He’s Hanging It Up

As one of the world’s greatest athletes prepared to announce that he is leaving the NBA stage, Michael Jordan was lauded Tuesday by fans, coaches, teammates and opponents as basketball’s all-time best player and an icon who transcended the sports world.

When Jordan addresses the media today at a news conference in Chicago, the 10-time NBA scoring champion is expected to make it official: He is retiring.

His announcement will trigger the dismantling of the Chicago Bulls, who won six NBA championships in Jordan’s last six full seasons, and bring down the curtain on one of the most storied careers in sports history.

His resume includes five most-valuable-player awards, 12 All-Star appearances, two Olympic gold medals and a worldwide popularity that filled arenas and boosted the stock of the companies with which he was affiliated.

And Tuesday, the tributes poured in:

* Indiana Coach Bob Knight, who mentored the budding superstar in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, called Jordan “the greatest basketball player ever . . . the best player involved in a team sport of any kind.”

* Coach Pat Riley of the Miami Heat called him “the greatest influence that sports has ever had.”

* Jerry West, executive vice president for the Lakers, called him “the modern-day Babe Ruth.”

In Chicago, fans seemed to greet the news with resignation, saddened to hear of Jordan’s impending departure but grateful that the North Carolina native had brought so much glory to their city.

“I can’t be too depressed,” said Linda Singer, a Chicago graphic artist. “Six championships. How much can you ask for? All I can say is thank you. But in my heart I want him to come back.”

Said Pedro Vazquez, waiting for a bus amid another snowfall in a harsh Chicago winter: “When I saw the headline, I thought, ‘It’s terrible.’ He’s given Chicago everything you could ask for. I don’t know how the Bulls are going to play without him.”

To some, Jordan’s retirement couldn’t come at a worse time for the NBA, which is expected to have a hard time winning back fans when it begins a lockout-shortened season next month.

“It’s a sad thing because, especially where basketball is now, Michael Jordan is desperately needed,” Laker guard Eddie Jones said. “We’re going to lose so many fans, and he could bring them all back.”

David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who followed the Bulls last season for a book, said Jordan’s departure leaves a deep void. “I think there will be a sag,” he said. “There are an awful lot of talented players out there, but Michael was unusual because he did all this so brilliantly and with consummate charm.

“Not all of his linear successors have that charm, and that’s going to be a problem for the NBA. The public not only wants to see great athletes, it wants to like them. It liked Magic, it liked Bird, it liked Jordan, but it’s not sure if it likes these other guys.”

Everybody, it seems, liked Jordan, including Clipper free agent Darrick Martin, who distinguished himself early in his career as one of the few players who nearly came to blows with Jordan on the court but now counts Jordan among his friends.

“That summer he was filming [‘Space Jam’] at Warner Brothers, we spent a lot of time together talking and playing against each other,” Martin said. “He told me, ‘Little man, you don’t take any mess.’ . . . I’m really going to miss him. He brings so much to the game. He’s a class act. He’s definitely an ambassador for basketball and how professional athletes should behave themselves on and off the court.”

Jordan’s legend is such that competitors seemed grateful to share the court with him.

“You play your hardest when you play against him,” said the Lakers’ Jones. “He shows you his will. And when you play against a guy like that--[a guy] that’s out there giving his all--man, you’ve got to be in awe at some point.”

The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, often mentioned as a possible heir to Jordan’s position as the game’s top ambassador, said he will miss testing himself against Jordan.

“Of course,” he said. “I had a chance to learn so much playing against him--guarding him different ways, seeing how he guards me. . . . I mean, you go up against the best, man, that’s when your adrenaline starts pumping. You’re playing against the best b-ball player in the world.”

Former Clipper guard Brent Barry said opponents put Jordan on a pedestal. “I’ve never seen guys at this level look at another player with so much admiration and respect,” Barry said. “It’s not going to be the same going into Chicago without No. 23 on the floor.”

Said Shaquille O’Neal: “I can tell all my children . . . that I played [against] the great Michael Jordan.”

Bulls’ management was tight-lipped. No one--not owner Jerry Reinsdorf, General Manager Jerry Krause or coach-in-waiting Tim Floyd--wanted to upstage Jordan.

“Of course not,” free-agent guard Steve Kerr said when asked if he had any doubts Jordan was retiring. “But I’m not going to be the fool who talks about it before it all happens.”

Already, the Bulls were said to be pursuing free agents. “They want us to come in for a visit,” said James Bryant, the agent for Antonio McDyess. “We’ve talked with them, and right now Antonio is interested in looking at all the options.”

With a league-high 10 free agents, the Bulls have only four players under contract--Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Randy Brown and Keith Booth--and have not said if they want to rebuild from scratch or re-sign high-priced free agent Scottie Pippen and build around him.

In either case, Dennis Rodman is not expected back--at least not at last season’s salary of $8 million.

“It’s like someone is dying,” said James Block, a Bull fan from the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove. “The only team we have left with any hope of winning anything is the Cubs. And when the Cubs are the best team in Chicago, that’s pretty sad.”

Times staff writers Tim Kawakami and Lonnie White and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

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“I’ve never seen guys at this level who are professionals look at another player with so much admiration and respect.”

Brent Barry, Free-Agent Guard

“It’s sad for everyone to see the greatest basketball player in the world retire. There comes a time in every player’s career that they have to make that decision, and he feels it’s his time.

Larry Bird, Indiana Pacer Coach

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* DEEP IMPACT: Jordan was also a player in the marketing world, which will feel his absence. A1

* MIKE DOWNEY: In Chicago, Jordan is bigger than Oprah, Refrigerator Perry and Roger Ebert combined. A3

* MARKET CORNERED: With no NBA heir apparent, Jordan’s retirement shouldn’t hurt his commercial deals. C1

* ARTISTIC LICENSE: In 1996, Jim Murray compared Jordan to Astaire, Olivier, Heifetz and Horowitz. D6

* PHIL SAYS: According to his former coach, Jordan wasn’t being cocky on final shot against the Jazz. D7

* JORDAN ON TV, Page 3

* STATISTICS, Page 4