President Barack Obama honors Michael Jordan with the highest individual distinction the United States can bestow on its citizens.
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Barack Obama enjoys basketball and is a great admirer of the Chicago Bulls. The former President of the United States has a special affection for Chicago, where he grew up.
During his youth, a young Michael Jordan burst onto the stage in Chicago. Everyone in the city wanted to see the young phenom play his rookie year, and the stadium went from being two-thirds empty to selling out every game.
A young Barack Obama was also in the city at the time. He had just graduated from Columbia University and had relocated to Chicago to work with the Developing Communities Project.
“When Michael first came to town, I didn’t have the money to buy tickets to a Bulls game, even the cheap ones back then,” the former president recalled. “I was completely broke.”
You deserve somebody that looks at you the way Barack Obama is looking at Michael Jordan in this photo pic.twitter.com/S3GztYtMO4
— John Paul Green (@JohnPaulGreen) May 12, 2020
Obama is a huge fan of his Airness and considers him to be the greatest player of all time. During his tenure, the president honored the league’s greatest player with the presidential medal.
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Michael Jordan looks calmly into the eyes of the former president of the US while receiving a medal
Former President Barack Obama considers Michael Jordan to be the greatest NBA player of all time. Obama told Complex Magazine that in his prime, Jordan “was a sight to behold!”
He also admits to having a partiality as a result of growing up in Chicago and seeing Jordan play.
Michael Jordan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016. The Bulls legend joined Vin Scully, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and other American icons at the White House event with President Obama.
.@POTUS awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Michael Jordan https://t.co/RgLiovbp5B pic.twitter.com/95xQNgT8Do
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 22, 2016
Jordan was one of 21 winners of The Medal of freedom, which is considered the greatest civilian award that the United States may bestow on its people.
November 22, 2016, United States President Barack Obama awarded the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s top civilian honor, to 21 recipients, including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks & Michael Jordan. The honorees, from the worlds of acting, athletics, music, and science. pic.twitter.com/AOG8GnKJjv
— Ken Calvert (@kencalvertshow) November 22, 2020
As he is receiving the Medal, he does something hilarious. In typical MJ fashion, he looks down on Barack and tries to see if he is taller than him, as his honor roll is announced.
Jordan is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Being honored by the president of the United States, who is a fan, attests to his Airness’s magnificence.
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