(born 1963) Widely acknowledged to be the greatest basketball player ever and, with his ability to soar over players, certainly the most exciting. Jordan was the beneficiary of NBA decisions to showcase individual talent at the end of the 1970s, leading to the rise of marquee players like Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Isaiah Thomas, all of whom he eclipsed. Signed by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan almost single-handedly pulled the franchise up from the basement of the NBA to six championships between 1991 and 1998, an unbroken run interrupted only by his year-long retirement and attempt to break into major league baseball in 1993. Jordan’s contribution to marketing has been as significant as his contribution to basketball. Earning more money from product sponsorship (especially Nike) than from basketball, he was one of the best known Americans around the world throughout the 1990s, his number 23 Chicago Bulls shirt seen on the backs of kids from Latin America and Europe to the Philippines.