Jordan Sets Time for His Decision

Michael Jordan, looking fit and trim, has a timetable for deciding whether he’ll return to the NBA.

“Give me another month and a half. Middle of September,” Jordan said after his round in the SBC Senior Open Pro-Am at Long Grove, Ill., was shortened to 10 holes by rain.

Jordan, president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards, has been working out with his own team recently, still gauging if, at age 38, he would be able to return at a high level.

“I look forward to playing and hopefully I can get to that point where I can make that decision. But it’s OK to have some doubt and it’s OK to have some nervousness. I think that’s part of competing,” he said.

“I probably can’t take off from the free-throw line, but I couldn’t take off from the free-throw line in ’95 when we won the championship [in ‘95-’96].”

Jordan said the main opinion he will consider in making up his mind will be his own.

“I think everybody’s tried to point me in one direction or the next. But I’ve been very honest with myself in saying I’m still evaluating, I’m looking for the signs, I’m looking for all the things I feel I could do when I was playing,” he said.

“If you asked me today to make a decision, I would not play because I still have so many question marks about myself physically.”

NBA training camps don’t open until October, so Jordan has plenty of time to decide.