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The Return of the King

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: The Lakers' Fear Factor | Miles, Cavs kneedled by rumors | LaFrentz finds himself in a $69 million doghouse | Peep Show

The ghost of Michael Jordan is back.

Not the Michael Jordan who led the Bulls to six World Championships. Not the kid on the poster, flying spread eagle against the Chicago skyline. Not the larger-than-life legend who stands immortalized outside the United Center.

Blood and ice once pumped through his veins. The legend once breathed rarified air.

Now he is a specter, making one last haunting of his old digs. He's still scary as [censored].

Michael Jordan

Guard-Forward

Washington Wizards

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

31 17.1 4.9 3.2 .447 .789

Forty years has taken its toll, but 17 ppg and 4.9 rpg isn't too shabby for a shadow.

When Jordan and his fledgling Wizards suit up tonight against the team he carried to dizzying heights, the fans will bow, the memories will churn and perhaps, just maybe, we'll see the old Jordan resurrected, from spirit to flesh and bone, one last time before ascending to Springfield.

Jordan's last encore probably won't be in the NBA Finals, despite gushing predictions this fall. Nor will it likely be in a conference championship or second-round playoff series. The Wizards are struggling to find an identity that isn't comprised solely of ESPN Classic clips. A ghost can inspire, but he can't carry a team ... even Jordan's ghost.

So for all intents and purposes, this may be it.

Jordan's last hurrah. Two last games at the United Center, tonight and January 24th, to cement a legacy.

Jordan will dress tonight in the visitors' locker room at the United Center for only the second time. Last year, Jordan was driven nearly to tears by a long standing ovation. The sentimentality of the evening had Jordan looking very human. He committed a career-high nine turnovers and scored just 16 points in a 77-69 victory.

Tonight will be different. Jordan is leaving the Kleenex at home.

The vanquished king returns home to confront his nemesis, Jerry Krause, the guy he blames for his untimely demise. The guy who led Jordan's once-unstoppable Bulls into the sewer. The guy who broke up a dynasty to prove that franchises, not legends, win titles.

No need to pour gasoline on the ruins of the Bulls. MJ has enough wrath and fury left to devour them whole. His desire to win has never been stronger. His will is still unbreakable, even if his body no longer can hold up its end of the bargain. The motivation to go out in a blaze of glory couldn't be stronger.

Jordan's latest air apparent, rookie Jay Williams, has set up shop in Jordan's locker. Williams, like so many other players, is tired of hearing folk tales and camp fire stories about shots at the buzzer and gravity-defying dunks. For too long, Williams reasoned, the United Center was a shrine, or more appropriately given the state of the franchise, a mausoleum for Michael.

He's not the only young player snickering at Jordan's attempt to defy the gods. Rasho Nesterovic offered perhaps the ultimate snub, partly because it came from Rasho, when he laughed off a recent question of whether blocking a Jordan shot was his greatest thrill.

"Come on," Nesterovic said. "He's, like, 40."

Don't any of these guys watch horror movies? Never go into dark places alone. If you hear weird music playing, run like [censored]! And don't ever diss the guy stalking you with a machete.

Williams, when asked whether Jordan would come into the United Center tonight looking to collect a little rent, reversed course and back-pedaled all the way back to Durham.

Williams seemed to acknowledge as much, calling Jordan "the greatest player ever" about 15 times in a two-minute interview and laughing when asked if he feared Jordan would ask for rent.

"I hope not," Williams said. "I don't think I can afford his rent now."

Now?

Superstitions will get you far in the league, which is why you never hear the old guys talking smack when Jordan comes a knockin.

Jalen Rose has tasted Jordan's fury before and thinks Williams may be the first guy hanging from a meat hook when the game gets underway.

"It wasn't me," Rose, the Bulls' co-captain, said when asked about the locker. "I'm smarter than that. I'm not going to mess with him when he's down. I'm going to let a sleeping giant stay sleeping.

"Jay might have a little problem. He was in the paper with, 'This doesn't need to be a shrine,' or whatever he said. I tried to keep as far away from that as possible. Just pay your respect to the legend."

And run like [censored].

Jordan eventually will be vanquished by Father Time and Jerry Stackhouse's brick laying jumper. But tonight ... tonight the young fellas find religion.

Hoping giant stays asleep

K.C. Johnson / Chicago Tribune

Williams may pay dearly

Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun-Times

Jordan deserves Star trip

Sam Smith / Chicago Tribune

Jordan still nostalgic about fans

Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun-Times

The Lakers' Fear Factor

Speaking of ghosts and superstitions . . .

The Lakers may be struggling this season, but just about everyone who has been body slammed by Shaquille O'Neal the past few season thinks it's only a matter of time before Godzilla wakes up and starts destroying the NBA again.

Shaquille O'Neal

Center

Los Angeles Lakers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

20 26.4 11.1 2.7 .572 .596

With Shaq out for this season's first 12 games, the Lakers haven't been able to turn the momentum back the other way. Former Lakers vice president Jerry West, for one, believes it's only a matter of time.

"I'm not shocked," West told the O.C. Register. "The best player in the league got hurt, and he is not 100 percent. He might be physically, from a pain standpoint, 100 percent. But this game is about timing, coordination. And when you've missed as much time as he has, he's playing teams right now that are pretty much set and in great shape, and they've been running all this stuff since training camp.

"Even though he has been with the same coach, it's not the same as competing at a high level. Plus, there is a bull's-eye on these guys, and every night someone wants to beat the world champions. But I won't give up on those guys very quickly. I know them too well."

The Nets' Richard Jefferson is still recovering from the beating the Lakers put on his team during the NBA Finals. Notice the paradox in his take on the Lakers' fate.

"If they make the playoffs," Jefferson said, "I still believe they will come out of the West."

How many times in NBA history have you heard that statement. If they make the playoffs, they're going to the finals.

Huh? As strange as it sounds, it's tough to find an NBA GM who doesn't believe the same thing. The difference for all of them is a healthy Shaq. Forget about Kobe for a second or the Lakers' lack of any star players behind him. It's all about Shaq.

"He's the one guy in this league that no one has the answer for," one GM said. "If he gets it going, it's just very, very tough to slip by them in a seven game series. He just absolutely destroys you and there isn't a team out there that has a clue how to stop him. Take Shaq away, and give the Lakers the second best center in the league, and they don't beat anybody. That's how big he is."

So, if Shaq is healthy, the rest of the league is toast, right? Our ghost, who once held the same playoff distinction that Shaq did, has a few ideas about the issue.

"They've got two stars on their team, and they're still not winning," Michael Jordan said of the Lakers. "So it's about how connected you are. It's not having one guy who can take over a game.

"Kobe Bryant can take over a game all he wants, but if the defense and the focus is on that individual, you still have to be connected for you to win ballgames."

Lakers' woes diminish foes' fear factor

Kevin Ding / Orange County Register

Lakers want the 'hammer'

Howard Beck / Los Angeles Daily News

Momentum Is Pursued Anew

Tim Brown / Los Angeles Times

Miles, Cavs kneedled by rumors

Darius Miles

Small Forward

Cleveland Cavaliers

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

18 9.6 6.1 2.7 .374 .510

In the wake of trade rumors and raised eyebrows over disappointing play, this is the last thing the Cavs and Darius Miles needed.

Rumors have begun circulating around the league that there is a serious problem with Miles' knee. Miles has been playing limited minutes since coming off the injured list. Cavs coach John Lucas said Miles is on limited minutes until he gets back into shape and until his knee regains strength. But, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, others are suggesting that the Cavs are concerned that Miles' injury is more serious.

Miles claims that the rumors are bogus.

"For someone from around the league to say something like that is very funny because they don't have the inside scoop," Miles told the Plain Dealer. "The surgery I had over the summer was just routine. It was just to clean things out. If it was something serious, I'd be going crazy. If my knees were shot, I wouldn't get the dunks I'm getting.

"My knee was feeling fine earlier this season. I bumped knees with someone during a game and it's been hurting ever since. Now my [lower back] is really messed up. It seems like something new every day. I can take some time off but I'm trying to help my team as much as I can."

Lucas blames a position change for most of Miles' woes. With the emergence of Dajuan Wagner and Ricky Davis, the team has experimented with Miles at point guard. Lucas feels it may be another season or two before we really see the real Miles.

"Darius is going to be fine. Right now, he's learning a new position and we'll need a summer and another season of development. As we get into February and March, he'll be getting better and better."

Rumors about knee sore spot with Miles

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

LaFrentz finds himself in a $69 million doghouse

Shawn Bradley had to be the tallest guy in the history of the NBA to spend an entire season living in a dog house. This season, Bradley's out of Don Nelson's solitary confinement ward and back in the starting lineup.

Raef LaFrentz

Forward-Center

Dallas Mavericks

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

17 8.2 3.6 0.8 .504 .737

The dog house, however, didn't stay empty for long. Raef LaFrentz, who signed a seven-year, $69 million deal this summer, has taken his place.

"I don't put people in my doghouse; they find a way to go there themselves," Nelson told the Dallas Morning News. "Bradley did last year, and at this particular time, Raef would like to come out. I've been overly nice to this point. But I'm at my wit's end. It's time for him to take the next step. I cannot do it for him. We can give him the ingredients to go forward. But he has to do that. And he's willing to do that."

While LaFrentz acknowledges he's in a "rut", he's upset with the Bradley comparisons. "I've said everything I'm going to say, and I'm sure Nellie has said what he has to say," LaFrentz told the Dallas Morning News. "Now I'm going to continue to work toward finding my rhythm. My game's not broke. I'm not lacking confidence. I'm not lacking effort. I'm just lacking rhythm."

Nelson isn't sure when LaFrentz will be ready to contribute again. There was never a decision to take him out of the rotation," Nelson said. "I don't [have a choice], unless I go small. I'd like to play him more. But I can't do it until he's playing better. . .I don't expect immediate results with Raef. It's a long-term deal. We're going to continue working him hard."

Ruf, ruf: Raef in coach Nelson's doghouse

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Raef: 'I'm not lacking effort'

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Peep Show

Magic: A team of doctors is going to take another look at Grant Hill this week, hoping to find an explanation for the constant soreness around his surgically repaired ankle. Coach Doc Rivers is sweating it out. "I'm just hoping that they don't come up with something else," Rivers told the Orlando Sentinel. "I'm a little nervous because the last few times they've had these big meetings, he's never come back." Even if the prognosis is good, Rivers thinks he'll have to deal with a sore Hill all season. "I think this might be there all season," Rivers said of Hill's tendinitis. "It just doesn't seem like it's going to get better anytime soon."

Knicks: Antonio McDyess said Wednesday night that he will undergo X-rays and begin rehabilitating with weights next week. He was expected to miss the entire season with a fractured left kneecap, but restated his desire to return before the regular season ends, probably in late March. "I would like to play if I'm 100 percent -- not 99 percent, not 98 percent, but 100 percent," he told the N.Y. Post. "I'm hoping and praying that I can. I can't give a definite answer, though. I'm very anxious to know how my knee responds after this injury. I want to be real confident that when I step on the floor, the knee is 100 percent."

Heat: It looks like Miami is on the verge of having more point guard troubles again. Starting point guard Travis Best went on the injured list after re-spraining his ankle. Coach Pat Riley thinks he may stay there awhile. "It doesn't look very good," Riley told the Sun Sentinel. "He's had ankle problems all year. He trips over the lines out there, it's that sore." Anthony Carter likely will return to the starting lineup, although the Heat is 0-5 with him in that role this season. Eddie House, who has missed the past nine games with a leg injury, has been practicing the past week and likely will be activated to take Best's roster spot.

Blazers: Rookie Qyntel Woods is impressing just about everyone in Portland. In practice. His only challenge now is trying to figure out how to get minutes. The Blazers are so deep, Woods has struggled to get his feet wet. "I knew I wasn't going to play a lot of minutes, but I thought I'd be playing more than I'm playing," Woods told the Oregonian. "Sometimes, that's how things go, and you've got to deal with it." The ever-modest Scottie Pippen says Woods reminds him of himself. "He's going to be a player. I mean, he can do a lot of things. I'm trying to encourage him to try to emulate me and be more of a point forward, because he has the ability to handle the ball and create things."

Nuggets: Coach Jeff Bzdelik says that his young squad is often starstruck when playing the best players in the league. Many of these kids have dreamed of matching up against Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Now that they're getting the chance, they spend more time guawking than guarding. "I read in the paper that [Vincent Yarbrough] said Kobe was the toughest guy he ever guarded, but he didn't even try to guard him," Bzdelik told the Rocky Mountain News. "I don't mean that in a funny way. You need to get out and battle those guys and not be starstruck. Those players sense when you are starstruck. Bryant, Payton and [Orlando's Tracy] McGrady and those type of players have respect for you, if you get in their face and try to defend them. Then they'll say, 'This young buck has some spunk in him.' "

Rivers wants healthy Hill, but knows drill

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

McDyess Eyes Earlier Return

Marc Berman / New York Post

Best will be sidelined with right ankle sprain

Ira Winderman / South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Woods vows to be ready when Blazers call

Jim Beseda / The Oregonian

Stargazing dazes young Nuggets

Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News