WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama named former North Carolina guard Michael Jordan as among 21 people he plans to recognize with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Jordan will join his mentor, former Tar Heel head coach Dean Smith, as recipients of the award. Smith won the award in 2013.
Many consider Jordan to be the greatest basketball player of all-time, and he was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. ESPN named him the Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century, and he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's No.