Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. He is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all-time. He didn't necessarily change any specific aspect of the game of basketball. He is more on this list because he was so great that he changed the way people thought of basketball. Michael Jordan played college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he won the NCAA Championship in 1982. He was drafted third overall in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He won six NBA championships with the Bulls, won the NBA MVP award five times, made the NBA All-Star game 14 times, was voted NBA Finals MVP all six years the Bulls won it, lead the NBA in scoring 10 times, was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, was named to an All-NBA Team 11 times, was on the All-Defensive First Team nine times, won Rookie of the Year in 1985 and was named to the All-Rookie First Team, won All-Star MVP three times, won the Slam Dunk contest twice, and has his number (23) retired by both the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat (he never even played for Miami). The list above of the awards he won in his 15-year pro basketball career with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards sum up why he should be on this list. He was simply great. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. He is currently the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.