Michael Jordan
What’s left to say about basketball’s “GOAT” (“Greatest of All Time”)? Michael Jeffrey Jordan is one of the most recognizable names in the world, even as we come up on two decades since he officially hung them up for good. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jordan’s family eventually moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. It was there that the legend of Jordan first began, when his high school coach rejected Jordan from joining the school’s varsity team as a sophomore.
But by the time Jordan was a senior, he was a McDonald’s All-American, and became one of the first freshman to earn significant playing time for Hall of Fame college coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. And, of course, who can forget the fact that the Portland Trailblazers decided to pick Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft?