Michael Jordan and Two Different Kinds of Basketball Stars

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Text to type: Michael Jordan was a famous American basketball player. His main team was the Chicago Bulls. They played in the NBA, the National Basketball Association, a big basketball league. The Bulls chose Jordan as the third player in the 1984 draft. A draft is how teams choose new players. Jordan became Rookie of the Year, an award for the best new player. People also called him Air Jordan because of his high-leaping dunks. A dunk means putting the ball down through the basket from above. His jumps made that nickname easy to understand.

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Text to type: Jordan was very good at scoring, which means getting points. He won ten scoring titles. A scoring title goes to the player with the highest average points per game in a season. When he retired, his career average was 30.1 points per game, the highest in NBA history at that time. But scoring was not his only skill. He also played strong defense. Defense means trying to stop the other team from scoring. Jordan won Defensive Player of the Year once. He could get points for his team and make scoring harder for the other team.

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Text to type: Jordan had a very strong desire to win. He was known for being competitive: he wanted to beat the other team and be the best. His story was not only about exciting dunks. It was also about winning with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won six NBA championships with Jordan: in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. He was Finals MVP each time, the best player in the championship series. He also won five season MVP awards. MVP means Most Valuable Player. These awards help explain why people remember Jordan as such a great player.

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Text to type: Dennis Rodman was another kind of basketball star. He was not known as a big scorer. His main jobs were rebounding and defense. A rebound means getting the ball after a shot misses the basket. This can give your team another chance to score or stop the other team’s attack. Rodman led the NBA in rebounds per game for seven seasons in a row, from 1992 to 1998. He also won Defensive Player of the Year twice. He played alongside Jordan when the Chicago Bulls won three championships from 1996 to 1998. His different skills helped the team win.

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Text to type: Dirk Nowitzki came from Germany, in Europe. He was a tall forward, about 2.13 metres tall. A forward is a player position in basketball. Nowitzki was famous for shooting from outside, farther from the basket. His special shot was the one-legged fadeaway. He shot while standing on one leg and moving away from the defender. This made the shot harder to stop. He played all 21 of his NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. He won the season MVP award in 2007. In 2011, he led Dallas to the NBA championship and won Finals MVP.

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Text to type: These three players show that basketball stars do not all play the same way. Jordan was a great scorer who also played strong defense. His high dunks earned him the name Air Jordan, and his six championships with the Bulls were a big part of his success. Rodman’s main work was different. He got rebounds and stopped other players from scoring. Nowitzki showed another style: a tall European forward with an outside shot and a special fadeaway. When you watch basketball, look beyond the points. Notice who gets the ball back, who defends, and how each player shoots.

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