Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team

In 1978, 15-year-old Michael Jordan tried out for the varsity basketball team at Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was placed on the junior varsity squad instead — widely remembered as him being 'cut' from the team. Jordan reportedly cried in his room and then used the setback as fuel, practising obsessively. He went on to win six NBA Championships, six Finals MVP awards, and is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. Jordan has cited the rejection in interviews throughout his career: 'Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list without my name on it.'

Source: Jordan interview, NBA.com (1994)