After a stand-out career at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jordan joined the NBA's
Chicago Bulls in
1984. He quickly emerged as one of the stars of the league, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing
slam dunks from the
free throw line at
Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "
Air Jordan" and "
His Airness." He also gained a reputation as one of the best defensive players in basketball.
[2] In
1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in
1992 and
1993, securing a "
three-peat." Though Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the
1993-94 NBA season to pursue a career in
baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in
1995 and led them to three additional championships (
1996,
1997, and
1998) as well as an NBA-record
72 regular-season wins in the
1995–96 season. Jordan retired for a second time in
1999, but he returned for two more NBA seasons in
2001 as a member of the
Washington Wizards.