Around the world, fans mourn news of Jordan's retirement

MANILA, Philippines (AP) Once again proving his worldwide fame, Michael Jordan's retirement was met with remorse outside the United States.

"The NBA will never be the same again without Michael Jordan," moaned Alexis Lanado, an employee at a hotel in Manila, the capital of the basketball-crazed Philippines. "We LOVE him."

Although Jordan announced he was hanging up his Air Jordan shoes, his impact on the world of sport, fashion and merchandising is likely to remain.

Even where basketball has little following, his retirement was given the kind of page-one coverage that American sports seldom receive outside North America.

"Jordan Retires! Shock Felt Around the World," headlined Tokyo's Nikkan Sports newspaper.

Several papers said the news was bigger than U.S. President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, or suggested Americans would rather see Clinton retire than Jordan.

"The shattering retirement announcement will even drive Bill Clinton's sex scandals off America's front pages," announced London's tabloid The Sun.

The response indicated both the huge effect Jordan has had in popularizing the American sport, and the economic impact of his marketing clout.

In Taiwan, stocks of Nike subcontractors Pou Chen Corp. and Feng Tay Enterprise Corp. both dove on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in anticipation of falling sales of Air Jordan shoes.

"He's made $15 billion for the U.S. economy since 1984, and now he's caused Nike share prices to plunge," headlined the Sydney Morning Herald.

In the Philippines, many poor teen-agers must play on makeshift neighborhood courts either barefoot or in flip-flops. But for those who can afford them, Air Jordan shoes are de rigueur.

Jordan, who makes an estimated $45 million a year from endorsements, helped lead a U.S. worldwide cultural tidal wave that included basketball, fashion, movies and TV and increased American influence in countries from Australia to Zaire.

Several papers compared Jordan to other universally known American products like Coca-Cola or Mickey Mouse and noted his popularity - particularly in places where the sport is hardly followed - was not restricted to basketball.

"His popularity is unprecedented and without limit," said Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport in a front page editorial. "He's way better known than basketball itself because he goes beyond its limits: Jordan is myth, poetry."

Jordan received the highest possible accolade in a world in which soccer dwarfs the NBA: He was likened to legendary soccer star Pele.

For a comparable retirement you "have to go a long time back to when Pele was the God of soccer," Australian National Basketball League general manager Bill Palmer said.

"I think it's going to affect everybody around the world because Michael was the ambassador of basketball," said Tim Cone, coach of the Philippine national basketball team at the Asian Games.

Jordan's number, 23, "was the number everybody wanted to wear," Cone said. "He combined the fundamentals, the desire to play, the great physical talents, the ability to get the team together."

In countries like Britain, where the NBA has a tiny following, much of the coverage was about the millions Jordan has earned. Swiss papers took a similar approach and said he deserved every penny.

Jordan's retirement even made waves in China, where the NBA and Jordan have a large following among China's sports-crazy fans.

A survey of 1,000 people in nine Chinese cities conducted last May named Jordan as the second-most widely known American after Thomas Edison. Similar polls in France and Australia have found him better known than local sports stars.

Jordan's retirement was followed in the Middle East - although basketball seldom is.

"The basketball legend announces his retirement," said a headline in Egypt's Al-Ahrar daily, describing him as "the greatest player the world had ever seen."

In Taiwan, Chinese Professional Basketball League players were unanimous in the opinion that Jordan quit too early, citing his freedom from injuries and stellar performance last season.

"At the least, Jordan should be able to play another year or two," said Lee Yun-hsiang of the Hung Fu Rams. "On top of the player-management dispute, his retirement really rubs salt into the wounds of the NBA."

The Australian's Los Angeles correspondent, Robert Lusetich, said Jordan retired "in a league of his own" and at the peak of his profession.

"There was a sadness, but also a spiritual symmetry to it; he had changed our times irrevocably and taken us to the end of the century, and now we are on our own," he wrote.