Championship in 1996 and years after that. Let’s take a comprehensive look at the championships that Jordan got in his NBA career, along with the key moments during those Finals series:

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• 1991: The 1991 WNBA Finals series was the kickoff of the dominance of Michael Jordan in the league. He led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship and won his first NBA Finals MVP Award. MJ averaged 31.2 points per game, 11.4 assists, and 6.6 rebounds. The most eye-catching spectacle that he performed during the 1991 NBA Finals was his mid-air switching hands move for a layup that he performed in Game 2.
• 1992: The world already knew that Michael Jordan had arrived to dominate, and so he did in the 1992 NBA Finals series. He averaged 35.8 points per game in that series and was selected as Finals MVP for the second year in a row. In that era, Jordan set a record for hitting six three-pointers in the first half of Game 1 of the Finals and gave the audience the iconic shrug reaction. As expected, MJ scored 30 points in each game of the NBA Finals.
• 1993: It was the most aggressive performance that Michael Jordan had in the NBA Finals as he averaged 41 points per game, which is still the highest-ever scoring average in NBA Finals history. He averaged 41 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.7 steals per game, along with 40% perimeter shooting. Along with the scoring record, MJ also set a 101 field goals record and 246 points that he dished out in a six-game series.
  In Game 4 of the NBA Finals, he broke all the norms when he scored 55 points. That was a Finals career-high for him, and he was just behind Elgin Baylor’s 61 points scored in a Finals game. He also won the Finals MVP for this series.
• 1996: The 1996 series was a bit struggling for Michael Jordan as he averaged just 27.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. It was a bit less for the fans, considering the average that they witnessed from His Airness in the past. But it was special for Jordan since he won the championship after the death of his father. Dennis Rodman was a key asset to lead the Bulls and Jordan to the championship.
• 1997: It was the series where the fighter Jordan again got his instincts back. He led the Chicago Bulls to victory while suffering from flu-like symptoms. Jordan’s performance in Game 5, known as the “Flu Game”, cemented his reputation as a clutch performer and competitor. The highlight of this Finals series was in Game 5 when Jordan scored 38 points to lead the Bulls to victory against the Utah Jazz. Again, he won the NBA Finals MVP for the fifth time. He dished out 32.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists.
• 1998: His Airness proved again why he was the best, as he averaged 33.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. In the last game of the series, he tallied 45 points in 44 minutes. During the clutch moments of that game, Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone, dribbled down the court, and made a 20-foot jumper with 5.2 seconds left in the game. It was the end of an era for MJ since he earned the NBA Finals MVP for the sixth time, earning second 3-Peat for the Chicago Bulls.

Michael Jordan was a legend of the game, but he never matched the legacy that Bill Russell crafted in the NBA. Bill won 11 championships for the Boston Celtics pre-Jordan era from 1957 to 1969. Jordan’s impact on the game of basketball remains unparalleled, both as a player and an influential figure in sports culture.