Michael Jordan

To say that acting is not what Michael Jordan is primarily known for is a very large understatement. Jordan was not only the driving force behind a Chicago Bulls basketball team that won six NBA championships throughout the 1990s, but for a whole new generation of professional athletes. Jordan became an institution, with commercial endorsements running from Nike shoes, to Gatorade sports drinks, to Hanes underwear. By the time he retired (for the second time) in 1998 from professional basketball, Jordan was worth millions not only because of his wizardry on the basketball court, but also because of his shrewd business savvy. Well before his retirement(s), however, he had dabbled with acting. He made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live at the height of the Bulls' dominance, and shortly after ending his first self-imposed retirement, he made the movie Space Jam. Space Jam was very loosely based on his experiences at the end of his minor league baseball playing career, but, of course, with the added twist of being kidnapped, so to speak, by a bunch of unruly Warner Bros. cartoons. In 2002 Jordan once again found himself the center of attention as the previous owner of a pair of "magical" sneakers that turn a 14-year-old orphan into a professional basketball wiz in Like Mike.