A Very Curious Decision

The suspense didn’t end Tuesday, when Michael Jordan formally-- finally --announced that he is returning to the NBA. Now it’s time to really start wondering.

Can he do it? Can he give us reminders of his glory days, instead of forcing us to reminisce? Can he get the Washington Wizards to the playoffs?

This is a new one. Before, Jordan inspired feelings of awe, disbelief and--in the cities of Cleveland, New York and Salt Lake City--heartbreak and dread. This time around he elicits curiosity.

First there was the debate about whether he would come back or not, which began in March. By May, I believed he would come back unless every nerve ending in his body jumped out and smacked him in the face. Apparently two broken ribs, tendinitis in the knee and back pain weren’t enough to deter him.

Now that he’s back in uniform, can he get back to his old perch atop the NBA?

Beginning in 1990, every season Jordan went to training camp, he and the Bulls finished as champions. In a sign of both his age and his run of dominance over the NBA, there are only six players left in the league who can say they beat Jordan in a playoff series.

All of them (including current Lakers Shaquille O’Neal and Brian Shaw) were on the 1994-95 Orlando Magic team that beat the Bulls after Jordan’s first comeback near the end of the regular season.

The Wizards head to camp on Oct. 2, amid serious doubts they can even make the playoffs. It’s a team that finished 19-63 last season.

Their most promising players, Richard Hamilton and Courtney Alexander, are both natural shooting guards. That just happens to be Jordan’s position, although Wizard Coach Doug Collins said the other day that Jordan would be playing small forward and point guard as well.

Top draft pick Kwame Brown came straight out of high school. Even the three best examples of preps-to-pros players--Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady--made little impact as rookies.

Somehow, Jordan has to produce 22 more victories just to think about making the playoffs.

His stature alone will give the Wizards the benefit of some calls by the officials. That could be the difference in three or four games right there.

Jordan should be able to provide at least 20 points a game. He’ll get his shots; I can’t imagine him deferring to anyone else on that squad, and what player is going to complain to Collins? After all, Jordan hired Collins.

But scoring 19-20 a night isn’t enough. Cuttino Mobley and Jason Terry did that last season.

The question is whether Jordan can take over a game and dominate the way he did before.

Jordan is 38 and turns 39 in February. John Stockton and Terry Porter, guards in that age range, played key roles on playoff teams last season. But neither averaged more than 30 minutes a game nor was asked to bear the primary scoring load.

So what if Jordan isn’t up to the task? Just staying on the court could be a challenge. He didn’t miss a single game during Comeback I, but he couldn’t even make it through this summer without suffering an assortment of injuries.

And scattered reports said that everyone from Darius Miles to Moochie Norris was getting the better of Jordan during pickup games.

That creates visions of him getting mesmerized by an Allen Iverson crossover or posterized by a Vince Carter dunk.

Even if that happens, here’s an important thing to remember: It won’t tarnish the legacy.

I keep hearing about the anguish of New Yorkers who watched Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield in a Mets’ uniform, but when I hear his name, I still see him running down Vic Wertz’s long drive.

Joe Namath. Now tell me the first image that came to your mind was anything other than him running off the field, waving his index finger after the Jets had beaten the Colts in Super Bowl III. It sure wasn’t the washed-up guy who played for the Rams.

It wasn’t pretty to see Magic Johnson spend the last minutes of his career on the bench in a playoff loss to the Houston Rockets. But it doesn’t take away from Showtime.

That’s the thing about pop culture: You are forever linked to what you accomplished at your peak. Paul McCartney isn’t the lead singer for Wings, Ringo Starr isn’t the guy who played Atouk in “Caveman.” They’re Beatles.

Jordan will always be MJ or Air, the way Sean Connery will always be James Bond. Years from now, when you’re trying to tell your kids or grandkids that Michael Jordan was the best to ever play, you won’t even be thinking about him in a Wizard uniform.

Jordan has already created a large enough array of highlights, moves and capital-S, Roman-numeraled Shots to immunize him against failure. He can falter, but he can’t fail.

Which leaves the question of why? Simple. He came back because he wants to and he can. It won’t do any harm.

At $1 million a year for two years, his salary won’t hurt the Wizards’ salary cap next summer, and his money for this season will go to the relief fund for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The NBA’s attendance and television ratings will rise.

The new crop of stars who blossomed in his absence won’t get overshadowed, they’ll shine in the light that’s reflected off Jordan and get a chance to legitimize their accomplishments by doing them against him.

I fell asleep in the early hours of Sept. 11, when Jordan’s imminent return was still Sports Topic No. 1, while watching highlights of Jordan on ESPN. Some of them are more than 20 years old, but I never get tired of seeing them.

When a phone call woke me up a few hours later, the Twin Towers were on fire and I spent the rest of the day watching endless replays of planes crashing into buildings.

Jordan’s return won’t bring the dead back to life or make the world feel like a safe place again.

But on Tuesday it brought back the highlight packages, which bring back a little smile.

The reason we love watching Jordan is because he met or surpassed our lofty expectations so many times.

We thought he had the perfect finale in 1998. Now, you can’t help but wonder ... what will he do for an encore?

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.