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"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

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If you built a Mount Rushmore of American athletes, it would have to include Michael Jordan. In basketball he has reached the level Elvis Presley reached in music, Paul Newman in film or Stephen King in literature. He stands at the very highest tier of sports alongside icons like Tiger Woods and Muhammad Ali. The first billionaire in NBA history, star of Space Jam (1996) and the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Michael Jordan is simply a legend in American sports and culture.

Too Short For Varsity

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Born February 17, 1963 to banker Deloris and equipment supervisor James R. Jordan Sr. in New York City, Jordan was only a toddler when his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. Michael Jordan had a passion for sports from a young age, but was far from a basketball prodigy. At Emsley A. Laney High School, he played every sport he could, from basketball to baseball to football, but ultimately failed to make the varsity basketball team. At one inch under six feet tall, Jordan simply wasn't tall enough to make the cut. This early setback motivated Jordan to try that much harder, joining the junior varsity team and becoming the team's star player. Over the next Summer his height caught up to his passion and he grew by an incredible four inches in three short months. From there he was a natural fit for varsity, and scored an average of 25 points a game over the next two seasons.

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

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In his senior year, Jordan was chosen for the McDonald's All-American Game for 1981, scoring 30 points in that game.Any talent scouts not convinced by his stellar high school sports record would certainly take notice of Jordan's performance in this game, and he was immediately recruited by Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and South Carolina, eventually accepting a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill basketball scholarship. In college Jordan made a legenary jump shot against Georgetown to win the 1982 NCAA Championship game, and was selected for the NCAA All-American First Team in both 1983 and 1984. When the 1984 NBA draft came up, the Chicago Bulls' first three overall picks would be Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, and Michael Jordan.

The Phenomenal Rookie

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Michael Jordan quickly helped the Bulls to get on a winning streak, having spent the last three seasons winning only around one third of their games. Fans loved him, and the New York Times called him a "phenomenal rookie." Sports Illustrated ran an iconic cover with Jordan, the heading: A Star Is Born. Jordan's rookie year established him right away as one of the greatest American athletes to ever play. In fact, resentful teammates, frustrated by the credit Jordan was receiving for carrying the team to greatness, would actually refuse to pass to Jordan in many games.

Jordan was a runaway train, fast becoming not only a top player, but an international celebrity. And then he suffered a major injury right as he was hitting his peak, breaking his foot only three games into his second season, missing more than sixty games.

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"My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline."

Jordan healed up before the 1986-87 NBA season began, but there were doubts as to whether or not he could still deliver the goods. He was quick to subdue these worries, scoring three thousand points that season, a feat that had only been accomplished by Wilt Chamberlain.

By 1993 Jordan had accomplished everything in basketball that an athlete could possibly accomplish and for a time lost interest in the game, turning his attention to baseball. He signed with the Birmingham Barons in the minor leagues and then the Scottsdale Scorpions. Many fans were disappointed by his performance on the field, but he held a respectable record, ending with a batting average of .252 for the Scorpions and scoring three home runs in his season with the Barons. These numbers were nothing to be ashamed of, but it was clear that he would never reach the immeasurable heights in baseball that he had in basketball, and in 1995 he returned to the court, rejoining the Bulls, with whom he would play until his first retirement in 1998 before closing out his basketball career with the Washington Wizards from 2001 to 2003.

Along the way he found time to become a movie star, playing himself in Space Jam  (1996), and a businessman, investing his earnings as a basketball player and spoesman for brands like Wheaties, McDonalds, Gatorade, Nike and Coca-Cola, to name a few, into tech startups, the earnings from which would allow him to turn his minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) into an 89.5% majority, and become the first billionaire basketballer.

In 1999, ESPN named Jordan the 20th Century's greatest North American athlete, and given everything Jordan has accomplished on and off the court, that's a hard point to contest.

"The game of basketball has been everything to me. My place of refuge, place I've always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It's been the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and satisfaction. It's a relationship that has evolved over time, given me the greatest respect and love for the game."