Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brookyln, New York on February 17, 1963. As a youngster, Michael immediately became interested in sports. However, it was baseball not basketball that was his first love. He soon started to play basketball to try and follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Larry, whom he idolized growing up. At Laney High School, as a sophomore, he decided to try out for the varsity team but was cut because he was raw and undersized. The following summer, he grew four inches and practiced tirelessly. The hard work paid off as he averaged 25 points per game in his last two years and was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior. In the 1984 NBA draft, he was selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls. As a rookie for the Bulls, he made an immediate impact, averaging an amazing 28.2 points a game, including six games where he scored 40+ points. He was selected to the NBA All-Star Game and named Rookie of the Year. Jordan announced his retirement from basketball citing that "he no longer had the desire to play." Now "retired" at age 33. In early 1994, Jordan decided to take up a new hobby alright. However, it wasn't golf. It was baseball. Despite not playing baseball since high school some 13 years ago, he signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in 1994. Reentered the NBA and announced his retirement, saying that "he was 99.9 percent sure that he would never play again, on January 13, 1999.