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Friday, September 27, 2002
SAYSON: Right as usual
By Homer Sayson
Second Overtime
CHICAGO – Here we go again. John Mitchell of the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Michael Jordan “will play again this season for the Washington Wizards.”
When MJ launched his Third Coming last year, I have become one of his staunchest critics, angry that he dared to defy Father Time, and in the process, unscripted what had been a Cinderella finish to a fantabulous career.
I was having dinner with my girlfriend Ermee when I read this latest Jordan bulletin. I took the news rather happily this time. Not because I was with the love of my life, but because this time I decided to be on the sane side of reason.
The problem with us sports fans is that we always want what is best for us, not what is best for them. In our quest to fulfill our sports fantasies, we become unselfish along the way.
Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever to play the game. Nothing will ever change that. He won two Olympic golds, one NCAA title, six NBA championships and various individual honors. Nothing will ever tarnish that legacy. No one else can captivate our imagination the way his aerial strides did. No one else shall possess his iron will, a will that had melted his opponents’ resolve. Just ask any living Knick.
On Tuesday Jordan told Jay Marriotti of the Chicago Sun-Times, “I’ll play as long as I love the game of basketball. I don’t believe it myself sometimes that I’m still playing. I never thought I’d play again. But I still love the game.”
MJ has given us a lot of memories over the years. We could show our appreciation by rallying behind him in his bid to honor his contract with the Wizards.
If Jordan, now 40, still thinks he can dominate a league lorded by 20-something acrobats and musclemen, he should be accorded the benefit of the doubt. After all, he is the greatest that ever was. The greatest that ever will be.
BETTER TEAM. Although it is difficult to make any projections on a league where teams play 82 games before the playoffs, I am confident that the Wizards will do better than they did last year.
Anticipating that MJ will hang his sneakers for good, coach Doug Collins has done an exceptional job of re-tooling the Wizards, acquiring Jerry Stackhouse from Detroit, Bryon Russell from Utah and Larry Hughes from Golden State.
Teamed with rookies Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon, Washington now has an impeccable blend of youth and experience. MJ can now bring his 22.9 points and 5.2 assists per game off the bench, limiting the risk of injuring his right knee.
The plan is to limit MJ’s playing time to 20 minutes per game, before utilizing him full-time in the playoffs. Sounds like an interesting strategy.
PHIL SPEAKS. The Lakers practically stood still this past summer, making no significant addition to their roster while bitter rival Sacramento bolstered its arsenal with the addition of the versatile Keon Clark.
But if you think Phil Jackson is worried, you’re darn wrong. The Zen Master sees the Kings as another challenger that will ultimately succumb to Shaq and Kobe’s one-two punch.
In downplaying the Kings, Jackson told Howard Beck of the LA Daily News, “Webber could got to prison. You don’t know what’s going to happen to him,” referring to the power forward’s indictment following charges that he received cash from a Michigan booster.
As for the veteran Vlade Divac, Jackson opined, “What’s Vlade? 35, 36? He’s getting to an age now that’s starting to be something you have to contend with conditioning and ability to stay on the floor. And without him it’s a different ballclub. We know that.”
With the risk of being branded as anti-Kings – again – I’m afraid Jackson is right – as usual.
(Questions are welcome at homsay@hotmail.com)
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