His Airness commences final takeoff
By Jordan Webster
Sports Editor

After weeks and even months of rumor and gossip, Michael Jordan made things official on Oct. 1, declaring that he will indeed drag his 38-year-old body and his timeless game back onto NBA floors this season, citing a “love for the game” as his primary motivation. The preeminent athlete of our generation, a man with six NBA championships, 10 scoring titles, an NCAA championship, two Olympic gold medals, and enough miscellaneous MVP trophies to sink a mid-sized vessel, says he’s tired of playing pickup ball with current pros at the YMCA. He wants back in the action. It’s FAN-tastic, remember?

Say what you will concerning Mike’s motives for shrugging off a second retirement and lacing them up for the last time. He may very well be doing this because, as he says, it’s “an itch that needs to be scratched.” He may very well be doing this because the Washington Wizards, the team that he held between a five and 10 percent interest in before having to divest himself of ownership in order to suit up again, generally draw fewer onlookers than a sixth-grade production of Cinderella, and he wants to insure his investment. He may very well be doing this because he sees Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant dominating like he once did, and wants to put the whippersnappers in their place.

But for whatever single reason, or a combination of these and others, he’s baaaaack.
How will it all play out? A rendition of the good, the bad, and the ugly, especially suited for the man that seemed to glide through the air with the greatest of ease…

A seat in first class for … Michael himself. One can speculate until they are blue in the face as to Mike’s reasons for returning to the NBA, but one thing is for sure: he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t absolutely, indisputably confident that he could perform at a high level. Jordan has too much pride to come out and toss up bricks, when he could easily have soared off into the sunset, the final shot of his career having clinched his final NBA crown. His Airness may no longer be as difficult to stay with as a greased pig, and you’re not going to see him bounding over three defenders much anymore, but his jumper will be there, his post moves will be better than those of most big men in the league, and his fadeaway will be indefensible. This man will not make a fool of himself, and that you can guarantee …

… also lounging comfortably will be the city of Washington. The Wizards won a meager 19 games last season, a mark that Jordan typically reached before Christmas with the Chicago Bulls, and effectively earning the Wiz less attention than Little League games on the White House lawn. Expect that to change, and expect the District’s sports fans to follow suit. The return of the most prolific player in history and the addition of one of the most recognizable figures in the world to daily life in D.C. will have congressmen swapping votes for tickets. Not that they don’t do that anyway. Couple that with the fact that Washington’s NHL team, the Capitals (took a team of monkeys to come up with that name), thieved the world’s premier player, Jaromir Jagr, from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the biggest heist since the Louisiana Purchase, and suddenly D.C. is the place to be for winter sports.

Squeezing into a spot in coach … are the Wizards themselves. Things are very much up in the air (duh), as the team looks to be wandering aimlessly, lacking any easily discernible direction. Use the top draft pick to select a 6-foot-11 Kwame Brown, a high-school prodigy with limitless potential, and add Jordan, who’s twice his age. Youth movement or a quick fix? Besides Jordan and Brown, there’s not much in between, as the roster is cluttered with has beens such as Loy Vaught, never will bes like Jahidi White and Brendan Haywood, and Christian Laettner, who Jordan might send packing just for wearing the wrong shade of blue. Washington’s biggest free agent pickup this summer was … Tyronn Lue? You know, the guy that stopped Allen Iverson for a quarter in Game 1 of last year’s Finals. Never has “15 minutes of fame” rang so true – Lue averaged only 3.4 points per game last season, and the Wiz figured they’d seen enough to give the guy a shot.

Stuck in a seat behind the engines and just in front of the lavatory … is Michael’s new look. Putting on a No. 23 jersey that’s not red and black borders on blasphemy.

Downright hideous. And the lore that accompanies No. 23 in Wizards/Bullets history? Uh…let’s just say Mike won’t exactly have much to live up to, as a host of miserable, miserable NBA players have donned the jersey before MJ. Dennis Duval, John Williamson, Charles Jones and most recently, Tim Legler – at slow and painful to watch, the antithesis of Jordan – have preceded Jordan in wearing 23 for Washington, among several even less notable others. Really, no one you’ve ever heard of. Doesn’t take much to figure out how the franchise has failed to win a single playoff series since 1982, about the same time MJ was draining a 16-foot jumper from the left wing to secure a NCAA title for the Tar Heels. Makes you wonder: does Mike really want this?

Finally, shifting about in cargo with grandma’s lingerie and a no-doubt benevolent rottweiler named Sir Nasty … will be Jordan’s former team, the Chicago Bulls. What’s worse than taking a chance on one unproven high-school star? Taking a chance on two unproven high-school stars, and jettisoning your best player to do so. The brothers Jerry (Reinsdorf and Krause) have run that team into the ground faster than anyone expected. It’s as if they set “laughingstock of the NBA” as their goal and fired up the humiliation machine. And although Jordan and the Bulls of the ‘90s will never, ever be forgotten, it’s almost a shame that he doesn’t have the opportunity to give it a go one final time in Chicago. Anyway, the Bulls will be lousy, and the Wizards won’t likely be much better. The first matchup between the two teams is Jan. 4. High profile? Yes. Good basketball? No. I’ll take the Wizards by a half-dozen, though. The Bulls are the big loser in this.

MJ’s back. Which is good – we all needed a reason to at least acknowledge the existence of the NBA’s regular season. Interest will increase, the Wizards will sell tickets, and Jordan gets to make a farewell tour, again. Will he ruin his legacy? Not a chance. Will he win another title? Doubtful. Can he keep up with a younger generation of high-fliers? Probably. Will it be fun to watch? Absolutely.

Enjoy your flight. MJ will.