Michael Jordan Turns 60: 23 Interesting Facts About the Chicago Bulls Icon

• Michael Jordan turns 60 years old, and it is only fair to celebrate one of the greatest sportspersons in the world
• The Chicago Bulls legend came, saw, and conquered the world of basketball
• There are no superlatives left to describe Jordan

By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. The Chicago Bulls icon turns 60 years old, and although he's retired from the NBA for two decades, he remains one of the biggest sporting stars in the world.

Many lists rank him as the best player of all time. When LeBron James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer, there were plenty of discussions about whether the Lakers star had surpassed him. The debate still rages on.

The list of Jordan's accolades is long. Six NBA championships, fifth in all-time points (32,292), and first in scoring average (30.1). Ninety-eight players in NBA history played more regular games than him (1,072).

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The Athletic ranked him No.1 in their top 75 NBA players of all time. As he turns 60, Sports Brief looks at 23 interesting facts about Jordan.

1. In 1990, Jordan played against the Orlando Magic in a number 12 jersey instead of his usual 23 because someone had stolen his jersey.

2. He donated his entire 2001-2002 paycheck while playing with the Washington Wizards to various 9/11 relief funds.

3. The Miami Heat retired his jersey in 2003 out of respect, despite him not playing for the franchise

4. Barack Obama awarded the Bulls legend a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

5. Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

6. He preferred Adidas over Nike back in the day, but several issues within the German-made three-stripes company made a deal impossible.

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7. He was named the NCAA College Player of the Year in 1983 and 1984.

8. He won Rookie of the Year in the NBA in 1985, averaging 28.2 points, 5.9 assists, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.4 steals on 51.5% from the field. Jordan was prolific as a rookie, with 33 30-point games, the fifth-most by a rookie in NBA history.

9. Air Jordan was coined by Jordan's agent David Falk. He came up with the name because his client played basketball in the air.

10. He was the 3rd overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft.

11. He won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award five times. The NBA recently named the award after the Bulls great.

12. He went 6-0 in the NBA Finals, winning the NBA Finals MVP award six times.

13. He also won the NBA scoring title an incredible 10 times. The closest person is Wilt Chamberlain who won seven scoring titles.

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14. He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in the 1987/88 season, his fourth in the league.

15. He is a 14-time NBA All-Star.

16. He once had 10 triple-doubles in 11 games in the 1988/89 season, averaging 33.6 points, 11.4 assists and 10.8 rebounds per game.

17. He had a game-winning shot when he was at the University of North Carolina, against Georgetown University in 1982.

18. Jordan retired from the league three times: 1993, 1998, and for the final time in 2003.

19. He had a stint in baseball in 1994, a year after his father died. His father had wanted him to play baseball, per Rolling Stone.

20. Jordan smoked a cigar on his way to home games. He started to smoke in 1991 and became a daily smoker in 1993, per Bleacher Report.

21. Jordan is the only basketball player aged 40 or older to average over 20 points per game and to score over 40 in a game.

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22. Jordan has his own line of sports sneakers called Air Jordan. They were introduced in 1985 and remain one of the most popular brands in the world.

23. He is the first former NBA player to become the majority owner of an NBA team and the only African American majority owner of any NBA team.

NBA name MVP award after Jordan

Sports Brief earlier reported on the NBA naming the MVP award after Jordan, in honor of arguably the league's greatest-ever player.

Jordan is a five-time winner of the award, with the last one coming in 1998 when he led the Chicago Bulls to their last NBA Championship.

For six decades, the trophy was named after Maurice Podoloff, the league's first commissioner.