This Time, Jordan Running Against Bulls

Michael Jordan was asked if he was looking forward to Friday.

“What’s Friday?” he shot back.

He then unwrinkled his brow, let out a sly chuckle, said a few words about how nice it is that the Washington Wizards won’t be on the road anytime soon and finally added the punch line that was coming all along.

“I’m definitely looking forward to Chicago,” he said.

Maybe Jordan is the best athlete in the universe, because the planets will be aligned for him tonight at the MCI Center. He’s well rested, relatively healthy, has been unstoppable for the last two games and is going for 30,000 points--against his old team, the Chicago Bulls.

“He’s been giving people 40, 50,” said Bull forward Ron Artest, who played in Jordan’s pickup games in Chicago over the summer. “He’s probably going to try to give me about 70. I’m going to try and give him 70 too.”

It’s not out of the question, at least for Jordan. After putting up 51 points against Charlotte on Saturday and 45 on New Year’s Eve against New Jersey, Jordan indicated more of the same is on the way. The tendinitis in his knee is on the wane, allowing him to resume daily weightlifting and regain strength in his legs for better lift on his jumpers and quicker drives to the basket.

“This is how I was playing all summer,” Jordan said, “before I broke my ribs.”

Jordan won six titles in 13 years with the Bulls, and his statue is outside the United Center, where he’ll make his first appearance with a visiting team Jan. 19. Ninety-eight percent of his 29,985 career points have been scored for Chicago, and chances are he’ll get 15 against Chicago to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to reach 30,000.

“Obviously it wasn’t a thought that I could get to 30,000 when I retired the last time,” Jordan said. “Now it’s within reach.

“It’s an elite club obviously, and I feel privileged just to be in that club.... It’s very motivating for me.”

With 96 points in two games, Jordan needs 68 points to match his best three-game run, when he scored 53, 50 and 61 for a total of 164 for the Bulls from April 12-16, 1987. His career high is 69.

“It’d be a lot of points for anybody,” said former teammate Bill Cartwright, now the Bulls’ coach. “But we know Michael has the potential to do the abnormal.”