preview

Michael Jordan’s Second Return to the NBA Essay

Good Essays

Michael Jordan’s Second Return to the NBA

Michael Jordan has been of interest to me ever since I began playing basketball myself in the fourth grade. I often found myself trying to replicate Jordan’s moves and motions on the court. I already know a great deal about Jordan because I have studied his career and practically memorized his credentials, both as an athlete and a thriving businessperson. I often found myself staring at my ceiling at night reciting free-throw percentages and such. The main controversy when dealing with Jordan, however, focuses not on his ability to play basketball, rather his second return to the game. Should Jordan have returned for the second time, or should he have stayed away from the basketball …show more content…

There could be a few reasons for this. One is that they are afraid that Jordan will turn his team into another dynasty and dominate the NBA again. Other reasons could be that they simply do not want to see Jordan take a chance on ruining his legendary title of the greatest basketball player of all time. I must say that ticket sales do not lie and overall, Jordan’s return was a success on this parameter of the subject.

Secondly, Jordan’s performance is another subject matter to contend with when questioning his return to basketball. It is well known that Jordan has performed well throughout his career, but how does his performance after his return compare to his previous statistics? As per the player profiles of Yahoo Sports, Jordan’s Minutes Per Game average were “38.8” in 1997 before his retirement and “34.9” in 2001, the first year of his return. These numbers show little reduction in playing time. The slight decline, however, is likely due to fatigue that occurs late in the game. When looking at his points per game, I, again, see no major deficit between the two years. In 1997 he tallied “28.7” ppg (points per game), and in 2001 his numbers only dropped to “22.9” ppg (Yahoo Sports). These numbers show me that Jordan can still adequately play the game. If his number were drastically lower, however, I might reconsider my claim. Based on these

Get Access