He first retired in 1993 (following the murder of his father) to try his hand at baseball and his number 23 jersey was retired by the Chicago Bulls at this time.
After a brief stint in the Chicago White Sox farm system, he returned to basketball midway through the 1994-95 season and wore his baseball number (45) until game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, when he returned to the number 23 that had served him so well. This marked the first and only time in the NBA that a number was reissued after being retired. He went on to win three more championships with the Bulls (95-96, 96-97, and 97-98) before retiring again in 1999.
In early 2000, Jordan became President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards and despite his assertion that he would never play another NBA game, he returned to the court with the Wizards - again in his iconic number 23 - for the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. He retired for (presumably) the final time in April 2003.
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