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Michael Jordan hit 50 points 39 timers in his NBA career. Sunday he reaches 50 on the calendar.
To commemorate the former Bulls star’s 50th birthday today, The Post reached out to a number of people to share their personal perspectives and memories of His Airness.
Through interviews conducted by Marc Berman, Tim Bontemps, Don Burke, Mark Cannizzaro, Mark Hale, Fred Kerber, Lenn Robbins and Ralph Wimbish, here are 23 tributes to Michael:
1 DOMINIQUE WILKINS
Hall of Famer
“You hear a lot of comparison about Mike and “who’s the next Michael Jordan?” Quite frankly there is never going to be another Michael Jordan. Ever. I’ll try to put it in perspective: People in any sport have won three championships, retired, to come back and win three more championships, it’s never been done.”
2 AHMAD RASHAD
Co-host on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive,” former NBA studio personality
“[March 29, 1995] was the night he put up double nickels on the Knicks. It was his first time back to the Garden after his comeback. We hung out and went to dinner the night before and stayed out late, and he was determined to wear the same retro pair of shoes he wore the first time he played at the Garden.
“They were too small, but he said he was going to wear them anyway. … He told me that night, ‘Man, my feet hurt so bad they’re bleeding.’ I said, ‘Why don’t you take them off?’ He said he wore those shoes the first time he played at the Garden and he was going to wear them.
“When the game was over, he went to the bus in his stocking feet.”
3 LeBRON JAMES
Three-time NBA MVP
“I’ve got so many memories of MJ, you name it. From the shoes to him flying through the air, to him switching hands against the Lakers, to him hitting those six threes against the Blazers, to him being on the TV screen with Bugs Bunny, to him jumping over the buildings in the commercials, to him hitting the golf balls with a baseball bat … there’s so many memories. To him having a cartoon, All-Stars, with Bo Jackson and Wayne Gretzky.
“M.J. was an inspiration to me growing up, and it’s amazing to see him turning 50. I’m happy for him.”
4 DOUG COLLINS
Former Jordan coach with Bullls and Wizards
“It was funny, we had some good 3-point shooters. Michael after every practice challenged Craig Hodges, John Paxson, B.J. Armstrong, all the guys who can really shoot the ball.
“I mean, failure was not an option for him. How many guys would put themselves in the 3-point shooting contest knowing that wasn’t his thing? That’s why I say, ‘Are you a selected competitor or do you compete at everything?’ Michael competed at everything.”
5 KOBE BRYANT
NBA’S fifth all-time leading scorer
“The imprint he’s had on the league, he’s an immortal. Everything that he’s done, from a business aspect, to professionalism, work ethic to the global appeal of the game has been something that carries on for generations and generations.
“On top of all the stuff he’s done on the court the biggest thing beyond his athleticism and the flashy game, he was extremely fundamentally sound. For a young kid growing up, that’s the thing I saw. I saw his ability to get to the basket to make all these flashy plays.”
6 ROD THORN
76ers president (drafted Jordan as Bulls GM in 1984)
“We could see he was going to be real good in exhibition and training camp. [The third game of his rookie year] … we played Milwaukee in Chicago. And Milwaukee had just owned Chicago for several years. We never beat them. Don Nelson was coaching there and he had [Sidney] Moncrief and [Paul] Pressey and that group of players and he put everybody in the gym on Michael. Triple-teamed him late in the ballgame and the guy still made all the shots and won the ballgame for us.
“It was unbelievable what the guy did. And Nelson at that time was one of the best defensive coaches in the league and couldn’t stop him. You could see the guy was going to be a special player.”
7 JAYSON WILLIAMS
Nine-year NBA veteran
“You know why Michael Jordan is the best player to ever play the game? Because he made everybody around him better. He won with guys who, without him on the team, would be on the end of everybody’s bench. He won with guys like Luc Longley and Bill Cartwright and Steve Kerr and Scottie Pippen. Let’s see the guys playing now who they’re comparing to Michael win with those guys. Michael Jordan won with guys from the all-Y[MCA] team.
“I played with Charles Barkley [in Philadelphia] and Charles would beat you up if you went at him too hard in practice. Michael Jordan would beat you up if you didn’t. He demanded perfection. … If you played golf with him he wanted to beat you. If you had a beer with him, he’d finish his beer first. Nobody will ever be that competitive. Nobody will ever be competitive enough to win 72 games in a season. Other guys take nights off. Michael Jordan played hard every single night.”
8 CARMELO ANTHONY
Knicks leading scorer, Six-time NBA All-Star
“We all know he changed the game of basketball. But him as a person, more and more as the years go on, you will start hearing people come out about what they think about him as a person, what he was able to do, what he did when he played the game of basketball. Most importantly now is how relevant he still is to myself, to guys in my age group, guys that are younger. Kids to this day never saw Michael Jordan play but they know who Michael Jordan is. His relevance right now, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
9 RAY CLAY
Bulls PA announcers from 1991-2003
“The funny thing was, and people have told me this before, is you’d announce the four starters before him and when you get to Michael Jordan, half the time people in the stadium didn’t hear me say ‘Michael Jordan.’ I could say ‘Mickey Mouse’ and they wouldn’t know. It was just so loud in Chicago Stadium and the United Center when Michael played.”
“[The intro with ‘From North Caaaaarolina’ was] the way that [previous PA announcer Tommy Edwards] introduced Michael. And when they brought me in to take [his] spot, things were scripted a certain way and they said we want you to do that. What I did was I kind of embellished it a little bit.”
10 CHRIS MULLIN
Hall of Famer
“I remember the first time I saw him in the gym [at the 1981 McDonald’s All-America game], he just glowed. He had star written all over him.
“He scored 30 points and it was obvious he was the most talented athlete on the court. But they gave the MVP to someone else and that lit Michael’s fire. Even then was a competitor.’’
“We played them a couple of times in college, but it was the ‘92 Olympics that he had clearly established himself as the best player.
“The NBA was his. But Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] were more established and Michael was very professional, very respectful of that. And he wanted to win gold. Whenever we hung around and talked, he kept saying, ‘We’re not going home without the gold.’”
11 DAVID FALK
Jordan’s agent
“I met Michael Jordan when I was 33 years old. I’d been in the business about eight or nine years. And over the next 25 or so years, he gave me an opportunity to spread my wings and do things I could never have even imagined I could do. From making movies, developing fragrances, car dealerships, restaurants and throughout it all, he was an incredibly loyal friend and supporter. I could say without being overly dramatic that he literally made my life.”
12 ALLAN HOUSTON
Former Knick, two-time NBA All-Star
“There was something about his presence, even before I played against him. The presence he brought to the floor was what was so amazing. I’d like to open up his mind to see how he can have that capacity to be that confident. The players that come through this league are the best in the world. He separated himself. There was a cavern between him and everybody else.
“Was he more athletic? Probably more athletic than most guys, but it wasn’t like LeBron [James]. The moments late in games he was able to clearly elevate above whatever circumstances. The game when he had the flu, he had 44. Who does that? It was the mental capacity he had to be that much better than the field.”
13 REGGIE MILLER
Hall of Famer, TNT analyst for tonight’s All-Star Game
“Michael and I had many battles on the court with each other throughout our careers and he is — without question — the best that ever played the game.”
14 IMAN SHUMPERT
Knicks guard, Chicago native, former Bulls fan
“My best memory is his last shot [vs. Utah in 1998]. … The dude goes out there and steals it from Karl Malone, pulls a layup out of his [butt]. He wasn’t supposed to get that layup. He wasn’t supposed to steal from Malone, then come down and make that shot. … He made something out of nothing like he always does.
“Was watching with everybody in my house in Chicago. Everyone went crazy, ran around outside like everyone they won. Everyone would go on front porch and go crazy.”
15 KEVIN LOUGHERY
Jordan’s first coach with Bulls
“I had him as a rookie and the talent, you could see it by the second or third day. That’s when we knew it. He always knew it. But it was just so rare for a rookie to come in and be a leader, yet he was.
“He was demanding of his teammates. But he had their respect. He never took a day off and every day, every practice, every game, he played full blast.
“It wasn’t long that we knew he was special. We just didn’t know he was going to be the greatest ever.”
16 GUS WILLIAMS
11-year NBA veteran who faced Jordan in MJ’s first game on Oct. 26, 1984
“I knew who he was. I had heard all the hoopla, but we didn’t match up. He was 6-6 and I was 6-2, so I never had to guard him. I was adjusting to my move from Seattle to the Bullets, so I was not focusing on him.
“He was good then, but he became better much later on. He didn’t realize how good he was. Once he realized he was the man, it was all over.”
17 COMMON
Rapper, actor, Bulls ball boy 1984-87
“As a ball boy, I remember his first exhibition game, he had a red radio in the locker room playing music pretty loud. The general manager at the time, Rod Thorn, told him that he was not allowed to do that. However, after the first exhibition game, Michael could play whatever music he wanted to in the locker room.”
18 50 CENT
Rapper
“There’s certain people that set themselves a part. There was a lot of talent in the league during the period Michael Jordan was there and you kind of don’t remember their names. What Michael Jordan has done with his career, I don’t think anything close has happened yet. People want to do a shoe deal with a company and he is the company.”
19 TIM HARDAWAY
Hall of Fame finalist
“A lot of people don’t know I played against Michael Jordan back in 1986, ’87 in a summer league game. He had 65, I had 63. That’s when he knew who I was. And I always knew who he was because I went to his first ballgame [vs. the Bullets]. I remember with Jeff Ruland — Michael, he came down the middle thinking he was going to be His Airness and Ruland put him on his back. I was on like the 19th balcony, the last step in Chicago Stadium, and if I threw a pin I could have heard it drop, that’s how silent it was.”
20 HERB TURETZKY,
Nets official scorer for every game Jordan played at the Meadowlands
“My fondest memory of Michael involves my son David, who worked as a Nets ballboy through junior and senior high school. Early in the 1990-91 season, David was playing a little one-on-one with Michael, as David did with a lot of players, and I observed Michael showing him a couple of offensive tips.
“When I got ready to leave that night, I noticed David carrying a pair of sneakers. He explained that when he and Michael were talking, [they discussed] the fact that David’s 13th birthday and Bar Mitzvah were coming up soon. Michael told David to see him after the game, and Michael gave David his autographed sneakers from that night’s game as a birthday present.
“As competitive as he was as a player, this personally caring side of the game’s greatest player was a pleasure to see. … It’s a recollection of Michael Jordan that will stay with me always.’’
21 RAHM EMANUEL
Mayor of Chicago
“Michael Jordan is a Chicago legend, both for his prowess on the basketball court and for his deep commitment to our communities. From his work with the local Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics to the six NBA Championships he delivered to our city, he has made spirits soar and continues to serve as an inspiration for generations of children.
“Michael exemplifies the tenacity and heart of this city and on behalf of all Chicagoans, we wish him a happy birthday.”
22 JOE DUMARS
Hall of Famer, Jordan’s defensive nemesis
“I think anytime you’re having to defend an exceptional player like that, it truly comes down to your will to compete against that guy and not give in. Because that type of talent can overwhelm you, if you’re not mentally strong enough to deal with it on a nightly basis.
“By no means am I’m telling you that I came close to stopping him, but I am saying that I was willing to compete at the highest level and let the chips fall where they may.”
23 PATRICK EWING
Hall of Famer, former Knick
“There’s no one memory of Michael. There are just so many. Our playoffs against the Bulls. A great, great player, an unbelievable player. Great competitor. And he was always a tremendous person. Great teammate and a great friend. I enjoyed the time I spent playing with him and playing against him. On the Olympic gold medal team, you couldn’t ask for a better teammate.
“I enjoyed everything about him but yes, he did ruin [my championship dreams]. Oh yes he did.”