'i'm Still Strong'

Sports Illustrated: Let's cut to the chase. What's your timetable for making a decision to return to the NBA? And has the Dream Team experience been substantial enough for you to judge your ability to return to pro basketball?

Magic Johnson: I'll make a decision probably about a month or three weeks after I get back home. The practices, workouts and games have been enough to tell me that, yes, basketballwise, everything is fine. So it will come down to a medical decision. I will meet with my doctors, get my physical, listen to what they have to say and talk it over with my wife.

SI: Is owning a team still in your thinking?

MJ: By all means. I'm meeting with [NBA commissioner] David Stern in September to talk about that.

SI: You can't be a player-owner, is that correct?

MJ: David Stern has told me that it's not allowed. It would have been nice to be the first man to be a player-owner, but it's not something I had counted on much.

SI: On the court, have you performed better, worse or about the way you thought you would?

MJ: I've performed the way I expected. All the while I was away from the NBA I kept myself in shape and I kept my timing, and I'm still strong.

SI: In any way are you any better as a player for having missed last season?

MJ: Yes. I'm healthier and stronger. During an NBA season, when you might play all the way to June, your body doesn't have a chance to recover. You might get one thing fixed, but then something else is still a problem. But this year I obviously didn't have to deal with that. And I started on a serious weight-training program, and I feel anywhere from 70 to 100 percent better.