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Michael Jordan's retirement from the NBA came as a shock to the entire sports world. After winning an unprecedented third straight NBA title the man who many people touted as the greatest to ever play the game, not to mention king of all endorsements, retired stating that he had accomplished everything and had nothing left to prove. With the NBA no longer having a marquee player,

ratings diminished around the league. Then came the surprise of Michael Jordan's return , just over a year and a half later. More surprising than that, however, was the fact that he returned wearing the number forty-five on his jersey instead of his patented twenty-three. This forced most fans with number twenty-three jerseys to keep up with the latest and purchase a number forty- five. Not only did Jordan help the licensing business with this number switch, but because of his return, he vastly increased sales of all his endorsed products. Thus, with showing how one man could single-handedly create sales around the country, Michael Jordan proved how important certain icons, like himself, are in society.

Jordan's importance to the game and the market were portrayed best in his return from retirem

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By becoming the best and most popular sports figure in basketball, Jordan was able to manipulate the market at will. "Champion, which began stockpiling Chicago Bulls' blanks on rumors of Jordan's return, sold out of red Bulls' jerseys carrying the number 45--Jordan's new number--within days of his return" (Sporting Goods Business). By wearing a professional athlete's jersey, one gains attention because of all the fame that athlete acquires. Consider it: Michael Jordan's first game out of retirement, ranked among the top five TV ratings in the history of the NBA. He left the NBA in 1994 but just a year and a half later returned to send TV ratings skyrocketing while also increasing sales of his endorsed merchandise. Everyone wants to be like...