On the surface, basketball looks more like a simple game of throws and dribbles. While more assets such as agility, accuracy, leaping ability, endurance, player speed, and sharp vision still make the list of highly skilled players, that list wouldn’t be complete if we leave out the player height factor. Yes! You can Call basketball a game of heights, and you’ll probably be right. Perhaps there is no other athlete who understands this better than the basketball legend that is Michael Jordan. Even Though now retired from the sports, Jordan continues to be a living legend to millions of basketball players around the globe and aspiring more champions across the world. When asked about the essential factors of his success, the legend hardly discusses his height. This piece scrutinizes everything you need to know about Michael Jordan’s height and how it influenced his career, as well as other fascinating facts.
How and When It All Began
Jordan started the first strokes of what would be a legendary profession back in his junior high school days in the late 1960s and early 1980s. While attending the Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington town, he played football, baseball, and basketball. Even though most followers would hardly believe it, there was a time when Jordan was turned down from entering his school’s basketball team because of his body height. At the time, he was deemed too short. Rather than drain in discouragement, he went all out to prove what stuff he’s made of, ultimately becoming the star player of his varsity junior basketball team.
By his senior year, Jordan’s incredible abilities had earned him spots on several college basketball programs such as South Carolina, Virginia, Syracuse, Duke, and North Carolina. At the age of 18, Jordan earned a basketball scholarship from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. All Thanks to his height and excellent balling skills, by the time he finished five years later, Michael Jordan has won the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards (of 1984). He additionally played for the top teams like the Chicago Bulls.
Throughout his sixteen-year NBA profession, Michael Jordan worked mostly for The Chicago Bulls and The Washington Wizards. Within that period, he was also a member of two Olympic gold-winning American basketball teams. He had garnered awards and recognition in over 33 categories. Maybe the highlight of his work came in the year 2016 when Jordan was acknowledged with the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom by then US president Barack Obama.
Michael Jordan Wife
Basketball player Michael Jordan is at the moment married to 42-year-old Cuban-American fashion model Yvette Prieto (16 years Michael’s junior), who he met one year after divorcing from his former-wife Juanita. Mr Michael and MsYvette moved in together in late 2009 and got engaged two years on. In 2013, Yvette and Michael Jordan tied the knot in Florida, USA, with a ceremony rumored to have cost the couple more than $9million and guests including Usher, golf legend Tiger Woods, and Robin Thicke. One year on and Yvette and Michael welcomed identical twin daughters Ysabel and Victoria. The family is still together, though they keep their daily lives as private as possible. 
How Tall Is Michael Jordan?
Although today’s references quote his height as 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 meters), that wasn’t always the situation. Interestingly, there was a time when the legendary player Michael Jordan measured only 5 feet 11 inches. That’s not bad at all here, but for a basketball athlete trying out for his school’s senior team, he was denied due to his height. Undeterred, Jordan worked so hard and drove his growth hormones to their full limits. By the following season after his rejection, he’d developed to 6 feet 3 inches, which gained him a spot right away. When it was time for the college, Jordan’s new predicament was what scholarship to pick and which to neglect.
Of all his choices, the University of North Carolina sat best with him. Without immediate opportunities his height offered him, there apparently wouldn’t be a ‘Michael Jordan the legend’ as we have known him today. As Jordan jokingly puts this, if not for his height, his brother, Larry Jordan, would have emerged as the family’s star basketball player. Back in the 1980s, the two nearly equaled each other in height when standing shoulder to shoulder. Nevertheless, Michael outgrew him and got a better advantage.
See also: Michael Jordan’s Kids, Family, daughter, sons
Although most peoples take after their parents’ height or that of other blood relations, the same can’t be said for Michale Jordan. His dad was not more than 5 feet 9 inches tall, and his mother, so far as we know, stood the height of around 5 feet 5 inches. Had he settled for what the genetics had to give, he would probably stay at 5 feet 11 inches or 6 feet at his best.
Michael Jordan’s Height Compared To Other Stars
Jordan’s 6 feet 6 inches full body height puts him in the corresponding category with the likes of legendary Ime Udoka and Kobe Bryant. But that’s not all the famous body height mates he’s become. 6 feet 6 inches is similarly the number for Brian Bowen II’s likes, who plays for the Indiana Pacers, Alec Burks playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, and Andre Iguodala, who plays for the Miami Heat. Nevertheless, it turns out that height is the only universal factor these professionals share with Jordan.
Comparing Jordan’s total height with that of Kobe Bryant, you’d see that their accomplishments contrast despite being the same height. Bryant reportedly amassed a net worth of $600 million at the time of his death in early January 2020. During his full career, Bryant earned lots of lucrative endorsement deals, several media projects, and of course, starting his venture capitalist company. However, Michael Jordan beat this in every way. The NBA player has been on Forbes list of billionaires, having amassed a net worth of 2.1 billion.
Besides, Jordan continues to be the first billionaire athlete to this day. Thanks to his impeccable brand, his team’s increasing amount, the Charlotte Hornets, and his mounting royalties from Nike. When it comes to occupation points, Bryant accrued up to 33,743 points, while Jordan’s sits shy with 32,262. Asides from Bryant, other players who share the same height as Jordan does not scale up in terms of accomplishments. Players such as Ime Udoka had only 1,635 career points, and his net worth is about $11.5 million, while Andre Iguodala currently has over 13,600 points and is worth about $50 million.
Surprisingly, when basketball legend Michael Jordan stands shoulder to shoulder at the same level with the likes of David Robinson (about 7 feet 1 inch), Hakeem Olajuwon (about 6 feet 11 inches), Lebron James (about 6 feet 9 inches), he suddenly goes very short. Despite that, Robinson had total points of almost 20,790 during his career and a net worth of about $200 million, which is way far below Jordan’s. Hakeem Olajuwon had 26,846 points and a net worth of 250 million. Interestingly, another player that has edged close to Michael Jordan in terms of total career points is Lebron James.
James is a great sixteen-time NBA All-Star and three-time gold basketball medalist. Currently, with a total of 33,793 points and counting, he is set to become an NBA super player of all time. However, when it comes to his net total amassed worth, LeBron’s net worth of $480 million puts him below Jordan on the total earning scale. Even though he earned a whopping $89 million in the year 2019, that still falls shy of Jordan’s $100 million marks.
Asides from height, Jordan’s secret sporting advantage in the court is his longer-than-average arms and wider-than-average man palms. With a hand length and palm-size of about 11.38 inches and 9.75 inches, respectively, he remains to be one of the most skillful NBA stars.
Michael Jordan Weight, diet and Other Body Measurements
Although he has retired, Michael Jordan still works out at the gym to keep fit. To keep his height and bodyweight of 216 lb (98 kg), Jordan stocks up on high carb food and low protein. According to credible sources, the basketball player lives on 20% from fats, 70% of calories from carbs, and 10% from protein. Jordan has kept this weight right from his active days, only alternating by small margins over the cause of his career. As he puts it, a weight of about 98 kg or less has been instrumental to his unbelievable speed and high leaping expertise in the court. As of this article, Jordan measures about 44 and 36 inches for his chest and waist, respectively. He also wears shoes of sizes 46 (EU), 13 (US), and 12.5 (UK).
