WASHINGTON POST, October 31, 2001

Fresh Air: Jordan Begins His Return

By JENNIFER FREY

October 31, 2001 -- NEW YORK, Oct. 30 -- Michael Jordan was reintroduced to the National Basketball Association this evening wearing the blue of the Washington Wizards and playing in an arena -- Madison Square Garden -- that he calls "The Mecca." On this night, though, the greatest player in the history of the NBA found himself outshadowed. Outshadowed by a wounded city's emotional outpouring for its Sept. 11 heroes. And outshadowed by his own former self.

Absent from the NBA since he took the Chicago Bulls to their sixth NBA title in 1998, Jordan brought a sellout crowd and a gaggle of celebrities to tonight's game against the New York Knicks, as well as new hope for fans of the Wizards, who suffered through a dismal 2000-2001 season, and have not made the playoffs since 1997.

But at age 38, and playing for a long-struggling franchise, Jordan could not find his fabled game in the second half tonight, and finished with 19 points as the Wizards lost to the Knicks, 93-91.

Earlier in the evening, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with an Army sergeant, Jordan drew a loud and welcoming ovation from the New York fans, but no more vocal response than did any mention of what New York Gov. George Pataki called "real heroes" -- the firefighters, police officers and rescue workers who have worked so hard since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and lost so many of their own.

"They were very supportive," Jordan said of his reception, "but they're loyal Knick fans. It didn't last long."

Here in New York, in this particular building, Jordan found himself seen tonight as both a revered legend and the adversary -- a well-known adversary in the annals of Knicks history, and a present adversary because of the blue visitor's uniform he wore.

The uniform itself was oddly disconcerting to New Yorkers -- as it likely will be to fans in other NBA cities across the nation in the coming weeks -- because everyone's personal Jordan highlight reel is inextricably linked with the red and white of the Chicago Bulls.

He is not that Jordan anymore, though. That much was inevitable. After a detour into management and ownership with the Wizards, he has returned to the game with a recognition that even his supreme talent is beholden to the strictures of age. He did not soar above the rim tonight, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, as he did so memorably in his previous NBA incarnations. That isn't going to happen anymore. Now, Jordan's game is one of feints and fadeaways, the game of a man whose body no longer conforms completely to his will.

"I guess the difference is that I'm a little bit older than the last time I shot the ball," Jordan said.

Remarkably, his return did not constitute the biggest sporting event of the day -- not even in New York. A borough away, in the Bronx, the Yankees took on the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the World Series. Double the 600 media members credentialed for tonight's Knicks-Wizards game were at Yankee Stadium, where President Bush and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were in attendance.

Still, the high-profile nature of Jordan's return resulted in a high level of security. At the entrances for players, employees and the media, all individuals were scanned by metal-detecting wands -- even NBA Commissioner David Stern -- and a bomb-sniffing dog wandered the press room before the game.

Scalpers fetched thousands of dollars for good seats. TBS bumped its originally scheduled game -- between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Minnesota Timberwolves -- to air Jordan's return. Of the media members who requested credentials, 200 were from foreign outlets. ESPN Brasil was here; so was an Israeli network. The venerable British Broadcasting Corp. tonight aired an NBA game for the first time in BBC history -- and it aired live, starting at 12:30 a.m. London time.

The anticipated number of celebrities were in attendance -- Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Billy Crystal, Diane Sawyer, Spike Lee. Joe Frazier enraptured the crowd by jumping out of his seat after the close of the first quarter and shadowboxing his way around the edge of court.

Lee shared his season seats with a 12-year-old girl, Jessica DeRubbio, whose father -- David DeRubbio of Engine Company 226 out of Brooklyn -- died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. The seat had been sold by Lee in a charity auction for $101,300, but the anonymous bidder quickly designated that the coveted ticket go to the child of a lost firefighter.

And so Lee, who acknowledged that he was looking forward to this game "all summer," spoke as much about the orphans of Sept. 11 and his worries about anthrax as he did about Jordan's long-anticipated return. "

[Jessica] represents to me every child who lost a parent," said Lee. The blond girl wearing a cap from her father's fire station chattered away when they settled in next to each other.

Still, the night had a subdued nature. Raucous Knicks fans seemed quieter. Hecklers were rare. There was, as Bradley put it, a "coming together as a community" that team sports have long been known to inspire. But in a room dotted with firefighters and police officers, it was hard for anyone to muster the same amount of emotion and game fervor once dedicated to an athletic event such as this.

"This city," Bradley said, "has been through an awful lot in the last six weeks."