Thursday, Jul 24, 2008
Michael Jordan's rumored return to the court sounds like a great idea for the NBA. It isn't.
Apr 18, 2001 | I am not positive that it is a bad idea for Michael Jordan to return to the NBA as a player, but I am 99.9 percent sure.
Let's take a look at the two possible scenarios that could come out of this. First, Michael comes back in a blaze of glory, invigorates his Washington Wizards, leads them to the NBA championship, and in the process yanks pro basketball ratings back into the stratosphere. Great for the NBA, right?
No, very bad for the NBA. If Jordan came back, how much longer could he play? One more season, max? So what will the league be left with then? An entire generation of players who will be remembered as overpaid, egocentric washouts who couldn't beat an old man who had been retired for three years. That will do wonders for the players' self-esteem, to say nothing of what it would do to the league's image. When Jordan retired for the second time, he wouldn't be leaving behind a secure-looking league ready to capitalize on his legacy, he'd be leaving behind a league that had crashed and burned and become a virtual laughingstock in professional sports.
The second scenario is that Jordan is no longer capable of running with Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant and ends up embarrassing himself. Does this improve the NBA's image? It most certainly does not. What do you want to bet that a majority of fans around the country would cease to root for the local team and start rooting for Michael? Or, forget the local fans, what if a majority of fair-weather fans return? You know, the ones who only began noticing pro basketball when they recognized Jack Nicholson under those shades at the Laker games? What if they came back and rooted for Michael and against every team he played against? Is that what the NBA really wants: a vast audience rooting against every team they are trying to promote?
Am I missing something? Is there a third scenario here? Here's a suggestion: Let Michael pick an All-Star team of 11 other players from around the league, his choice, anyone he wants, and barnstorm around the country, playing all the other NBA teams and, presumably, kicking their butts. In other words, Michael and the Jordanaires -- they can have that name for free -- would become the new Harlem Globetrotters, with everyone else taking the role of the Washington Generals. And this time they wouldn't need to use white guys.
Has everyone connected with the NBA these days gone nuts? Is it possible that everyone from the commissioner's office on down to its greatest ex-player needs mandatory drug testing? Is there a worse possible plan for kick-starting the league than bringing Jordan back? Is it possible that NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol doesn't understand that Jordan worship isn't the solution to the NBA's woes, but the problem?
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