WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Michael Jordan gave a glimpse of what his
38-year-old body can do, dominating for short bursts Tuesday night in his first
public competition in more than three years.
Playing in front of his hometown fans at UNC-Wilmington, Jordan scored 13
points in 18 minutes of a Washington Wizards' intrasquad scrimmage before
sitting out the final 20 minutes.
"When Michael's on the floor, that's his sanctuary," Wizards coach Doug
Collins said. "What he's doing now is he's trying to pick and choose how he
can dominate at this point in his career. He can still dominate in stretches."
Although it was only against teammates, Jordan looked like he had never left
the game.
He opened with a 3-point play on a driving layup and foul by Courtney
Alexander, and made a variety of jump shots and fadeaways to finish 6-for-11
from the field. He also dominated on defense, with three steals and a block,
and had three rebounds.
"I felt good," Jordan said. ``Obviously, getting out there in a game
situation with referees and in front of a crowd are things I enjoy. I have
standards I've set for myself, to work myself back into shape and get into a
rhythm, and this is just another step in the right direction."
Jordan gave the standing-room only crowd, which included Wizards owners Abe
and Irene Pollin, plenty to cheer about right away.
The fans rose to their feet when Jordan stuck out his tongue on a drive
early in the first half, then roared when Kwame Brown slammed down the rebound.
Jordan also brought the spectators to their feet with a no-look bounce pass
that led to a dunk by Bobby Simmons.
Jordan had nine points, a steal and a block before coming out with 10:10
left in the first half.
"Michael, the last couple of practices, sort of picked his spots and you
could really just see the energy the crowd gave him tonight," Collins said.
Jordan spent the second half sitting at the end of the bench with a towel
draped over his shoulders. He joked with teammates and Wizards officials,
watched people in the crowd and even bopped his head to the "Sanford and Son"
theme song.
The crowd chanted "We want Jordan!" a couple of times in the second half
and one student yelled for Jordan to return because a Duke player - Christian
Laettner - was the best player on the court. But by the eight-minute mark,
Jordan had ice bags taped to both knees and many of the fans started leaving.
"Doug had a certain amount of minutes he wanted me to play," Jordan said.
"I didn't think he would hold to it, but he did I think that's just how the
preseason is going to go for me."
Several hundred students, many of whom camped overnight to get tickets last
week, lined up outside Trask Coliseum for more than two hours to get good
seats.
One row of female students wore white T-shirts with "Wizards" handwritten
in blue on the front and several others had shirts with handwritten messages.
Another student had a sign that said: "His Airness Takes Flight".
Flashbulbs popped from all around the arena when Jordan first came out of
the locker room and a broad grin swept his face as the crowd cheered. The fans
also cheered Jordan's first layup during warmups and drowned out the public
address announcer when his name was called during introductions.
AP NEWS
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The Associated Press
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