Michael Jordan statue
Encyclopedia
The Michael Jordan statue, officially known as The Spirit (and sometimes referred to as Michael Jordan's Spirit), is a bronze sculpture by Omri
and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany
outside the United Center
in the Near West Side
community area
of Chicago. The sculpture was originally commissioned after Jordan's initial retirement following three consecutive NBA championships and unveiled prior to the Bulls taking residence in their new home stadium the following year. Depicting Basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan
and unveiled on November 1, 1994, the 12 feet (3.7 m) sculpture stands atop a 5 feet (1.52 m) black granite base. Although not critically well received, the statue has established its own legacy as a meeting place for fans at subsequent Bulls championships and as a rallying point for Chicago Blackhawks
fans during their prideful times.
by the team with the third overall selection. Eventually, he led the Bulls to three consecutive championships in the 1991
, 1992
and 1993 NBA Finals
. During each of these championship seasons he was an NBA All-Star, NBA scoring champion, All-NBA Team
first team selection, NBA All-Defensive Team
first team selection, and the NBA Finals MVP.
After Jordan retired following the 1992–93 NBA season, Chicago Bulls
owner Jerry Reinsdorf
sought a sculptor to honor Jordan and requested that Chicago Bulls Vice President Steve Schanwald seek proposals from artists. Twelve artists made proposals. In January 1994, Schanwald hired Omri and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany of Highland Park, Illinois
, who erected a statue at the Bulls' new home for the 1994–95 NBA season, the United Center
. Until 1994 when they both moved, the Bulls and Blackhawks had played at Chicago Stadium
.
The sculpture's official address is United Center, 1901 W. Madison Avenue. Officially named The Spirit, it is located outside of Gate 4. The United Center opened on August 18, 1994. The exact pose of Jordan in midflight is left for artistic interpretation, but speculations include his 63-point performance against Boston in the 1986 NBA Playoffs
, the 1988 NBA All-Star Game
slam-dunk contest at Chicago Stadium
and his jumpman
logo that has been on Jordan branded Nike products since the 1980s. Jordan is depicted doing a right-handed slam dunk
over two opponents while jumping right-to-left in the eastward facing statue giving him a southbound trajectory. Prior to the beginning of each basketball season, the sculpture gets touched up.
The sculpture was installed on October 31 and unveiled on November 1, 1994 in front of a national audience by Jordan, Reinsdorf and Larry King
. Jordan's jersey number was retired during the ceremony. Only Jordan's knee is attached to the base via a triple-steel post. A stationary basketball hoop was almost part of the sculpture too. The sculpture, which is hollow, was designed to withstand the natural elements. After his second retirement following the 1997–98 NBA season, the following quote from the 1976 novella
A River Runs Through It was added to the base: "At that moment I knew, surely and clearly, that I was witnessing perfection. He stood before us, suspended above the earth, free from all its laws like a work of art, and I knew, just as surely and clearly, that life is not a work of art, and that the moment could not last."
art critic Alan G. Artner says the inscription at the base that reads "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be." refers only to the subject and not the sculpture. Following the Bulls' second three-peat after Jordan's return, the statue became a sports mecca for fans to gather and take photographs. ESPN The Magazine
listed the sculpture as one of the ten greatest sports photo opportunities in 1998.
In 1995, 123 28 inches (71.1 cm) bronze maquette
s of the sculpture on 6 inches (15.2 cm) granite bases were produced by the Rotblatt-Amranys and sold at $10,000 ($ in dollars) each as a fundraiser for the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club. The TNT 2-hour broadcast of the original ceremony had also been in part a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club, but some had thought it was overdone and ungraceful.
At times, the statue has been adorned with various Chicago Blackhawks
player jerseys. When Denis Savard
's jersey was retired on March 19, 1998, fans put his jersey on the statue, but it was removed one hour later. During the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals
, United Center personnel added an ice hockey helmet
, a Reebok
jersey of captain
Jonathan Toews
and Reebok ice skate
s to the statue. Within 48 hours, the Reebok logos on the ice skates had been covered by Nike stickers. When Chicagoan Barack Obama
welcomed the Blackhawks to the White House
as President of the United States
, he made mention of the jersey being placed on the Jordan statue. In May 2011, there was an announcement the Hockey Hall of Fame
rs Stan Mikita
and Bobby Hull
would have statues placed outside of the United Center near Jordan's sometime early during the 2011–12 NHL season
.
Omri Amrany
Omri Amrany is an Israeli-American best known as a sculptor and painter, though also accomplished as an architectural innovator and wall tapestry artist. Self-taught, he taps into such movements as surrealism for inspiration but eludes being categorized, inventing his own terminology and varying...
and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany
Julie Rotblatt-Amrany
Julie Rotblatt-Amrany is an American sculptor and painter identified with the resurgence of the figure in modern art. Rebelling against the academic bias against figurative art in the 1970s and 1980s, she has brought new vitality to the subject of the human form by integrating into her work recent...
outside the United Center
United Center
The United Center is an indoor sports arena located in Chicago. It is named after its corporate sponsor, United Airlines. The United Center is home to both the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League...
in the Near West Side
Near West Side, Chicago
The Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
community area
Community areas of Chicago
Community areas in Chicago refers to the work of the Social Science Research Committee at University of Chicago which has unofficially divided the City of Chicago into 77 community areas. These areas are well-defined and static...
of Chicago. The sculpture was originally commissioned after Jordan's initial retirement following three consecutive NBA championships and unveiled prior to the Bulls taking residence in their new home stadium the following year. Depicting Basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
and unveiled on November 1, 1994, the 12 feet (3.7 m) sculpture stands atop a 5 feet (1.52 m) black granite base. Although not critically well received, the statue has established its own legacy as a meeting place for fans at subsequent Bulls championships and as a rallying point for Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
fans during their prideful times.
Background
Michael Jordan had spent his entire career with the Chicago Bulls since being drafted in the 1984 NBA Draft1984 NBA Draft
The 1984 NBA Draft was the 38th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on June 19, 1984 before the 1984–85 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft,...
by the team with the third overall selection. Eventually, he led the Bulls to three consecutive championships in the 1991
1991 NBA Finals
The 1991 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1990–91 NBA season. It was also the first NBA Finals broadcast by NBC after 17 years with CBS....
, 1992
1992 NBA Finals
The 1992 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1991–92 NBA season. The Chicago Bulls of the Eastern Conference took on the Portland Trail Blazers of the Western Conference for the title, with Chicago having home court advantage, as they had the best record in the NBA.The two teams appeared...
and 1993 NBA Finals
1993 NBA Finals
The 1993 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1992-93 NBA season, featuring the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, and the Phoenix Suns, winners of 62 games and led by regular season MVP Charles Barkley...
. During each of these championship seasons he was an NBA All-Star, NBA scoring champion, All-NBA Team
All-NBA Team
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The team has been selected in every season of the...
first team selection, NBA All-Defensive Team
NBA All-Defensive Team
The NBA All-Defensive Team is an annual National Basketball Association honor given since the 1968–69 NBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches; the coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team...
first team selection, and the NBA Finals MVP.
After Jordan retired following the 1992–93 NBA season, Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
owner Jerry Reinsdorf
Jerry Reinsdorf
Jerry M. Reinsdorf is a CPA, lawyer and an owner of the MLB's Chicago White Sox and the NBA's Chicago Bulls. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the head of the White Sox and Bulls for over 20 years.He made his initial fortune in real...
sought a sculptor to honor Jordan and requested that Chicago Bulls Vice President Steve Schanwald seek proposals from artists. Twelve artists made proposals. In January 1994, Schanwald hired Omri and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany of Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
, who erected a statue at the Bulls' new home for the 1994–95 NBA season, the United Center
United Center
The United Center is an indoor sports arena located in Chicago. It is named after its corporate sponsor, United Airlines. The United Center is home to both the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League...
. Until 1994 when they both moved, the Bulls and Blackhawks had played at Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
.
Creation and installation
While the sculpture was a work in progress, the location of the sculptor's rented studio was kept secret from the public, while the husband-and-wife sculptor team and three assistants spent four months working for sixteen hours every day of the week. The process involved two sittings with Jordan for measurements and photos, including one in which the clay version had to be driven from Chicago to Nashville, to ensure the accuracy of the clay likeness. The 2000 lbs sculpture, which is 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, rests on a 5-foot high black granite base that has an inscription reading "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be." The base also includes a list of his accomplishments. The bronze statue used lost-wax casting. The sculpture has led to a lot of similar work for the couple.The sculpture's official address is United Center, 1901 W. Madison Avenue. Officially named The Spirit, it is located outside of Gate 4. The United Center opened on August 18, 1994. The exact pose of Jordan in midflight is left for artistic interpretation, but speculations include his 63-point performance against Boston in the 1986 NBA Playoffs
1986 NBA Playoffs
The 1986 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1985-86 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets, four games to two, in the NBA Finals. The Celtics won...
, the 1988 NBA All-Star Game
1988 NBA All-Star Game
This was the 38th NBA All-Star game, played on February 7, 1988. It was played at the Chicago Bulls' home stadium and Michael Jordan was the game's MVP....
slam-dunk contest at Chicago Stadium
Chicago Stadium
The Chicago Stadium was an indoor sports arena and theater in Chicago. It opened in 1929, and closed in 1994.-History:The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL from 1929–1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967–1994....
and his jumpman
Jumpman (logo)
The "Jumpman" logo is used by Nike to promote its Michael Jordan-related merchandise, including the famous and successful Air Jordan brand of basketball shoes....
logo that has been on Jordan branded Nike products since the 1980s. Jordan is depicted doing a right-handed slam dunk
Slam dunk
A slam dunk is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air and manually powers the ball downward through the basket with one or both hands over the rim. This is considered a normal field goal attempt; if successful it is worth two points. The term "slam dunk" was...
over two opponents while jumping right-to-left in the eastward facing statue giving him a southbound trajectory. Prior to the beginning of each basketball season, the sculpture gets touched up.
The sculpture was installed on October 31 and unveiled on November 1, 1994 in front of a national audience by Jordan, Reinsdorf and Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
. Jordan's jersey number was retired during the ceremony. Only Jordan's knee is attached to the base via a triple-steel post. A stationary basketball hoop was almost part of the sculpture too. The sculpture, which is hollow, was designed to withstand the natural elements. After his second retirement following the 1997–98 NBA season, the following quote from the 1976 novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
A River Runs Through It was added to the base: "At that moment I knew, surely and clearly, that I was witnessing perfection. He stood before us, suspended above the earth, free from all its laws like a work of art, and I knew, just as surely and clearly, that life is not a work of art, and that the moment could not last."
Reception and legacy
Some complain that the sculpture does not depict Jordan's well-known open-mouthed tongue wag. Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
art critic Alan G. Artner says the inscription at the base that reads "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be." refers only to the subject and not the sculpture. Following the Bulls' second three-peat after Jordan's return, the statue became a sports mecca for fans to gather and take photographs. ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998....
listed the sculpture as one of the ten greatest sports photo opportunities in 1998.
In 1995, 123 28 inches (71.1 cm) bronze maquette
Maquette
A maquette is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished architectural work or a sculpture...
s of the sculpture on 6 inches (15.2 cm) granite bases were produced by the Rotblatt-Amranys and sold at $10,000 ($ in dollars) each as a fundraiser for the James Jordan Boys & Girls Club. The TNT 2-hour broadcast of the original ceremony had also been in part a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club, but some had thought it was overdone and ungraceful.
At times, the statue has been adorned with various Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
player jerseys. When Denis Savard
Denis Savard
Denis Joseph Savard is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000...
's jersey was retired on March 19, 1998, fans put his jersey on the statue, but it was removed one hour later. During the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals
2010 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2010 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League season. As the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers faced the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks...
, United Center personnel added an ice hockey helmet
Hockey helmet
A hockey helmet is worn by players of ice hockey and inline hockey to help protect the head from potential injury when hit by the puck, sticks, skates, boards, other players, or the ice.-Construction:...
, a Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
jersey of captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
Jonathan Toews
Jonathan Toews
Jonathan Bryan Toews is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for and is captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League . He is currently the youngest captain in the NHL, having been appointed in 2008....
and Reebok ice skate
Ice skate
Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice. They are worn as footwear in many sports, including ice hockey, bandy and figure skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with...
s to the statue. Within 48 hours, the Reebok logos on the ice skates had been covered by Nike stickers. When Chicagoan Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
welcomed the Blackhawks to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, he made mention of the jersey being placed on the Jordan statue. In May 2011, there was an announcement the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
rs Stan Mikita
Stan Mikita
Stanislav "Stan" Mikita , is a Slovak-born Canadian retired professional ice hockey player, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s. In 1961, he won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he played his entire career.-Early life:Mikita was born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic...
and Bobby Hull
Bobby Hull
Robert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...
would have statues placed outside of the United Center near Jordan's sometime early during the 2011–12 NHL season
2011–12 NHL season
The 2011–12 NHL season is the 95th season of operation of the National Hockey League . It is the fifth consecutive season that opens in Europe with NHL Premiere games. As with the previous season, three events are scheduled: two games will be held in Stockholm, Sweden; one game in Helsinki,...
.