Jordan uda 8x10 for sale or trade "scan"
nbaologist
Posts: 137
let me know if anyones interested.
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nbaologist
Posts: 137
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The scene at Hoops The Gym was deathly quiet Thursday. That spot where Michael Jordan parked his sports car du jour last summer? Empty. Those NBA stars who came virtually every day to help him work out? Nowhere. The roving eyes of trainer Tim Grover, protecting Jordan from an outside world that wasn't all too interested?
Somewhere else.
Personally, I hope things stay that way. Returning to basketball as he nears 40, on one surgically repaired knee and another in iffy condition, is more likely a recipe for further disappointment than any profound impact. Nonetheless, signs point toward the resumption of serious workouts and one more Jordan season with those wacky Washington Wizards, surely because the man is too proud and defiant--who said megalomaniacal?--to conclude his otherwise epic career in a limping, non-playoff stagger. Having fallen short of professional fulfillment for the first time in years, he aches more than ever to vanquish those of us who say his comeback was a mistake.
''I do think he'll be back,'' said NBA commissioner David Stern, who usually doesn't issue firm opinions unless he's certain.
Michael, Michael, Michael. Why would he want to encounter the same sort of hell he endured last season? On the court, his body broke down just as the Wizards were making a credible run in the shoddy Eastern Conference. Off the court, his marriage teetered between a divorce filing by Juanita-- against the curiously described ''M. Jeff Jordan''--and an eventual reconciliation. In a National Enquirer-like eyeraiser last Friday, the Washington Post reported that an exotic dancer named Robert ''The Rumpshaker'' Mercer, who once appeared on an XXX-rated HBO show called ''Real Sex,'' mailed a registered letter to Wizards executive (and longtime Jordan friend) Rod Higgins that alleged Jordan was involved in an extramarital affair. True story? Do understand that people try to set up and frame Jordan regularly, part of the burden of global celebrity. Just the same, why would he want to keep exposing his life to the claims of someone called The Rumpshaker? If Jordan's family is as sacred as he says, why churn the mill by remaining squarely in the public eye?
Popeye Jones and Kwame Brown hardly seem worth the bother.
Yet you could picture Jordan during the conference finals and NBA Finals, cursing out the fraudulent New Jersey Nets and figuring the Wizards, had he stayed healthy, would have won the East and fared better against the Lakers. The mediocrity of a conference, of all tenuous lures, is his ongoing narcotic. His biggest mistake was not accepting the $1 million offer of Phil Jackson last summer and winning another ring. That way, he wouldn't have played 40 hard minutes a game during the first half of the season, which wore him down and turned his experience bittersweet. That way, we could have seen Jordan in his rightful championship context and appreciated him in prime competitive settings, such as a memorable Sacramento series. And while he would have done some unprecedented standing and watching while Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant dominated, I suspect his soul would have been soothed by winning.
Jordan was too short-sighted to see that far. He wanted to come back his way, by building the highest wall possible and showing us he still could leap over it. If mushy knees and a dubious roster wouldn't let him succeed last season, why would he this season? The Wizards have only $3 million to spend, merely enough to complement him with a run-of-the-mill accessory like Larry Hughes. With the 11th pick in the draft, the Wizards will be lucky to land an immediate contributor. True, this is a team that became tougher and learned the art of winning, Jordan's finest contributions. But once again, making the playoffs will be difficult with a young nucleus. Does he really want to put himself through those obstacles again? When Jordan first told me he was eyeing a comeback, he mentioned names like Bryant and Charles Barkley. But Kobe mended his relationship with Jackson while Barkley decided to remain a roundish studio analyst. End of dream.
Recent whispers have Jordan returning as a sixth man and playing 28-30 minutes a game. It makes sense, allowing him to concentrate on the second half and devote his energy to crunch time. But what sounds good in theory might not work if the Wizards keep falling behind early in games, forcing him to squirm and ultimately come off the bench before he and coach Doug Collins prefer. The more minutes Jordan plays, the more vulnerable he is to injury. This time, the injury might finish his career, which would be the worst imaginable ending.
So why come back to the game? Does he need the action that desperately? His late father, James, once said Michael had ''a competition problem,'' and as we await his official announcement, it seems truer words never have been spoken. His gambling flurries haven't stopped, most recently in Monte Carlo and Las Vegas. In some cases, he is throwing down wagers in the mid-six figures, fairly decent sums even for him. Stern once investigated Jordan for his gambling associations. These days, you gather the commissioner would yawn if a Richard Esquinas or Slim Bouler resurfaced.
What Michael Jordan is facing here is a midlife crisis. His sporting contemporaries--Gretzky, Montana, Elway, Ripken--finally figured it out after struggling, but he can't move on. I have no doubt he is playing for ''the love of the game,'' as he told us last Sept. 10, but I also know his love is attached to the ecstasy of winning. That tie-in can't happen, not now, not going on 40, not in Washington. He needs to grow out of his compulsive need to prove the world wrong, realize he's the greatest basketball player ever and enjoy life out of baggy shorts. Because if he isn't careful, the scariest of all scenarios is ahead.
The Bulls, with a rookie guard almost half his age, might beat him. Above all else, he cannot let Jerry Krause beat him
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I've got some nice kobe for trade, lmk
Thanks
Kenny
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