![]() ![]() "Jordan is one of those players, he made people dream that anybody could do whatever," he said. But knowing that Jordan was born across the street from where he's standing brings a smile. Anderson, the man in Jordan's North Carolina jersey, said of the seven friends he was closest with growing up, three are in prison, four are dead. He would go on to have an impact everywhere he went - even here, in a neighborhood that has known hardship for decades. "After Michael's birth the doctors did keep him a couple of days to be sure that his lungs were clear of some mucus," said his mother, Deloris. Too bad, because we could have offered the perfect diagnosis: early onset altitude sickness. And he did not have a bloody nose on arrival. Lest there be any misunderstanding or any tendency toward mythmaking, let the record show that Michael Jeffrey Jordan arrived in this world shoeless, which is to say Nike-less. Nothing wrong with a little peace and quiet before he made all that noise. Nothing wrong with some nuance and subtlety and intrigue involving a man who, six years after his basketball career ended, remains near the top of national popularity lists for athletes. So there's nothing wrong with a whisper of a start. From his game-winning basket as a freshman in the 1982 NCAA title game against Georgetown to his game-winner against Utah for the NBA title in 1998, when, with one move and, OK, perhaps an offensive foul, he made the Jazz's Bryon Russell go stand in the corner. From highlight film to "Space Jam." From product endorser to Charlotte team executive. Most of us know it by heart: from his being cut from his high school varsity team as a sophomore to his standout career and national title with the Tar Heels to his two Olympic gold medals to his short minor-league baseball career to his six NBA titles with the Bulls. There is very little mystery left to his life story. Jordan will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday along with John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women's coach C. Something with his name on it." Perhaps it's better like this. "The same way they remember Michael Jackson, his music and how he impacted the world, they should do the same with Jordan. "Millions of people wear his sneakers and wear his clothes. But still, arguably the best basketball player ever, and it's a relative secret he was born in this spot? "They should probably make this place much better because of that," said Shameko Martin, who lives in the shelter with her husband and two children. His parents lived in Brooklyn for only 18 months while James Jordan, Michael's father, went through mechanic's training on the GI Bill. Greene neighborhood seem to know Jordan was born in the former hospital. "Here? Michael Jordan was born here?" he said. The 42-year-old chef lives across the street from the former hospital. He is wearing a powder-blue North Carolina jersey, No. On a warm July day, John Anderson is walking down the block where the shelter, the Auburn Family Residence, stands watch. But Jordan is here, if not in spirit, then certainly in apparel. ![]() There are, however, three guards manning a metal detector in the foyer. There is no hint, no suggestion - not even a small bronze rendering of a wagging tongue - that Michael Jordan entered the world in this place. The 10-story brick building is now a homeless shelter, one that critics say is among the worst in New York. The man who reshaped the sports world's topography to look suspiciously like the patterned bottom of a basketball shoe was born here, in the former Cumberland Hospital, on Feb. ![]()
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