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Short-term fix A Jordan return won't help the NBA in the long run
Comebacks are nothing new. Didn't I hear that Larry Holmes is launching another one soon? Or has he never really retired? Has Steve Young finally figured out that another concussion might not be a good thing? Never mind. Point is: The superstar comeback is as much a part of the modern sports landscape as the strip club and the Web site. My personal watch list these days is topped by Barry Sanders and Troy Aikman (I think he needs one more head shot to get to Young's level of acceptance), but you can never completely rule out Magic Johnson. On the subject of comebacks, I'm always taken back to a line once spoken by the late Jimmy Jacobs, when he was managing a much younger Mike Tyson and was asked whether Tyson would be fighting George Foreman anytime soon. "No," said Jacobs. "Mike also won't be fighting Joe Louis or Jack Dempsey. " Look, I wouldn't go quietly, either. None of us would. Not if we had the physical gifts to play children's games at such a transcendent level that we could be adored and made rich far beyond ordinary dreams. What an intoxicating life it must be. Beyond that, it's not the public's right -- or the media's, for that matter -- to tell somebody that he can't try to keep playing a game that he loves, even after his skills have diminished. (Here, Sportswriting 101 requires mention of the image of a faded Willie Mays playing for the '73 Mets or Sugar Ray Leonard getting whacked around by Terry Norris. ) It's his life. Period. Which brings me to Michael Jordan, which in turn brings me to Charles Barkley. Jordan's presumed comeback next season has been given extra heft by the notion that it will somehow help rescue the NBA from its current disrepair. Put another way: The NBA needs Jordan, apparently, because Allen Iverson has too many tats and Rasheed Wallace gets too many techs. Among other problems. We all know the NBA got rich, spoiled -- and spectacularly lucky -- when Magic and Larry Bird fell into its lap. They were two of the greatest competitors and team players in the history of American sports, and it was no small factor that one was white and the other black, a marketer's dream. Jordan overlapped and took the baton; he was adored by all races. Now the league's appeal has declined because many of its stars don't smile like Magic, aren't white like Bird and don't have Jordan's ethereal touch (no other athlete in history has). It is, in many ways, 1978 all over again. So Jordan may come back, not only to satisfy his own needs (mostly) but also to save the league. It's a Band-Aid. People will come out to see Jordan play, but once they realize he's only very good -- and can't check Iverson or Kobe Bryant on his best night -- and not the old Jordan, he'll become a novelty. The league will get a slight boost but in a year or two find itself right back where it is today, only with Jordan retired for good. It's like when a parent keeps tying a child's shoes; the kid never learns to do it himself. Beyond that, the Washington Wizards ain't putting ring No. 7 on Jordan's fingers. Has everyone forgotten how long it took Jordan to finally figure out out how to win a title, and for the Bulls to get him the right supporting cast to make it happen? Six years. That's six years of the Jordanaires, lesser players watching a young, vibrant Mike win games but not championships. Next year's Wizards could look remarkably like the '89 and '90 Bulls. The whole thing is pretty simple. If Jordan comes back, it's because he wants to and because he can. He won't help anybody but himself in the long run. Barkley? Please. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden will contribute a Viewpoint every week on CNNSI.com. To chip in with your two cents, click here.
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