His Airness Gets Royal Treatment by Nancy Heiz

“HIS AIRNESS”

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Honors Air Jordan with New Exhibit Dedicated to his Stellar Career

A listing of Michael Jordan’s accomplishments from his hall of fame career By: Sam Speer

o go along with the enshrinement of arguably the best basketball player ever, Nike congratulated Michael Jordan and his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. with a unique exhibit dedicated to his stellar career.

The exhibit took two weeks to construct, is 1500 square feet, and is located on the second floor. At the entrance of the exhibit, is a giant circular wall with a crevice and a room located in its center. This room serves as the viewing room that shows a movie, glorifying Jordan’s rise to dominance. The four-minute movie, created and provided by Nike, is narrated by Jordan himself. It sheds

light on his legacy that has cemented him as a basketball prodigy. The exhibit has many impressive contents. One that stood out was Jordan’s six National Basketball Association (NBA) championship rings on display. According to Terry Lyons, an authorized spokesperson for the hall who has been working with the NBA directly since 1982, the championship rings are replicas.

“It’s a very unique exhibit, personally I think he (Jordan) is the best, one player hasn’t done as much as he has to change the game and put it on the world’s stage” —Full-time Naismith Hall of Fame employee, Derrick Jones September 11, 2001, but given the unpredictable events of 9/11 Jordan delayed his announcement until September 29, 2001. The exhibit also features every NBA jersey Jordan wore, including his original Chicago Bulls jersey, his number 45 Chicago Bulls jersey, his U.S. Olympic team jersey, and his Washington Wizards jersey. When Jordan returned from his first retirement, he changed his number from 23 to 45, which was his number on the Birmingham Barons. Matt Zeysing, the historian at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, said the memorabilia was mostly compiled by the Nike archives. The National Basketball Hall of Fame also contributed memorabilia from their own archives. However, Jordan did not contribute anything from his the own personal collection to the exhibit. Full-time Naismith Hall of Fame employee, Derrick Jones, 19, and a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, believes Jordan is deserving of the exhibit. “It’s a very unique exhibit,” Jones said. “Personally I think he (Jordan) is the best, “one player hasn’t done as much as he has to change the game and put it on the world’s stage.” Even rival Boston Celtics fans agree with the notion that Jordan is worthy of such an exhibit. “Larry Bird is my personal favorite, but Jordan is the greatest basketball player in modern history, if not the greatest athlete period,” said Mark Gauvain from Massachusetts, who was attending the exhibit. Jordan was known as one of the most clutch performers the sport has

Photo Courtesy of Mark Krasnov

The rings were created by Jostens, used balls, his high school yearbook a company that provides yearbooks, and trading cards featuring Jordan. class rings, and championship rings. An important date on the timeline Jostens provides the NBA and the is in 1981, when Jordan was selected National Football League with its as a McDonald’s All-American during championship rings. his senior year of high school. Other The exhibit is sponsored by Nike dates were for Michael’s Olympic Jordan Brand, and they provided a performances, where Jordan earned display of 24 of Michael Jordan’s “Air Jordan” brand basketball sneakers, which completely revamped the shoe industry. In 1984, Nike decided to take a gamble with the rookie Jordan and they signed him to a fiveyear, $2.5 million dollar deal, which also included benefits such as royalties. This turned out being a very smart move for Nike, because by 1985, the Air Jordan brand became one of the bestselling basketball shoes in existence. Another notable highlight of the exhibit is a 40-foot Close up photo of Michael Jordan on timeline devoted to Jordan’s progression through both giant circular wall of the exhibit life and basketball. It starts from his birth in 1963, all the way until his induction to the two gold medals, in 1984 and in hall in 2009. The exhibit accurately 1992 from the legendary Olympic portrays Jordan’s career to every Dream Team. The timeline also shows last detail. It follows his struggles Jordan’s release of his 1996 movie, to succeed, like initially getting cut Space Jam. The timeline has notable by his Emsley A.Laney High School scoring games, information about his varsity basketball team in 1978. two separate retirements, as well as On the timeline, there are many other Jordan tidbits. excerpts from each year, with some Another notable date on the memorabilia from Jordan’s career timeline was after Jordan retired for such as his college basketball shorts the second time, he became a part from the University of North Carolina owner and president of basketball at Chapel Hill. There is also a silver operations of the Washington baseball glove from his two-year Wizards. Inspired by the Pittsburgh (1993 to 1995) basketball hiatus, and Penguins’ Mario Lemieux, Jordan his playing days with the Birmingham decided on yet another comeback Baron’s, a minor league affiliate of the to the NBA, this time representing Chicago White Sox. Other items on his Washington Wizards. His the timeline were autographed gameannouncement was originally set for

ever witnessed. His game winning shot against the Utah Jazz in game six of the 1998 NBA finals solidifies this statement. Jordan also holds the record for top career scoring average with 30.1 points per game and career playoff scoring average with 33.4 points per game. Michael Jordan played his last NBA game in Philadelphia on April 16, 2003. On that day, he received a three minute standing ovation, by 21,257 fans. Jordan ended his career ranked third in career points with 33,292 points. On September 11, 2009, Jordan’s legacy continued with his induction to the hall, and his remarkable career will be cemented at the hall for future generations to see. “I think personally he was the best,” Naismith Hall of Fame employee Derrick Jones said. “Jordan can play in every top era. Things that bothered most people, he used for inspiration.”

Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame Quick Facts Address: 1000 W Columbus Ave Springfield, MA 01105-2518 Hours: Sunday - Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Sat. 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Phone Numbers: (413) 781-6500 and 1-877-4HOOPLA Cost of Admission: Adults $16.99, Seniors (Ages 65 & Above) $13.99, Youth (Ages 5 to 15) $11.99, and Children (4 & Under) are Free.

Courtesy of http://www.hoophall.com/hoursdirections/

Michael Jordan’s Career Stats

84-85 85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89 89-90 90-91 91-92 92-93 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 01-02 02-03

CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI CHI WAS WAS

82 82 18 7 82 82 82 82 81 81 82 82 82 82 80 80 78 78 17 17 82 82 82 82 82 82 60 53 82 67

38.3 25.1 40.0 40.4 40.2 39.0 37.0 38.8 39.3 39.3 37.7 37.9 38.8 34.9 37.0

.515 .457 .482 .535 .538 .526 .539 .519 .495 .411 .495 .486 .465 .416 .445

.173 .167 .182 .132 .276 .376 .312 .270 .352 .500 .427 .374 .238 .189 .291

.845 .840 .857 .841 .850 .848 .851 .832 .837 .801 .834 .833 .784 .790 .821

2.0 1.3 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.4 1.6 .8 .9

4.5 2.3 3.2 3.8 6.2 5.1 4.6 5.3 5.0 5.4 4.8 4.5 4.2 4.8 5.2

6.5 3.6 5.2 5.5 8.0 6.9 6.0 6.4 6.7 6.9 6.6 5.9 5.8 5.7 6.1

5.9 2.39 2.9 2.06 4.6 2.88 5.9 3.16 8.0 2.89 6.3 2.77 5.5 2.72 6.1 2.28 5.5 2.83 5.3 1.76 4.3 2.20 4.3 1.71 3.5 1.72 5.2 1.42 3.8 1.50

.84 1.17 1.52 1.60 .80 .66 1.01 .94 .78 .76 .51 .54 .55 .43 .48

3.55 3.50 2.50 2.60 3.32 2.90 3.07 3.30 3.58 3.00 3.01 2.90 2.46 2.80 2.50 2.50 2.65 2.40 2.06 2.80 2.40 2.40 2.02 1.90 2.26 1.80 2.70 2.00 2.11 2.10

28.2 22.7 37.1 35.0 32.5 33.6 31.5 30.1 32.6 26.9 30.4 29.6 28.7 22.9 20.0

G1 GS2 MPG3 FG%4 3P%5 FT%6 OFF7 DEF8 RPG9 APG10 SPG11 BPG12 TO13 PF14 PPG15 Career 1072 1039 38.3 .497 .327 .835 1.6 4.7 6.2 5.3 2.35 .80 2.73 2.60 30.1 LEGEND: 1. GAMES PLAYED. 2. GS IS GAMES STARTED. 3. MPG IS MINUTES PER GAME. 4. FG% IS FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE. 5. 3P% IS THREE POINT PERCENTAGE. 5. FT% IS FREE THROW PERCENTAGE. 6. OFF IS OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME. 7. DEF IS DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME. 8. RPG IS TOTAL

REBOUNDS PER GAME. 9. APG IS ASSISTS PER GAME. 10. SPG IS STEALS PER GAME. 11. BPG IS BLOCKS PER GAME. 12. TO IS TURNOVERS PER GAME. 13. PF IS FOULS PER GAME. 14. PPG IS POINTS PER GAME.

Statistics Courtesy of NBA.com

YEAR TEAM G1 GS2 MPG3 FG%4 3P%5 FT%6 OFF7 DEF8 RPG9 APG10 SPG11 BPG12TO13PF14 PPG15