Return Has Already Raised Interest Level

Michael Jordan once said he’d never play for a coach not named Phil Jackson, and the Lakers almost certainly would have found the million-dollar annual salary required by the best player ever, maybe even if Jackson had to kick back some of his wages.

And so Jackson, with at least two players who figure to be more dominating than Jordan the 38-year-old, took MJ back into the NBA on Tuesday with a gentle reminder of who’s who and what’s what around here.

“Michael’s return will be wonderful for the sport of basketball,” he said in a statement issued by the Lakers. “I wish him all the best for this season. I am disappointed, however, that he turned down my standing invitation to play for the champs--the Lakers.”

That Phil, always tugging on our soul patches.

“No, no,” said Tex Winter, Jackson’s assistant in the championship-festooned Chicago and L.A. years. “I think he’s serious about it. Maybe Phil was holding out, hoping Michael would call him.”

Jordan announced Tuesday afternoon that the speculation was indeed true, that after three years of golf and semi-real life he would un-retire into a Washington Wizards’ uniform, into a lineup of Christian Laettner and Jahidi White, into a league where the Lakers are twice-defending champions, the Chicago Bulls are just awful, and the Wizards are somewhere in between.

Exactly where, of course, depends on what his game looks like, because the Wizards weren’t much with Jordan in a suit.

At first glance, most observers appeared torn between their self-appointments as preservers of Jordan’s legacy, and wondering if it could actually widen, given a little time and another player or two.

Mostly, though, they’re curious.

“I think we’ll all be watching,” Winter said.

Some days more than others.

Jordan III opens Oct. 30 at Madison Square Garden. He will line up against Allen Iverson on Nov. 3, Tracy McGrady on Dec. 1, Vince Carter on Dec. 16, and Kobe Bryant on Feb. 12. He visits Chicago on Jan. 19, sweeps through Los Angeles--against the Clippers--on March 13.

By then, we’ll know. He’ll know.

“I think it’s great for the NBA,” said Jack Ramsay, the television analyst and former coach. “I think it’s great for the Washington Wizards. And, hopefully, it’ll be great for Michael. He’s in good shape. He’s worked very hard this summer. He wouldn’t do it if he didn’t think he could do it with success.”

Those who played with and against Jordan, and those who coached against him, tend to believe. They tend to remember the charisma and the character of the man, not to mention the step-backs, the fall-aways, and all the other stuff that either won for them or beat them.

“Even at 38, he’s the greatest player ever,” said Steve Kerr, a teammate of Jordan’s for four seasons. “I’d be shocked if he didn’t play at an all-star level and turn Washington into a winner.”

Jordan spent the summer in Chicago, testing his game, trying to break it. A rib broke but the rest held. There were occasional, anonymous accounts of Jordan’s heavy legs and flat jumpers, but he pushed through the workouts anyway, and apparently found enough skill and desire to start over again.

“I have a lot of eagerness and anticipation in seeing him perform again,” Julius Erving said. “Having spoken to him in recent weeks, I know his focus and determination is there. Michael would only do this if he thought he could excel, so excel he will. He has something to lose, but not a lot.”

Failure would carry a price, but Jordan seems unconcerned.

“I’m doing it for the love of the game. Nothing else,” he said two weeks ago, a sentiment that personally might transcend the jolt of a seven-point game, or eight consecutive losses, or playoff elimination in March, or whatever new ground this comeback might cover. There appears to be more to it for Jordan, and for many others.

“America may try to wrap the flag around Jordan,”’ said Rick Burton, the executive director of the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. “He may not want to wear that flag, but we are definitely seeking tangible heroes.

“Jordan also takes some of the spotlight away from Kobe, Shaq [O’Neal], Iverson, [Kevin] Garnett, Vince Carter at a time when the NBA was trying desperately to show there were heroes in the post-Jordan era. Now, he’s back and each of the others gets a little less, unless they personally school him, which then reduces his myth. So there is wonderful drama about to unfold.”

Generally, athletes don’t return at 38, after three years out, with much more than a familiar gait and a dying memory of what body parts once did on demand. But, this is Jordan, and that’s what so many are figuring on.”Nobody has seen Michael play,” Philadelphia 76er General Manager Billy King said. “You don’t know what level he is at. It’s like when Michael came back from baseball, nobody knew what he was going to do then. You can’t sit here and say what he is going to do. Just his competitive spirit and his drive will make everyone on that team better. I don’t think it is a decision that any of us can criticize or not criticize.”