Jordan's rivals may win now, but it won't be the same

But his rivals will never know the ultimate satisfaction of achieving that goal by beating the best player of all time -- a fact that helped Jordan walk away smiling.

"I talked to Patrick (Ewing), I talked to Charles (Barkley), I talked to Karl (Malone), I talked to all of them," Jordan said during Wednesday's news conference to announce his retirement.

"They feel the same, they all wanted me to come back just so if they win a championship they can say they went through Chicago or Michael Jordan to win it, to give it the meaning of taking the title away from Chicago," he recalled.

"That's the good thing about (retiring), that they will never have a chance to say that," said Jordan, flashing the smile that has sold countless millions of sneakers, hot dogs, sports drinks, batteries and even underwear -- to name a few.

"That's the reason I was so glad that Magic (Johnson) played and (Larry) Bird played when I won my titles, because I had to go through, to some degree, Boston and L.A.," recalled Jordan of the game's two dominant figures and teams before he and the Bulls assumed that mantle.

Of course, all those stars desperate for a championship ring may secretly be happy to see an NBA landscape that doesn't include Jordan, considering that the Bulls won the NBA title in each of the last six full seasons Jordan competed.

But Jordan doesn't seem to think so.

"Patrick, I don't know, he won't be able to live with himself if he can't beat Michael Jordan in a series," Jordan said of Knicks All-Star centre Ewing, who entered the NBA the same year as Jordan and has yet to win a title.

"And Charles Barkley, I told him he would never win because he doesn't dedicate himself to winning," Jordan said of his good friend and golf buddy who fell to the Bulls with Phoenix in the 1993 NBA Finals.

"All of them joked with me and hated to see the possibility of me retiring just because they didn't have an opportunity to beat me in the Finals or get past me," Jordan said.

"That is the cute thing about retiring, and I will always hold that in high respect when I see these guys socially."