Something Missing in Jordan’s Return

If it’s 11 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2001, do you know where your living legend is?

Up past his bedtime.

In an event that made up for only in hype what it lacked in electricity, Michael Jordan returned to the NBA Tuesday with an all-around game but without the flair, scoring only 19 points, missing 14 of 21 shots and making no big plays down the stretch as his Washington Wizards fell, 93-91 to the New York Knicks.

“I guess,” acknowledged Jordan, asked to compare it to his 1998 farewell, when he made his final shot to win the NBA Finals, “the difference is I’m a little bit older than I was ...

“The game’s a little bit different. My teammates are a little bit different. Obviously, the outcome tonight was a little different than what I wanted.”

Jordan, 38 and coming off a two-year retirement, also had five rebounds, six assists and four steals in 37 minutes, a nice night for a lot of players, an ordinary one for him.

But he couldn’t get easy shots--he scored only one of his seven baskets going to the hoop--and his jumper wasn’t falling. And in the final 30 seconds with the game on the line, he threw away a pass, then missed a three-pointer that could have tied the score.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, I thought he was a dominant player on the floor,” said Knick Coach Jeff Van Gundy, who knows better than to antagonize even a 38-year-old Jordan.

“He didn’t shoot particularly well but he got his shot and he made guys like [Chris] Whitney a lot better.

“That last three--I guess we were all surprised. At least me, I was. When that three went up, I thought it was in.”

Instead, it went up flat and fell short, off the front rim. Scratch that farewell frame of Jordan with his hand in the air in the Delta Center, having just released the winning shot in the 1998 NBA Finals. Now that’s his second-to-last game.

So ended one of the most ballyhooed regular-season games in history, built up since Jordan began hinting he’d return and the league office thoughtfully booked the Wizards’ opener into Madison Square Garden, just in case.

Jordan arrived to find New Yorkers preoccupied with the Yankees in the World Series, and in a less-than-sentimental mood, anyway. The Daily News’ Mike Lupica noted Jordan “always wants everything to be about him.” The Post’s Lenn Robbins couldn’t believe that Jordan, who always had been leery of discussing current events, no-commented a stock question about the travail of New Yorkers.

‘No comment?” wrote Robbins. “Nothing about the devastation he saw or the courage of emergency workers who came from all five boroughs, many never to return? Nothing about a city that has been hit by planes and anthrax and doesn’t miss a beat?”

The Knicks, of course, understood their roles: They were the night’s Grinches, for which they were perfectly cast.

“The challenge is not stopping him, the challenge is to win the game,” Van Gundy said beforehand. “No matter how much everyone wants this to be a coronation, I want it to be a win.”

Then, of course, Van Gundy set about stopping him, aided in no small way by rules changes that make it easier to double-team.

In the past, when Jordan would get the ball in the post, the Knicks would play him with one defender, like Allan Houston, and wish Houston the best of luck.

Tuesday, whenever Jordan got the ball in the post, the Knicks double-teamed right away. Sometimes two, or even three of them chased him, even when he was on the perimeter.

Unfortunately for the Wizards, this wasn’t just Jordan’s coming-out party, but also an introduction of sorts to the spotlight for their young hopes, Richard Hamilton, Courtney Alexander and Kwame Brown, who have been in the NBA for two seasons, one season and one game, respectively.

The young players were so impressed, or awed, by Jordan, Coach Doug Collins asked him to stop shooting in exhibition games, to let his teammates get used to doing stuff, too. Jordan compared it to his early days in Chicago, when the press called his teammates “the Jordanaires.”

Tuesday, Hamilton (13), Alexander (six) and Brown (two) went for 21 points in 62 minutes. Collins sat them on the bench at the end, going with more experienced players like Whitney and Tyrone Nesby.

That was, of course, after Van Gundy had spent those 62 minutes with his defenders chasing Jordan, challenging the young Wizards to beat them.

When Jordan was asked about rules changes last spring, he opposed them, saying they would have never “let Michael Jordan become Michael Jordan.”

When he was asked about the rules changes after Tuesday’s game, he grinned.

“There’s two ways you can look at it,” Jordan said. “It takes away from some of the individuality of an offensive player. You’re forced to try to involve some of your other players. But obviously, you’re still a threat at 38 if they’re going to double and triple-team you....

“I’m pretty sure teams are going to look at that and say, well, that’s a good way to beat us, to try to double-and triple-team MJ and make sure other guys step to the forefront.”

Well, they say a journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step.

On the other hand, the Wizards didn’t take a very big step Tuesday night, and Jordan is signed for only two seasons.

“I mean, well, you know Michael,” said Collins, “he’s so competitive. I mean, he’s disappointed. He wanted to win this game tonight. I thought he did fine. He missed a few shots but he really hasn’t practiced since we played our last exhibition game on Friday. He’s been out a little bit. Knee’s been a little bit sore, so he didn’t practice, So tonight was really his first time back on the floor since.

“You look at this, he had six assists, four steals, five rebounds. Now, if he makes three more shots, you’d say, ‘Wow, what a great game!”’

And if he were 20 years younger, you’d say, “Wow, what a great prospect!” But it’s 2001 and Jordan, having just returned, is already running short of tomorrows.