what year did michael jordan started his career?
1984 NBA Draft
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 Michael Jordan had spent his entire career with the Chicago Bulls since being drafted in the 1984 NBA Draft by the team with the third overall selection . Eventually , he led the Bulls to three consecutive championships in the 1991 , 1992 and 1993 NBA Finals . During each of these championship seasons he was an NBA All @-@ Star , NBA scoring champion , All @-@ NBA Team first team selection , NBA All @-@ Defensive Team first team selection , and the NBA Finals MVP . 

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 Jordan 's marked talent was clear from his rookie season . In his first game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks , Jordan received a prolonged standing ovation , a rarity for an opposing player . After Jordan scored a playoff record 63 points against the Boston Celtics on April 20 , 1986 , Celtics star Larry Bird described him as " God disguised as Michael Jordan . " 

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 Jordan then further surprised the sports world by signing a minor league baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox on February 7 , 1994 . He reported to spring training in Sarasota , Florida , and was assigned to the team 's minor league system on March 31 , 1994 . Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father , who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player . The White Sox were another team owned by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf , who continued to honor Jordan 's basketball contract during the years he played baseball . 

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 As a freshman in coach Dean Smith 's team @-@ oriented system , he was named ACC Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13 @.@ 4 points per game ( ppg ) on 53 @.@ 4 % shooting ( field goal percentage ) . He made the game @-@ winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown , which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing . Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career . During his three seasons at North Carolina , he averaged 17 @.@ 7 ppg on 54 @.@ 0 % shooting , and added 5 @.@ 0 rebounds per game ( rpg ) . He was selected by consensus to the NCAA All @-@ American First Team in both his sophomore ( 1983 ) and junior ( 1984 ) seasons . After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984 , Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA draft . The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick , after Hakeem Olajuwon ( Houston Rockets ) and Sam Bowie ( Portland Trail Blazers ) . One of the primary reasons why Jordan was not drafted sooner was because the first two teams were in need of a center . However , the Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman contended that it was not a matter of drafting a center , but more a matter of taking Sam Bowie over Jordan , in part because Portland already had a guard with similar skills to Jordan , Clyde Drexler . ESPN , citing Bowie 's injury @-@ laden college career , named the Blazers ' choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history . Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986 . 

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 Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina . He was a member of the Tar Heels ' national championship team in 1982 . Jordan joined the NBA 's Chicago Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick . He quickly emerged as a league star , entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring . His leaping ability , demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests , earned him the nicknames " Air Jordan " and " His Airness " . He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball . 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 " . Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the beginning of the 1993 – 94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball , he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996 , 1997 , and 1998 , as well as a then @-@ record 72 regular @-@ season wins in the 1995 – 96 NBA season . Jordan retired for a second time in January 1999 , but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Wizards . 
