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This is not necessarily a bad thing, but, frankly, it’s not easy to tell SLAM’s all-Michael Jordan issue from any of its usual efforts. Lots of pictures. Lots of dunks. About 14 nicknames. Crazy graphics. A long, meandering interview with Jordan, who says all the things he usually says.

As usual, the words don’t really matter in SLAM.

The underlying theme is that Jordan isn’t bigger than the NBA; he’s bigger than the NBA, the NFL, the ABL, MLS and just about any other three-letter organization out there--combined.

Jordan made the league the league. And everything else--the $128 million paid to Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant’s commercial deals, Rick Pitino’s $7-million salary, the rush to find the next 13-year-old superstar, the existence of SLAM in the first place--it’s all a result of Jordan.

Because he’s the best player in the game, because he wins, because he doesn’t get into trouble and because he’s the most inventive athlete of the last several decades.

“Over the years, [Jordan] has reinvented, reshaped, revitalized, reconstructed, renewed and re-jordaned damn near every move ever done in the league,” the magazine proclaims. “He’s taken David Thompson’s dunks and done them better, Dennis Johnson’s D and made it more intense, Jerry West’s jumper and made it more lethal.”

The collection of recollections and images rivals the beginnings of a religion, from the relics (the original Air Jordans!), the gospel (Mike’s favorite moments), the history (What Bull did he replace in the lineup? Quintin Dailey), the lessons (Hey, he got cut from his high school team, remember?) and the undeniable glory of five NBA titles, and counting.

“I think,” Larry Bird once said, “he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan.”

And God can’t hit the curveball, either.