February 17th marks a special day in every basketball fan’s calendar. Michael Jordan’s birthday — oftentimes occurring on or around All Star Weekend — serves as an invitation to look back at some selected highlights from the greatest player to ever set foot on a basketball court.
To put MJ’s career into perspective, here’s a fun little trivia nugget that will end any GOAT-discussion before it even begins: In 2003, the Miami Heat, a relative novice among NBA teams, announced that they would retire their first jersey in franchise history. However, they didn’t pick one of their own players. They chose Michael Jordan‘s iconic number 23 despite the fact that His Airness (obviously) never played a single game for the club.
Having essentially eliminated the discussion about the most influential jersey number in basketball history, one questions remains though. Which edition? Thanks to Mitchell & Ness — the only licensed source for authentic Michael Jordan jerseys — BSTN holds a plethora of options!
Early Years
Highlights from the early parts of MJ’s career include his scoring outburst against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the Playoffs, a legendary showing at the ’88 All Star Weekend in Chicago and ferocious battles with The Human Highlight Film at the Slam Dunk Contest.
Chicago Bulls jerseys from the late eighties feature a characteristic shimmer on the lettering across the chest. This unique detail is captured beautifully by the Mitchell & Ness replicas.
First Three-Peat
The early half of the nineties possibly feature the highest density of iconic MJ moments from his Dream Team appearance, the infamous shrug game in the 1992 Finals and three NBA Championships thrown in for good measure!
Luckily, the magic of those moments lives on through the manic attention to detail displayed in each of the expertly crafted jerseys.
In pure appreciation of what is rightfully dubbed the ‘golden era’ of basketball (among other things), enjoy an episode of the little-know cartoon series ProStars featuring Mike alongside Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky. It doesn’t get more 90s than this!
All Star Games
Among the many All Star Games Michael Jordan has played in (13 in total), the 1996 contest in San Antonio is sticking out like a sore thumb. It not only features one of the most recognizable jerseys of all time but also boasts some of the game’s 50 greatest players of all time in their absolute prime.
The unmistakable turquoise jersey that MJ wore in the venerable Alamodome is only one of eight(!) different All Star uniforms available at BSTN!
Second Three-Peat
While there are countless memories and highlights that can Michael Jordan’s career can be cherished for on his birthday (or any other day for that matter), the GOAT’s legacy will be remembered for one thing above everything else.
Jordan’s unmatched competitiveness and his insatiable desire to win at all costs is what drove him and the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. The fact that MJ holds the highest scoring average in Finals history (other than Rick Barry who only played 10 games) and is 6-0 in championship rounds will forever stand out in basketball history.
Here’s to you, Mike! Happy Birthday GOAT!
