Michael Jordan idolized his brother. He thought he had half his skills. His brother wore 45. Half of that is 22.5. Round that off and that's 23. When Jordan came back to the Bulls after his first retirement, he briefly wore the number 45 before going back to #23 in the 1996-97 season.
Michael Jordan idolized his older brother Larry who wore 45. Michael wanted to be half the man Larry was so divided 45 by 2 and rounded it up to 23.
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