On what date did Michael Jordan announce his first retirement from the NBA?

Michael Jordan announced his first retirement from the NBA on October 6, 1993.

The announcement came only months after Jordan had led the Chicago Bulls to their third consecutive NBA championship. His decision followed the July 1993 murder of his father, James Jordan, and Jordan also said he had lost the desire to continue playing basketball. At the time, the announcement was widely treated as the end of his basketball career.

Jordan then pursued professional baseball, signing with the Chicago White Sox organization and playing for the Birmingham Barons in 1994. His baseball experiment became one of the most unusual detours in the history of elite American sports.

A common mix-up is confusing this announcement with his later retirements. Jordan returned to the NBA in March 1995, retired again in 1999 after Chicago’s second three-peat, and later returned for the Washington Wizards in 2001. The October 6 date refers specifically to his first retirement.