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Fading MJ now just an afterthought

by Terry Brown

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Also Below: Now Magic is waiting on ailing McGrady | Peep Show

Live from Belgrade

NBA Insider Chad Ford traveled through Eastern Europe last week with NBA international scouting guru Tony Ronzone. Together, they checked out some of the top European prospects for the 2003 NBA Draft. Ford wraps up his eight-day journey today with some thoughts on how and why the American basketball must change.

Mon: Out of the Darko

Chat: Chad & Tony transcript

Tue: Face to face

Wed: The Springer League

Thur: The Knicks' savior

Fri: In search of Euro Jordan

Today: New world order

Michael Jordan who?

"Right now, he's just a person," said New Jersey Net Richard Jefferson. "He's not the man I grew up idolizing."

Tonight at American Airlines Center, the Dallas Mavericks, the first-place team in the NBA, await what could be the final appearance of, arguably, the greatest player in NBA history on their home floor.

Final ... because that player is 39 years old and has said that after two un-retirements, this will be his last season.

Final ... because that 39-year-old no longer can guarantee a trip to the NBA Finals for his team as he did three times before his first and three times before his second retirement.

And that is the only way the Washington Wizards could play the Dallas Mavericks again in American Airlines Center after Monday.

"That's one of the downsides of having great success," Indiana Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. "As you pass everyone else, there's no one to compare to but yourself. And when you start comparing that person's record to his own record, he can't win. ... He's playing against himself. That's when you know it's time to leave."

Michael Jordan

Guard-Forward

Washington Wizards

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

26 17.3 4.7 2.8 .451 .766

It was a week ago today that Michael Jordan scored a career-low 2 points on 1-of-9 shooting against the Toronto Raptors. But even more telling was the fact that the Wizards still won the game, 95-82.

Teammate Jerry Stackhouse called him a decoy. The New York Times reported that he had "overstayed his greatness." Chicago columnist Sam Smith said: "No one cares about Michael Jordan."

Mike McAllister compiles the mounting evidence against this aging superstar in the Dallas Morning News and concludes that it may have been better if Michael Jordan never had returned to play basketball in his current state.

"The NBA moved into a post-Jordan phase five years ago," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said. "It doesn't matter if he stays or goes. He is a great player, but we have a whole bunch of other great players. We just have to do a better job of investing in the marketing of the product we have."

On opening night of this season, Michael Jordan scored 8 points. On Nov. 6, he scored 6 points. On Nov. 16, he scored 8 points and, two games later, he was held to 8 points again.

For the year, he is averaging a career-low 17.3 points per game after scoring 32.6 per game in 1993 and 37.1 in 1987 and 30.6 on average over his 15-season career.

"When people talk about him as a basketball player, they'll reflect back to his early days," Thomas said. "I don't think they'll show highlights of him in a Wizards uniform."

Sure, he is good for a 39-year-old. Sure, they are playing well for being the Washington Wizards. Sure, he scored 30 against the Hawks this week and 33 against the Grizzlies, but this is the Dallas Mavericks.

And the Mavs have a guy named Dirk Nowitzki, who is averaging 21.3 points per game as an MVP candidate. They have Steve Nash, who is averaging 19 per game. They even have their own Michael, Michael Finley, who is scoring 21.4 per game.

And all anybody really wants to know is if Michael Jordan is going to end up in Charlotte behind a desk anytime soon as a non-combatant.

Which makes it all the more awkward to try and paint a better picture than the one of him hitting the game-winning shot against the Utah Jazz for his sixth (and final?) NBA Title five years ago.

"To see a 40-year-old do the kind of things he is doing is just amazing to me," Cuban said, "and only makes me realize what a genetic freak he truly is."

Too bad he is 39.

Jordan's last stand: Is it his downfall?

Mike McAllister / Dallas Morning News

Memories of a former teammate

Mike McAllister / Dallas Morning News

Wizards swallow tough loss

John N. Mitchell / Washington Times

The Jordan question has no firm answer - yet

John Delong / Winston-Salem Journal

Now Magic is waiting on ailing McGrady

You just wait until Tracy McGrady gets better, then you'll see.

It wasn't last game, or the game before that or the game before that. No, he hasn't played a full NBA game since Dec. 13, and here we are, just days before Christmas. Now they're telling us that he isn't going to play tonight, either.

Tracy McGrady

Guard-Forward

Orlando Magic

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

24 29.3 6.1 4.2 .461 .815

But you just wait and see.

"Maybe we got ahead of ourselves early in the season," Magic teammate Grant Hill told the Orlando Sentinel. "It was like people, and even we, were starting to think we'd jump out and be 20-5. That would've been nice ... We've always been ordained, when healthy, to be one of the better teams. I still think we can get there. Going through this is not a bad thing. If we can absorb all the things thrown at us, it shows this team has a lot of heart and character."

Hill has been hurt, we know. So has Mike Miller. But now we're talking about Tracy McGrady, the MVP frontrunner, the guy averaging a league-leading 29.3 points per game to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

"It's feeling better, but I don't want to rush anything back after reaggravating it in the Utah game," said McGrady, who received treatment on his back Sunday and hopes to play Wednesday against Detroit. "The team is playing well right now, but we've just got to get everybody healthy. This is a good stretch for us, but I just want to get healthy."

McGrady has been battling back problems since he landed in Orlando two seasons ago and were re-aggravated when Kobe Bryant elbowed him there two Sundays ago.

"We definitely want to play with the same amount of intensity," McGrady said about his team pressing forward without him on the floor. "Don't tone your game down for nobody. It has to be that mentality. When I get back, I'm not going to tone my game down. Don't tone yours down. If we can do that and keep this together, we can be a pretty good basketball team."

The Magic stand at 15-13, holding onto the seventh playoff spot, with eight of their next 10 games at home and 14 of the next 16 against Eastern Conference opponents.

"We get healthy, and we have a chance to make a nice statement," Magic coach Doc Rivers said.

Magic likely without McGrady again

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

Magic home for holidays

John Denton / Florida Today

Peep Show

Michael Finley

Guard-Forward

Dallas Mavericks

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

26 21.4 6.9 2.8 .428 .875

Mavericks: Michael Finley has his priorities. "If the USA team comes, good," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "If it doesn't, then OK. I'd rather win an NBA championship than a gold medal." The USA Basketball Committee is said to have identified six core players it wants for the Olympics who will be announced next month. Another group of support players will be announced in February. "I don't know whether Michael's in that first group," said Craig Miller, the assistant executive director of USA Basketball. "But I would imagine with his image and level of play, he's probably one of those guys they have indicated interest in."

Charlotte: As expected, Bob Johnson will soon name Ed Tapscott, former vice-president for the New York Knicks who currently does television work with the Washington Wizards, as the new team's general manager. Tapscott has also done work with the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.

Warriors: Three times a charm for reserve swingman Chris Mills. He tried to confront Blazer swingman Bonzi Wells on the court, in the locker room and on his team bus after their most recent game and the NBA has responded by suspending him for three games without pay. "My take on the situation is that Chris Mills engaged in some action at the conclusion of the game and well after the conclusion of the game that quite frankly we cannot accept and will not tolerate," Senior NBA VP Stu Jackson said in a conference call. "Given that fact, we administered some punitive action that we felt was in line with the action."

Team USA shows strong interest in Finley

Dwain Price / Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tapscott to run expansion team

Rick Bonnell / Charlotte Observer

League suspends Mills 3 games -- team might add to penalty

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle