Jordan confirms NBA return
After months of playing guessing games, Michael Jordan has finally confirmed what basketball fans suspected - he is returning to the NBA with the Washington Wizards.
Jordan, who is now 38, "retired" from the Chicago Bulls nearly three years ago, but admitted today that he couldn't resist a "return to the game I love."
"I am especially excited about the Washington Wizards, and I'm convinced we have the foundation on which to build a playoff-contention team," he added in a statement issued through his management agency.
"The opportunity to teach our young players and help them elevate their game to a higher level, and to thank the fans in Washington for their loyalty and support, strongly influenced my decision."
The five-time league MVP, who retired for a second time after leading the Chicago Bulls to their sixth NBA title of the decade, had been expected to make his comeback announcement for months. Even last night's statement had been delayed by a day, as Jordan sought to clear up the video game licensing rights to his likeness with one of his sponsors, EA Sports.
NBA rules also required Jordan to sell his ownership stake in the Wizards, and he has now relinquished his share to fellow Washington owner Ted Leonsis.
Jordan has been in training for about six months, at first saying he was simply trying to lose the extra weight he had gained in retirement. Inspired by his friend, ice hockey star Mario Lemieux, and his successful comeback with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jordan rigorously worked himself into playing shape during the summer by holding several invitation-only camps of pickup games with other NBA players at a gym in Chicago.
During this time he suffered back spasms and knee tendinitis which curtailed his workouts. Furthermore two cracked ribs from a collision in a pickup game took him off the court for a month, and raised doubts about whether his body could endure the rigours of an 82-game schedule.
Jordan also knows that turning a team that won only 19 games last season into a winner could prove to be an insurmountable challenge - even for him.
But New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy is not one of those doubters, and predicts that Jordan will soon be back to his best.
"I think he will return to being one of the top players in our league," he said. "His comeback certainly puts the Wizards in a position to make the playoffs this year."
Jordan never completely ruled out a return when he retired in January 1999, hedging his bets with the statement that he was "99.9% certain he would never play again."
Leaving the door open, even by one-tenth of one percent, meant Jordan could slip back into a uniform without going back on his word.
His regular-season debut will be October 30 at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, and his first home game for the Wizards will be November 3 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jordan will be in the unusual position of playing for the coach he hired, Doug Collins, who joined the Wizards in April and also coached Jordan for three seasons with the Bulls in the 1980s.
"We'll see how fast the No. 23 Wizards jersey becomes the No. 1 selling jersey in the NBA", Collins said. "That probably will start today."