University of North Carolina Athletics
Brewer: A Possible Jordan Comeback Sparks Interest Everywhere
August 6, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 6, 2001
By Rick Brewer, SID Emeritus
It has been said that there are two things about which everyone has an opinion--politics and the weather.
Well, it's time to add a third--the possible return of Michael Jordan as a player in the National Basketball Association.
Rarely, has a sports event, which may not even happen, received so much attention. USA TODAY recently ran a front-page story on a possible comeback by Jordan. That's not the front of the sports section, but the front of the entire paper.
Newspaper columnists and television sports commentators have spent a great deal of time discussing why such a return would be good or bad for basketball and for Jordan.
The same is true for fans. Perhaps, it's because this is Chapel Hill where Michael played collegiately, but the thought of Jordan returning to play inevitably gets into conversations wherever I go.
People who would like to see a Jordan comeback think it would be a boost to the image of the NBA. I'm sure that has nothing to do with Jordan considering a return.
There are others who feel an attempted comeback would damage his legacy. They say he left the playing court in the best possible manner--making a steal and then hitting his last shot which won the 1998 title for the Chicago Bulls.
Their argument is Jordan shouldn't be one of those athletes who hung around too long and ended up hurting their place in history.
I think Michael Jordan will be smart enough to know if he's capable of playing in today's professional game. From what I saw on SPORTSCENTER of the NBA last season, he should still be able to be one of the league's most dominant players.
Maybe, he couldn't do it 48 minutes for 82 games. But, by pacing himself and getting more rest during games than he has in the past, he could still play. As Dr. Tim Taft, Carolina's head of sports medicine told USA TODAY, if Jordan is only 85 percent of what he once was, he's still one of the top athletes in the game.
Taft knows how well-conditioned Jordan has always been. I think the fact Michael admits he recently went from his 216-pound playing weight to 240 pounds may have prompted him to get back in better shape. And, if he's getting back in shape, why not play?
Plus, if he does make a comeback and doesn't have a great season, that's not going to hurt his legacy in the game.
People say Willie Mays continued to play baseball past his prime. A career .302 hitter in 22 seasons with 660 home runs, Mays batted just .271, .250 and .211 in his final three years. He only hit 32 homers in those three seasons. However, he's still regarded as the game's greatest centerfielder.
Henry Aaron hit .305 over a 23-year career and set the all-time home-run record with 755. However, in his last three seasons, he batted just .268, 234 and .229 with 42 homers. Has his place in history been tarnished?
Johnny Unitas threw only 10 touchdown passes over the final three years of his 18 pro seasons and had 22 interceptions in that same period. He wasn't even a full-time starter during that time. Yet many still regard him as the NFL's greatest quarterback.
Oscar Robertson, who once averaged a triple-double for a full season, had a career scoring average of 25.7. It would have been higher except he averaged only 15.5 and 12.7 in his last two years. But, no one thinks of that when easily naming him as one of the five best pro basketball players in history.
Elgin Baylor scored 27.4 points with 13.5 rebounds a game in his career. But, a leg injury allowed him to play just two games in 1971. Lingering effects from that, coupled with age, forced him to retire nine games into the 1972 season. That hasn't damaged his place as one of basketball's two or three top forwards.
Even Babe Ruth tried to prolong his career after being released by the Yankees. But, he could only hit .181 with six home runs in 1935 for the Boston Braves before being cut again.
Of course, there have been some athletes who walked away from their sport when they were in the prime of their careers. Jim Brown and Sandy Koufax are probably the best examples. Barry Sanders could be another if he indeed remains retired.
Brown left pro football in 1965 at the age of 29 after leading the NFL in rushing eight of his nine seasons. That included 1,544 yards and 17 touchdowns in his final year.
Koufax was 30 when he retired from the Los Angles Dodgers. In 1966, his last season, he led the National League in wins with 27 (against just nine losses), earned run average at 1.73, starts with 41, complete games with 27 and strikeouts with 317.
Those are the type numbers Jordan had compiled when he first "retired" from the Chicago Bulls in 1993. He had averaged 32.6 points a game, 6.7 rebounds and 5.5 assists. Plus, he was on the NBA's All-Defensive Team.
After almost two seasons away from the game he decided to make a comeback. In his first full year back he simply averaged 30.4 points6.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
There are a couple of things that separates Jordan from athletes of the past who may have played past their prime. Most of those players did so at a time before the multi-million dollar contracts that athletes get today. Alex Rodriguez may earn more this season for the Texas Rangers than Mays and Aaron did in their entire careers combined.
Players often tried to extend their careers simply because they needed the income. Others like Mays, Aaron, Ernie Banks, Warren Spahn and Magic Johnson simply loved the sport they played. Some, like Robertson and Banks, dreamed of playing on a championship team. Often, it was a combination of all these things.
Money obviously isn't the issue with Jordan. Knowing him, I certainly don't believe it's for personal glory. He is already regarded as the game's greatest player. He doesn't have to prove it again against Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant or Vince Carter.
No, I think Jordan's interest in attempting a comeback is simply a need for competition. Next to Dean Smith, he's the most competitive person with whom I've ever spent time.
He has an inner fire to be competing against someone all the time--whether it's in a practice scrimmage or an NBA championship game.
If he returns to the court, that will be the reason. And if he has indeed lost that edge to be the best player in his sport, he will know it before anyone else and will leave the game as quickly as he returned to it.
