Doubly Unique

Five days after Christmas, Michael Jordan gave every sports fan a present. Apparently, we forgot to open it, much less say, “Thanks.”

That night in Minnesota, Jordan scored in double figures for the 788th straight game, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark. Jordan downplayed the streak, now at 796 (through Thursday’s games). He can’t say, “See how great I am.”

But we should. Everybody swore we’d never take Jordan for granted again after his Airness returned to the NBA in 1995, following his two-summer retirement to the baseball minor leagues. We vowed we’d cherish every season, knowing it could be his last. But we’ve relapsed.

This really could be Jordan’s last season. That’s what he says, anyway. “I refuse to let all of this stuff ruin my last year,” said Jordan last month, referring to the Bulls’ turmoil. Yet, as he sets records that should amaze us, we yawn. As, perhaps, his last half-season slips away, we forget to watch at every chance we get.

Because of his ubiquitous advertisements, Jordan seems to be a presence everywhere in our lives except the one place where he actually has lasting value--on the basketball court.

As statistics records go, isn’t Jordan’s post-Christmas bonus one of the true beauties? Let’s recast Jordan’s record in these terms: Since 1985, he has had incredibly few bad games. He hasn’t come out cold and stayed cold. Or felt sick and played like it. Or twisted an ankle, then dogged it. Or pulled a muscle, then taken himself out of the game. Or been benched for much of a Bulls blowout.

Not once has some lucky defender put the handcuffs on him and held him to less than 10 points.

You want to interrupt. You want to say, “It’s not hard to score 10 points in the NBA. What’s the big deal? Every decent scorer is in double digits every night.”

Yeah? What do these players have in common: Tim Hardaway, Alonzo Mourning, Clyde Drexler, Allen Iverson, Juwan Howard, Isaiah Rider, Christian Laettner, Jeff Hornacek, Eddie Jones, Damon Stoudamire, Rex Chapman, Danny Manning, Ray Allen, Toni Kukoc, Wesley Person, Rik Smits, Arvydas Sabonis and Rasheed Wallace.

They’re all first or second on their teams in scoring, so they get plenty of shots. They’re supposed to score. Yet, in the last month, each has been held to single digits. Jordan hasn’t been shut down since 1985. These guys can’t last four weeks.

Hardaway and Drexler, both all-stars, actually got shut out. Jones got three in 30 minutes. Grant Hill and Sean Kemp almost made the list. They escaped with a 10-point game. Kevin Garnett who, like Howard (eight points in 39 minutes), has a $100-million contract, was held to 11 points.

So how remarkable is Jordan’s latest record? An easy way to gauge the difficulty of a landmark is to see how many others have come close to it. For example, the marks of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played grew in stature with the years because nobody had ever, or might ever, come close to them.

How many players have come within 250 games of Jordan’s and Jabbar’s mark? The answer is: nobody. Moses Malone is in third place at 526 games--more than three full seasons behind. Only four players have gotten halfway to the Jordan-Jabbar level: Moses Malone, Karl Malone, Oscar Robertson and George Gervin.

Here’s my favorite measure, however. On any sports list, look at the distance between 10th place and the best ever. The wider the gap, the more remarkable the record. Jordan is 507 games--more than six seasons--ahead of the 10th-place man on the double-digit streak list.

“The record Jordan just broke is amazing,” said Seymour Siwoff, head of the Elias Sports Bureau and, perhaps, the senior guru among U.S. sports statisticians. “But these days, Jordan is just taken for granted. There’s no acclaim for anything he does anymore.

“He has exceeded the dimensions of his game. In team sports, the only people you can compare him to are Babe Ruth and Wayne Gretzky. We figured out the other day that Gretzky had more assists than any other (hockey) player had total points (assists and goals).”

In recent days, while young stars--with nicknames like “The Answer” and contracts for several times what the Bulls have paid Jordan in his entire career--have phoned in their single-digit games, Jordan has been ringing up 39-, 41- and 47-point nights.

The whole NBA struggles to score. The three-point line has been moved back. Clutch-and-grab defense is still the rage. Slow-the-tempo offenses are prevalent. Yet Jordan is soaring to his 10th scoring title, averaging about 29 points a game, even without injured Scottie Pippen in the lineup.

For Air, it all looks so easy, even with his 35th birthday next month. But it isn’t. Last month, he had a frigid night, shot 4 for 16, but still scored 11 points. Perhaps, subconsciously, his pride won’t let him put one line in the book--not even one--that really stinks.

Last week, the Chicago papers were, once again, full of speculation about whether Jordan will retire. Jordan says he’ll only play again under three conditions--if he’s a Bull, if Phil Jackson is his coach and if his Chicago team is a contender. Right now, Jackson and management are on different planets. Few dream Jackson will return. Pippen has demanded a trade. The morning line has Jordan retiring.

That could change. The usual well-adjusted ‘90s superduperstar retires about three times. Jordan’s only used up one. He hasn’t even tried to qualify for the PGA Tour or joined the Marines yet.

But what if No. 23 really has sufficient pride in performance--and pique at the Bulls bosses--to hang it up for good this spring?

How many more truly memorable records lie in front of him? Why let one slip past? Run your finger down the box scores in the paper. There they are--the mortals--against whom the occasional Ruth, Gretzky or Jordan is measured.

Where does 800-plus consecutive games of scoring in double digits stand among our records? Especially if you’re not 7-2. It stumps us at first glance because there’s no apple or orange quite like it.

It’s not about endurance, toughness, skill or luck--though it’s about them all. It’s about pride in performance, facing your own standards, every night. The longer we think about this neglected record, the more we realize how unique and distinctive it is. Like the man who set it.