Michael Jordan’s home up for $29M on market

CHICAGO — Basketball fans with a penchant for luxury can truly “Be Like Mike” now that NBA icon Michael Jordan’s sprawling suburban Chicago home has hit the market — for a cool $29 million.

This Jan. 8, 2002 aerial file photo shows the home of former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan. Jordan's longtime personal residence was put on the market Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, for $29 million. AP 

The secluded compound in tony Highland Park greets fans with a shimmering 23 — Jordan’s Bulls jersey number — stretched across an imposing gate.

“Among the most extraordinary features of the sprawling estate is the attached indoor basketball complex,” realtor Baird and Warner said in a press release Wednesday.

“It features a full size regulation basketball court with specially cushioned hardwood flooring, adjustable backstops and baskets, and competition-quality high intensity lighting.”

It also features a custom sound system with speakers tuned to provide “perfect acoustics” within the court space and has a separate entry and nearby parking area.

The modern three-storey mansion was built between 1993 and 1995 and extensively renovated in 2009 and offers 56,000 square feet of living space.

It has nine bedrooms, more than 15 baths and five fireplaces, and includes an attached three-bedroom guest house.

The manicured grounds also house an indoor/outdoor entertaining and pool area, an outdoor tennis court, a putting green, a deep water pond, and three separate climate-controlled multi-car garages.

Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s and sparked the 1992 Barcelona Olympic US “Dream Team” to gold.

With high-leaping acrobatic shots and clutch baskets in the dying seconds of games, Jordan lived up to the Nike-powered hype as a generation of basketball followers sought to “Be Like Mike” and wear Air Jordan sneakers.

Forbes magazine has estimated Jordan’s net worth at $500 million, largely because his Nike brand items remain a $1 billion moneymaker.

After flopping in the front office for the Washington Wizards after his 2003 retirement, Jordan took an executive role with the NBA Charlotte Bobcats and then purchased the North Carolina-based NBA club.