Sports News now, and basketball great, Michael Jordan is expected to announce his retirement within the next few hours. And people all over the world are talking tonight about the retirement of Michael Jordan, the most recognizable athlete on the planet. Jordan leaves behind a legacy that future NBA players will be hard pressed to repeat. He was the most dominant player in his sport，the most famous athlete of his time, playing in a city that has known few champions and whose people are now wrestling with the loss of Michael Jordan. Jordan's flights across the basketball court, his acrobatic style all put fans in the stands and money in his pocket. Jordan made 30 million dollars in salary in each of last two years and no one said he wasn't worth it.

Fan: "Oh, absolutely he is uh, he's a worldwide hero."

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, but his family decided to move to Wilmington, North Carolina when he was still a toddler. As a child, Jordan played baseball, basketball and football. His preferred sport at the time was baseball but after he began spending a lot of time on the basketball court, his outlook changed. Ironically, in 1978, when Jordan attended Laney High School in Wilmington, he was cut from the school team. Instead of giving up, however, he fought through adversity and became the greatest basketball player in the world. Between the 10th and 11th grade, Jordan grew from 5'11" to 6'3", and because he had improved greatly as a player, he made the school team the following year.

When Michael Jordan played college basketball, he was an above average player, but there was no sign of what lay ahead. In the summer of 1984, Jordan played on the US Men's Olympic Basketball Team and his plays quickly awed the other teams. However, he was passed over in the 1984 NBA draft by two teams and ended up with the then lowly Chicago Bulls. Jordan immediately proved that he belonged in the big leagues and his acrobatic moves and hang-time won him the infamous nickname Air Jordan. Jordan built the Bulls into a championship team. They won six NBA titles in his 13 seasons. Jordan won the league MVP Award five times and the scoring title 10 times. His points per game average is the highest ever. His basketball skills and allure also made him the perfect key figure to market both Nike products and the NBA.

Jordan decided to retire from the NBA preceding the 1993/94 season after his father was murdered and after rumors about his gambling addictions began to circulate. During his first retirement, he tried professional baseball playing outfielder for the Birmingham Barons. Jordan quickly realized that he was not cutout for baseball after a disappointing season and eventually came back to the game where he made his name. In 1996, Jordan led the Bulls to their best regular season record and the fourth championship title in six years. He also took a shot at the silver screen, where he starred alongside Bugs Bunny in the animated comedy Space Jam. After 2 more championships, the 35-year-old decided for a second time, that the time is right.

Jordan: "I am here to, to announce my retirement from the game of basketball, uh, it won't be, uh, another announcement to baseball or anything to that nature. Uh, I think everyone has their own reasons. There's been a lot of speculations in terms of why, uh, I'm pretty sure I'll get to that point once you guys get the opportunity to ask questions. But I want to say thank you, to both of the gentlemen here, Mr. Stern and Mr. Reinsdoff who presented me with opportunity to, to play the game of basketball, and certainly gave me opportunity to come to Chicago and meet my beautiful wife and build a family here. Uh, and my family in North Carolina, a lot of my friends who have come up to support, to stay and support me, who've always supported me once I stepped on the basketball court, and even when I didn't play on the basketball court. Uh, I want to say thanks to both of those gentlemen, uh, and to all the fans in Chicago, for, uh, for allowing me to come here and they have adopted me to be one of theirs and in response, I've tried to step on the basketball court and get rid of the, the, uh, the gangster mentality that was Chicago was known for, for a long time. And uh, I think successfully, myself and my teammates, and the whole organization has made an effort to, to change, the perspective about Chicago, and we are hopefully going to be known as a championship city. And I hope it continues on even when Michael Jordan is not in uniform."

Jordan always said he wanted to finish on top, and he is. His last shot might be his most memorable, the game winner to give the Bulls their sixth NBA championship in June 1999. It's a great final image of a great athlete and he left an indelible imprint of perfection.

David Stern (President of NBA): "Michael, I get to say thank you for 29 teams and hundreds of million of fans around the world. Thank you for what you've meant to our game, thank you for being who you were, not only for your leadership and greatness on the court, but for who you were and will continue to be off the court, your contributions to NBA are immeasurable despite the fact that every newspaper in the country has an insert to detail those today and every network has a series programs to do it. Oh, I don't think they could ever capture all that you've meant to us. Uh, thank you for gracing our court for 13 seasons. And I disagree with Jerry, this is not a sad day, this is a great day, because the greatest basketball player in the history of the game is getting the opportunity to retire with the grace that described his play."