Pro basketball: Jordan is named MVP again in East’s 135-114 victory, but Bryant serves notice.

Letting the Air out:

Michael Jordan said a few more goodbyes Sunday, then wondered aloud why so many don’t believe him, perhaps forgetting the most obvious reason. He’s said it before and played on.

But this, this was his farewell to the All-Star game. Twenty-three points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals in 32 minutes of the East’s 135-114 victory over the West/Laker quads before 18,323 at Madison Square Garden, a grand finale capped by a third most valuable player award.

Really.

All right, probably.

“This day was going to happen sooner or later,” Jordan said.

In the soap-opera world of his Bulls, there’s nothing to say it’s happened at all. But the man who once noted with equal confidence that players with retired jerseys don’t come back did offer the most bottom-line definition of his future after the game. Not just that he won’t return to Chicago if Coach Phil Jackson does not, but that he won’t return anywhere next season.

“If Phil is not in Chicago, I’m not playing,” Jordan said. “I’ll say it once more.”

Nowhere?

“Nowhere.”

But figure if Jackson is back with the Bulls--as unlikely a scenario as that is--Jordan is back for the ’99 all-star game in Philadelphia. And everyone gets to go through this again.

In the meantime, they’ll continue to size up the successors for the toughest job in the league, not merely a man who will be looked to for greatness, but to ride atop the public relations machine that is the NBA with the requisite charm and balance. Speaking of Kobe Bryant, he had 18 points for the West despite sitting for the entire fourth quarter--as did Shaquille O’Neal--and six rebounds, two steals, and a million and two questions about his impending ascension.

To the surprise of no one who has spent any time around him, Bryant, 19 going on 30, was unfazed, even when he faced easily the biggest crush at the media session Friday because Jordan and O’Neal took a pass, creating a vacuum.

Even the nervousness Bryant anticipated, being the youngest all-star ever, never materialized, at least not after the first few seconds. That would not be him. Proving that it was, indeed, him, the first 11 touches resulted in 10 shots.

To think Bryant didn’t even take the most shots, though spending the last 14:44 on the bench may have taken care of that because another player had three more attempts, more than anyone on either team. A teammate did. Not a West teammate either.

Eddie Jones.

The good news for the Lakers was that they were certainly represented, and not just because this was the largest all-star contingent from any one team in 15 years. The bad news was that Jones left Madison Square Garden feeling sick and expecting to be in close quarters today with O’Neal, Bryant and Nick Van Exel as they travel together to Portland, Ore., for Tuesday’s game against the Trail Blazers.

“I don’t know what it is,” Jones said.

A bad omen for the Lakers’ second half? Apart from that, though, the weekend went well:

*Van Exel. OK, so it went well other than his carry-on bag being stolen just after arriving Thursday. Come Sunday, he was tentative upon entering the game with 5:56 left in the second quarter, but soon fell back into his flow, making five of 14 shots, including one of six three-pointers, and finishing with 13 points, two assists and two turnovers in 20 minutes. That was part of a commendable job of time distribution by West Coach George Karl, with starter Gary Payton playing 24 and the other reserve point guard, Jason Kidd, 19.

“It was a lot of fun,” Van Exel said of his first all-star appearance. “I was a little nervous at the beginning. But I calmed down and had fun.”

*Jones. He was seven of 19 and missed all seven three-pointers in 25 minutes, but was one of only two players to record a double-double. His came with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Shawn Kemp of the East had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

*O’Neal. He played fewer minutes than any West starter--18--but didn’t seem to mind. That was enough to get 12 points and four rebounds.

*Bryant. He had 18 points, six rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes as the youngest starter in all-star history. And the world at his feet.

“Can I sum it up?” the anointed one said when asked about the weekend. “No. No. If I could, I would. I don’t know how I’m feeling right now. I’m a little sad because it’s over.”

Not to worry. It’s just beginning.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

STAR OF STARS

MICHALE JORDAN

MINUTES: 32

POINTS: 23

REBOUNDS: 6

ASSISTS: 8

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HOW THE LAKERS FARED

KOBE BRYANT

MINUTES: 22

POINTS: 18

REBOUNDS: 6

ASSISTS: 1

*

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

MINUTES: 18

POINTS: 12

REBOUNDS: 4

ASSISTS: 1

*

EDDIE JONES

MINUTES: 25

POINTS: 15

REBOUNDS: 11

ASSISTS: 1

*

NICK VAN EXEL

MINUTES: 20

POINTS: 13

REBOUNDS: 3

ASSISTS: 2

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Four of a Kind

A look at how the four Lakers in Sunday’s All-Star game compare to the other years where four players represented one team.

BOSTON 1953: Bob Cousy 15; Bill Sharman 11; Ed Macauley 18; Don Barksdale 1. Final: West 79, East 75

BOSTON 1962: Bob Cousy 11; Tom Heinsohn 10; Bill Russell 12; K.C. Jones 2. Final: West 150, East 130

LAKERS 1962: Elgin Baylor 32; Jerry West 18; Rudy LaRusso, did not play; Frank Selvy 0. Final: West 150, East 130

SAN FRANCISCO 1968: Rudy LaRusso 6, Clyde Lee 6; Jim King 4; Nate Thurmond 0. Final: East 144, West 124

PHILADELPHIA 1983: Moses Malone 10; Julius Erving 25; Maurice Cheeks 6; Andrew Toney 8. Final: East 132, West 123

LAKERS 1998: Shaquille O’Neal 12; Kobe Bryant 18; Eddie Jones 15; Nick Van Exel 13. Final: East 135, West 114

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Honor Roll

A look at Michael Jordan’s major career achievements:

Sporting News College Player of the year: 1983, 1984

Naismith Award winner: 1984

Wooden Award winner: 1984

Member of NCAA Division I championship team: North Carolina, 1982

loina. (1982)

Member of two U.S. Olympic gold medal basketball teams: 1984, 1992

Member of NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team: 1997

Member of five NBA championship teams: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997

NBA most valuable player: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996

NBA defensive player of the year: 1988

NBA rookie of the year award: 1985

All-NBA first team: 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997

NBA All-Defensive first team: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997

NBA finals most valuable player: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997

NBA all-star game most valuable player: 1988, 1996, 1998