Scottie, I’m open

                                        By: Kyle Trousil

     “Scottie, I’m open.” Scottie passes the ball to MJ and he shoots the 3 pointer and scores the leading basket in the 1998 final game in the championship! But Utah scores again and makes it 82- 84, the bulls turnover the ball to Utah on a missed pass but they bring the ball down slowly. 18.2 seconds left in the game Jordan makes a magnificent steal and brings the ball down court with 8 seconds left! He stutter steps back to the 3 point line; 3, 2, 1! SWISH! The bulls win the game, the bulls win the game! Jordan made the 3 pointer to win the 1998 championship game against the Utah Jazz!  The fans are screaming, blowing the roof off of the United Center; as Jordan receives his 5th NBA title he starts to cry and thanks the whole crowd for the support and gratitude throughout his career. This is why Michael Jordan should be named a "Great American."

     In high school; Senior year, he made the varsity basketball team and Averaged 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 10.1 assists a game. But Michael’s grades were slipping and he was getting in trouble. He didn't do any of his home work, he would cut class to go shoot hoops in the gym, and he hit a white girl in the face for calling him a Niger. He took serious precautions because the coach said "you can't be on this team if you don't pull your grades together." He was hitting the books every night until he pulled himself together again. After the basketball season Jordan attended "Howard's Summer Five Star Basketball Camp" in Pittsburg, pennsilyvaina for major college prospects. Michael Jordan was astonishing in the basketball camp so much North Carolina didn't want any other collages to know about him, so he kept Michaels matches private. MJ went to the University of North Carolina on a basketball scholarship in 1981. He started as a freshman for Dean Smith, one of the few ever to start as a freshman. Michael Avg. 13.5 points and 5 rebounds a game soon becoming the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in 1981. 1982; Freshman Michael Jordan takes a 15 foot corner Jumper to win against George Town University and give Dean Smith his first national title. Also, in 1982, Michael Jordan lead the ACC in scoring with 20 point Avg. . He got ranked 2nd for most steals, 78, and was selected for, "The Sporting News Player of the Year". MJ won the gold medal in the Pan American Games. In his junior, Jordan won All- American award, the Naismith and wooden award. He also led N.C to another Acc conference regular season title. As a junior in collage he did not play; he went on to “NBA National Association Draft” and got selected first round to the bulls. This almost never happens to athletes that come straight out of collage unless your extremely good. That is just what Michael Jordan was, athletically amazing. He signed a “Seven figure four five year contract with the bulls.”

          Another reason why MJ is a great American is because in his first season he scored 2,313 points and Avg. 28.2 points a game. Including his 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.9 steals. That is absolutely amazing barely anyone in the NBA can do that besides superstars that have been in the NBA for 10 years. Michael Jordan was a scrub from collage playing pro his first year and he gets that many points; that’s crazy, that’s inhuman now a days. He also was named rookie of the year and he was a starter for the All- star Team. Even People in the stands say he is great, “he memorizes crowds with his blinding speed, his physical artistry, and the ability to soar upwards; momentarily hanging in mid- air and make balletic slam dunks,” says a crowd member of the 1998 championship game. This tells how good of an athlete MJ really was. MJ also signed a rewarding contact with Nike making his new shoes, “Jordan’s.”

          Moreover, Michael is a great American because he won his first scoring title with an avg. of 37.1 points a game. He also had an avg. of 43.3 points in a playoff game in double overtime on April 20^th. MJ then became the 2^nd player ever to tally 3,000 points a season and 1^st in history to record 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in a season. In his 1987-1988 years he was named defensive player of the year and made the NBA first team and All- defensive team. He and the bulls eliminated the Cavaliers with MJ’s 45.2 point avg. to win. On January 25^th 1988 Michael Jordan scored his 10,000^th carrier point against the 76ers in just 303 games. One of the few to ever score that many points in that many games. If that doesn’t say great American right there, then I don’t know what will. MJ was also selected best all around performance in 1989 with a 32.8 point avg., 8 assists, and 8 rebounds.

          On September of 1990 Michael Jordan got married to Juanita Vandy in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also, in this year MJ received his 2^nd MVP award and won the NBA finals award. Michael Jordan went to the Olympics for basketball and kept America on top with the gold in 1992. Once again Michael won the NBA finals MVP honors award for his great athleticism in the playoffs.

. In 1993 MJ retires from lack of interest and exhaustion. He went to go play golf but later gets nailed with charges on him for betting in golf. He was fined 10,000 dollars in cash for breaking the rules of betting in the golf association. He then quite his golf journey and decided to go back loving the sport of baseball. MJ trained with White Sox during spring Training and was selected to AA team Birmingham Barons. He played outfield and played 127 games ending with a 202 average. Struck out 114 times, had 436 at bats, slammed 23 doubles, batted in 51 RBI’s, and stole 50 bases. Pretty good for an average baseball player of basketball caliber. Michael Jordan then came back to the NBA March 18^th  with the Bulls capturing a regular season and All- star MVP award with his 8^th scoring title of his career. Again won the NBA finals award for the 4^th time and averaged 30.4 points a game. Became first person since 1970 to capture all 3 MVP awards in a season.