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Michael Jordan - Cut From His High School Team

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1963. He was the youngest of four boys born to James and Deloris Jordan. James Jordan was the son of a share cropper from rural North Carolina, and he was in Brooklyn to attend a school that trained employees of General Electric. Jordan's mother, Deloris, was a homemaker until her children were old enough to attend school, and then she became a bank clerk.

When Jordan was about seven years old, in 1970, his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, the town he would later consider to be his hometown. He began playing basketball at an early age, often with his older

Michael Jordan

brother Larry. "When I was younger," Jordan said on his Web site, "my motivation came from wanting to beat my brother. This inspired my extremely competitive nature."

As a freshman in high school, Jordan joined his school basketball team. It was on his high school team that Jordan chose the jersey number he was later to make famous as a pro, number 23. When later asked why he chose that number, he replied to the Associated Press, "I wanted to wear No. 45 in high school, but my older brother (Larry) wore that number. So I decided to go with half of 45, which is actually 22½." Jordan at first had trouble standing out on the school team. In fact, only a year after joining the team, as a tenth grader, he was cut from the varsity team. But this only pushed him to work harder at perfecting his game. As he later said on his Web site, "I think that not making the Varsity team drove me to really work at my game, and also taught me that if you set goals, and work hard to achieve them—the hard work can pay off."

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22 days ago

Nick

If you get cut from your high school JV team, you probably should give up. MJ wasn't cut from the team all together, he just didn't make JV as a sophomore. Most sophomores are on JV anyway. He was still the best player on his JV team.

about 1 month ago

Michael Johnson

You people are dumb, he didn't get cut from his high-school team he was just on J.V. as a sophomore. So all you people who think you can make the NBA despite being cut from your basketball team... you can't; he still made a team unlike you dumb asses

3 months ago

Dillon

MJ i glad you did not give up. Because I gave up in it got me to a juvinile prison. But now i play basketball and football and stay out of trouble. GOOD JOB.

3 months ago

Matthew White

Yo Mj ever since i was little lad i looked up to you. I Strated playin b-ball when i was a little wiper-snaper. When i was at high school i didnt even make the team i was so sad i cried a really lot. My eyes still hurt. Should i just quit or kept on trucking toward my dream?

4 months ago

some one you dont know

Ellie is the best basketball player ever

4 months ago

Like i would tell you that!

Michael Jordan. Wow even saying his name gives me shivers. I can't believe you got cut from the school team! I would be pissed!! They were probably kicking them selves b/c you became the best player to ever own.

4 months ago

Basketball4Life

Oh my goodness! Michael, you are my life hero. You teach me to work hard & ask my coach for extra practices. I've begun to work alot harder & appriciate basketball more. I made my middle school basketball team because I go to a Catholic school so everyone makes the team. But I really cannot wait until next year when I'm going to be in high school. Of course I'm going to try out for the girls basketball team. My life dream is to become a famous, well-known basketball player in the WNBA. I'm doing a school report about you, & I hope that when I get older that someone does a report about me. Tank you so much! God Bless You Michael Jordan!

4 months ago

Isiah B.

Im a freshman in highschool i've bn playing baseball since i was young and exactly a Hr. ago i juz got cut frm my school baseball team..It hurts alot cz I luv bazeball,bt diz iz gonna push me pass the limit n everything I do,Im going to grind for ma goal no matter wat n by next year im going to make da team no matter wat it takez losin iz not an option jordan givz me more ambition to achieve my goal..N NOW THE HUMILIATION ENDS!!

5 months ago

patrick thompson

hey michael my dad told me u got cut from ur jv basketball team and i could not believe it well im a sophomore now but got cut from my freshmen baseball team last year i went to all of the captains practices and alot of the kids that made the team didn't bunch of kids thought i should of made it and some made fun of me i love baseball its my passion and im gonna go to all of the captain practices and make the team im going to have alot more confidence coming into the tryout thanks for the inspiration u have brought to me well later

5 months ago

SiLv3rD0M3

JOrdan you da BEst in the world but just to let you no i came to this town called mountainair and its amazing i ball for fun but im better then half there varsity i guess the dedication really does pay off, thanks MJ

5 months ago

Chris mackey

I really like you you are great and my role modle

5 months ago

basketball

i made the 7th grade middle school team and got cut by my jv coach and varsity coach.I worked so hard for it and got cut. All of my friends new i should have made it and theres nothing i could do.So i came into high school ready for tryouts. 2 weeks before i quit and stoped going to the open gyms. I thought what are the chances of me making the team? so i fight through it and decided to go out with everything i had and i made the team. i was more dedicated than everybody but now the problem is my coach doesnt play me. I work so hard during practice and get no time. i dont do drugs or drink or skip practice. I just dont know y he put me on the team if he aint going to use me

6 months ago

:) you are my role model

hey micahel im doing a report on you and you know it is kind of hard. who influenced you and why? and wat were your setbacks and dissapointments? what are your ideals and setbacks? and what were your major events in your life/?

6 months ago

rg

Mike your my favorite athlete all time for sure. I'm actually not a basketball player, i play hockey and i just wanted to say how much i enjoyed reading all the comments. Thanks for the motivation to be the best i can be.

6 months ago

Almas Sehic

Man your are the dream for me. i got cut from my middle school basket-ball team today and what you just told me made work harder. thank you micheal i learnd alot, im just a young kid that lives in a poor family. -almas =]

7 months ago

skywise 8

yo M.J. your one of my greatest idals i'm only in 6tth grade but your hard work in life really showed me how if you work hard in life dreams can come true. in 20 years your going to be the one watching me on T.V.

7 months ago

samuel boateng

i read lots of stuff on this page and it really inspired me so much, this is my story as a kid that moved from Africa to the USA i had wanted to try to engage in something like sports and since my middle school didn't have a basketball team i could wait o get to the high school to play basketball but as about now that i am witting this (12/03/2008) i just had my try outs for my high school team as a freshman i just got cut and there are some ppl on the team that i think i am better than but not also trying say i am better but i got cut and i don't really know why but after reading lots of these comments i feel much better because i am not going to give up i and still going to work hard and keep moving forward so that one day when it comes to a time i will remember how confidence i was after being cut from the freshman team but also for next summer i am going to work so hard so that i will try for the jv team and make it thanks for taking time to read this may god bless you and go out there to archive your dreams

7 months ago

Michael Jordan

Yo Sean and all you other kats dat wanna play b-ball. Dis is michael jordan dont give up on your dreams man, dont give up on your dreams. Find new ones. You aint got no chance to play in da NBA. You aint as good as me. You will get cut from your team. again. find a new hobby cuz you suck. collect stamps or something you are trash. it been real. MJ 23

7 months ago

kiam marseil

How did you grew 4 inches over one summer, which is really impossible to me.

7 months ago

jonnylokes

i feel u, i didnt make varsity until my senior year and im probably one of the best players in nm but i plan to get in the nba and im only gonna get better at ball!!

7 months ago

richie

I try out for my middle school basketball team. but i got cut. this was today as im writing this. i cry about 20mins. but then i though about u. how u got cut 7th 8th 9th grades. thats must been tough for u. but look at u now. played for the wizard and the bulls. play college baksteball. for unc. (but im a duke fan lol) but im leaving this comment because i want to tell ever one NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. richie whitted

9 months ago

lil nock

i do beloieve dat being cut is not the end of the world but i already read this book jordan was cut because of his siz. he was still btter than half the plp on his team.true he had to work 4 time more to be noticed but after he got taller there was no stopping him so dont take it like even if u never played basketball u can still make it on ur team i am never going to get cut beacause i work hard not to not after i get cut and get this mike was a beast plp he is not like some of u scrubs.

10 months ago

Darrence Co

At what age did you start playing basketball? By: Darrence Co

about 1 year ago

dunkey

u cant let other people define who u are, let others compromise u n tell u u cant play ball i was cut from my JV b ball team as a freshman, played sparringly in 8th grade, I cried like a baby for a whole month after that and didnt know how to go on not being a basketball player. Eventually i stopped being a lil punk and got over it. I knew what talent waited inside me ready to ignite, so i elevated my game over the summer to a point that far surpassed any level the other guys that made the basketball team were at, then i kept working and getting better and better and better. My family moved that summer to a different part of town, so i went to a school that was in the same district and area of my old school, I tried out for their basketball team, a team more respected than my prior team, and made it with ease. I later was promoted to varsity halfway through the year, just in time to play my school last year.......... In this game i let loose all my bent up anger and talent and completely stunned them by scoring and leading my team with 25 points and grabbing ten rebounds, more points and rebounds that i had ever scored in a b ball game up to that point in my life. We won the by ten and demolished them, we also won the district title. I dont know if i mention this but i got cut from jv and i had just beaten the VARSITY team baby!!!! and my life has really become great from this point. I went from a b-c student to straight A, became a ladies man, and accomplished my dreams. i just finished my senior year and have recieved offers to play ball at division one colleges, but will attend UCLA on an academic scholarship. In case u have not comprehended the point yet i just wanted everyone out their who has ever felt pain and dissapointment to know to never give up, anything is truly imposssible when u truly have faith in ur abilities thank you for taking the time to read my post GOD bless all and good luck

about 1 year ago

y.p

hey yall i love basketball and especially when it comes to a fine man named michael jordan who michael jordan yeah thats right and aint nobody can confuse wit me and him. but now im probably the same age as him now lolz cause we use to go to svhool together and boi did we enjoy eachother so jordan even though it was a one night stand there will alwyas be another me and you.

about 1 year ago

Dan

It goes to show that we all are a complex composition of events over which we have little control. Had MJ not been cut from his high school team would he have been the same player? We will of course never know. It is certainly the ultimate revenge fantasy of any highschool player. To use the trauma of such rejection that many of us have faced, namely being cut, and channeling it into such an intensely motivating force is truly inspiring. This force was evidently so great and to the extent that he molded himself into the greatest basketball player that has ever walked the face of the earth! The writers at Marvel Comics would have had a difficult time creating a more far-fetched character.

about 1 year ago

brady bates

I quit my basketball team this year because I didn't think I would make the team. After reading this I know next year when I am a jr. I can make the team. Thank you michael you really inspired me. I know how it feels to have an older brother better than you in basketball. If I try my hardest and practice I know I can beat him now.

about 1 year ago

Karlos

didnt mj also use the number 13 in highschool?

about 1 year ago

fraol

I recently got cut from the 8th grade basketball team. That was devestating for me i remeber going home crying because basketball is my life i want to play in the NBA when i grow up. Thats my dream. The thing that makes me angery the most is that i worked harder than all the guys who made the team. Since you being my favorite player of all time i remebered that you got cut to and if you didn't get cut from the 8th grade team i wouldn't play basketball ever again. i take this as motivation and im going to work harder than before and try to make the high scool team as a freshman.

about 1 year ago

Kobewillkilluoneononejordan

all of you all don't have no life sean do you really think that jordan will talk to you, he got better things to do, he don't even know about this website and if yall got cut that means you all are weak as hell

about 1 year ago

Nick

I reliaze that being cut is just a step further in becoming better. I wanted to be around the team,the coach lets me practice with them still, but my title is manager. People have told me i deserved to be on the team even the coach reliazes it now ,but i am ready for next year.

about 1 year ago

sean

hey whats up mj i feel you man it does make you work harder please write back i need to talk to you

about 1 year ago

Jdub

Yo man I was UNFAIRLY cut from my basketball team the coach had me meat the JV bball coach and then let me practice with the varsity as a 9th grader but he seemed to be tryin to embarass me at try-outs. EVERYBODY was SHOCKED when i got cut some people say just for cutting me the coach should be fired but its alright because im gonna play aau again and get stronger

about 1 year ago

Adam Martinez

I just got kicked off my basketball team. I cried during school but after today there is going to be no more tears I am gonna work harder than everyone else and set my goals.

about 1 year ago

B.Will

Yo I counld,t have put it better Mike Johnson. Now I know that impoosible is nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

over 2 years ago

mike

By far the greatest to ever play or will ever play the game of basketball....As you can tell getting cut doesnt always mean "give up you wont make it" and Michael is a fine example of this!