From six championships to two retirements, Michael Jordan not only kept his fans guessing, but also the NBA world. He shocked the NBA in 1995 by returning to the Chicago Bulls wearing No. 45 instead of his legendary No. 23.

Fans, who associated him with the three championships won in No. 23, were left looking for answers. The answer did arrive, and it carried an emotional backstory to his father, James Jordan, as he shared in the show Inside the Games.

Once Michael Jordan explained the reason himself, saying, “My father saw me in 23 last. I don’t want to bring the jersey down from the rafters.”

In 1993, after completing his first three-peat, Michael lost his father in a tragic passing. It ultimately pushed him into retirement, and he pursued professional baseball for a brief period.

However, roughly after 17 months, Air Jordan returned to the league with his iconic two-word press release that read, “I’m back.” He came back at the late end of the 1994-95 season, immediately catching the attention with his No.45 jersey.

Notably, Jordan shifted back to jersey No. 23 in the same season. He wore the No.45 for just 22 games, which included 17 regular games. And midway through the Eastern Conference semi-final series against the Orlando Magic, he shifted back to No. 23.

Interestingly, Orlando Magic guard Nick Anderson even joked about it. “No. 45 doesn’t explode like No. 23 used to.  No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn’t have done that to No. 23,” Brian Shaw revealed on the show, 'Podcast P'.

The Magic eventually went on to win the series 4-2, spoiling Jordan’s comeback season.

What was Michael Jordan’s original jersey number?

Way before No. 23 became a sensation, Jordan originally wore No. 45 during his high school days. He chose it because of his older brother, Larry Jordan, whom he looked up to in his growing days. Larry wore No. 45.

However, there came a time when MJ had to make a tough decision when he joined his brother in the senior team. “The only reason I went to 23 was my brother, and I was on the same high school team together, so he had the number before me. So I had to take half, which was twenty-two-and-a-half, so I went on 23,” said MJ.

From that point onwards, No. 23 became MJ’s identity. Despite having an opportunity to change to 45 at the start of his NBA career, MJ went with 23, and the rest is history.

Read more at the Air Jordan Chronicles!

Written by

Shahul Hameed

Edited by

Koushik Biswas