The man, the myth, the legend. Michael Jordan rose to stardom for his time with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards — which was only the beginning of his professional career.

After playing college basketball for three seasons, Jordan became a global icon when he joined the NBA and went on to play 15 seasons in the ’80s and ’90s. Over the years, the professional athlete developed a reputation for his slam dunks during games — and his appearance in the film Space Jam.

Jordan started to explore prospects as a businessman when he took on a collaboration with Nike in 1984. The company crafted the Air Jordan around the promising basketball player, who would go on to bring Nike plenty of success.

In 2000, fans got a glimpse at Jordan’s ups and downs in a documentary titled Michael Jordan to the Max. Jordan’s life was front and center again in ESPN’s 10-part TV documentary, The Last Dance, which premiered in 2020.

However, the limited series seemed to create tension between Jordan and some of his former teammates. Scottie Pippen. who won six championships alongside the Jordan CEO in the 1990s, revealed that they were no longer close because of how Jordan alleged minimized the role his coworkers played in the Chicago Bulls’ success.

“They glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates,” Pippen, whose ex-wife Larsa Pippen ultimately started dating Michael’s son Marcus Jordan, wrote in his 2021 memoir, Unguarded. “Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director.”

Michael, for his part, praised his teammates for the support they offered him at the height of their success. “I think it was [a] genuine time, even though we were competing and we were learning about each other and we were pushing each other, those are still genuine times,” he told ABC’s Australian Today in August 2021, adding that he felt “sad” when it ended. “And you don’t share those with too many people.”

In 2023, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reunited on screen to bring the story of Nike’s pivotal partnership with Michael to life. Ahead of Air‘s debut, Affleck discussed Michael’s response to the biographical movie.

“I had a chance to sit down with Michael Jordan, because I just wasn’t going to make this movie without asking him, ‘What matters to you?’” the director said in March 2023 at South by Southwest. “Michael Jordan, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the most intimidating, impressive men you’ll ever see in your life. He told me about his father. And then he talked about his mother. It was the first time I saw this look cross his face. It was a look of reverence, of awe, of love, and gratitude, and innocence.”

According to Affleck, Michael emphasized that his mother’s casting was the most important aspect of the film for him.

“He said, ‘None of this would have ever happened without my mother.’ I said, ‘Who would you like to play your mom?’ He said, ‘Well, it has to be Viola Davis,” the Pearl Harbor star continued. “That’s like saying, ‘Can I play basketball on your court?’ ‘Yeah, if you get Michael Jordan.’ Viola Davis is the best actor I’ve ever seen. This is a hard business. It’s hard to know if you’re successful. It’s hard to know if you’ve accomplished something. But honest to God, I always felt that if i was a director one day, and I had Viola Davis in a movie, that would really be something. That would mean the world to me. And it does.”

Keep scrolling for a look at Michael’s life in photos:

1984

After going to the University of North Carolina on a basketball scholarship, Michael joined the Chicago Bulls. He was part of the team from 1984 to 1993 before retuning two years later. Michael officially parted ways with the Bulls in 1998.

During his first year in the NBA, the athlete collaborated with Nike on Air Jordan sneakers — which found major success.

Credit: Fitzroy Barrett/Shutterstock

1989

The New York native married Juanita Vanoy in Las Vegas. They expanded their family with sons, Jeffrey, Marcus and daughter Jasmine. After more than a decade of marriage, Michael and Vanoy called it quits in 2002. The pair briefly reconciled before filing for divorce, which was finalized in 2006.

Credit: Colorsport/Shutterstock

1993

The former professional basketball player announced his initial retirement three months after his father was killed. Michael moved on with a brief stint in the MLB, which ended one year later.

Michael made headlines when he was spotted gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Bulls’ 1993 NBA playoffs.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I’ve pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you’re willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah,” he said during a 2005 interview on 60 Minutes about his history with gambling.

Credit: Sonia Moskowitz/Shutterstock

1995

After a break from the sport, Michael returned to the Bulls. He retired again in 1999 but remained in the basketball world as part owner and president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards

Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

1996

Michael starred as himself in the live-action movie Space Jam. In 2021, Space Jam: A New Legacy was released with LeBron James in the lead role.

Credit: Richard Young/Ian McIlgorm/Shutterstock

2001

Following a hiatus, the businessman announced his return to the NBA to play for the Washington Wizards. He noted he would donate his salary to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11 attacks.

Michael retired for the final time during the 2002-2003 basketball season.

Credit: Reix Stephane/ABACA/Shutterstock

2006

Three years after retiring from basketball, Michael bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats which made him Managing Member of Basketball Operations. The team, which has since become known as the Hornets, was ultimately sold to Michael for majority ownership in 2010.

Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock

2011

After a lengthy courtship, Michael proposed to Yvette Prieto and they got married in 2013. Later that year, the duo announced that they were expecting their first child together. In 2014, the model gave birth to twin daughters, Victoria and Ysabel.

Credit: Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Shutterstock

2016

Michael became the first billionaire player in NBA history in 2016. That same year, Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In response to 2016 shootings committed by and against the cops, Michael $2 million to a police organization and the NAACP.

“As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,” he wrote in a blog post for The Undefeated in 2016. “I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.”

The basketball legend confirmed that his charitable donation would be divided up with half going to the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Community-Police Relations and the remaining amount to NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Credit: ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

2020

Michael was the main face of ESPN’s miniseries The Last Dance, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. The special also featured fellow NBA personalities, including Michael, Scottie, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Phil Jackson.

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

2023

The origins of Michael’s partnership with Nike was the central story of the biographical sports film Air which was released in 2023. The project starred Damon, Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker and Davis.

That same year, Larsa opened up about how Michael gave her romance with Marcus his stamp of approval. “They’re all happy, our whole family is fine,” the reality star said on The Tamron Hall Show. “When you’re an adult, I think your parents just want to see you happy. My parents want to see me happy, his parents want to see him happy.”