Ever since Michael Jordan announced he was coming back to play in the NBA after a three-year layoff, there's been a lot of talk about him ruining his legacy.
He's too old, they say.
He's been away from the game too long, they say.
He won't be able to keep up with younger, more athletic players like Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant, they say.
As far as Jordan is concerned, however, it doesn't really matter what they say.
Listen'not every sports legend can end their career on a high note. Not everybody can get the Ted Williams sentimental finish to their career, hitting a home run on their final at-bat. Those kinds of stories are even too good for made-for-TV movies.
No'most superstar players wind down at the end of their careers, slowly succumbing to injury and old age, refusing to put themselves out of their misery. If you need any proof, look at Reggie White. He's going to be remembered as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history, but he'll be remembered more for trying to squeeze out a couple more years in his career and making those infamous remarks to the state Legislature rather than retiring while he was still on top of his game.
I don't think that's going to be the case with Jordan, however. White is a fantastic player and will no doubt be unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, but he didn't do for football what Jordan did for basketball. Jordan took the game to the next level, making plays nobody before had made and nobody has since. He elevated his game and made basketball an internationally known sport. Everyone wanted to be like Mike, black or white, male or female, young or old. Jordan made tongue-wagging cool.
So what if Jordan doesn't win his 11th scoring title or his sixth regular-season MVP this season?
So what if he only scores 20 points a game instead of 30?
So what if he doesn't single-handedly lead the Wizards to the NBA Championship?
Jordan doesn't need to do any of this, although many people will be disappointed if he doesn't. Heck'I'd even be disappointed if he didn't.
Also, basketball fans everywhere thought Jordan couldn't put a better finish on his career than the one he orchestrated three years ago. Jordan's last-second jump shot over Utah's Bryon Russell in the 1998 NBA Finals not only capped an impressive and thrilling series between the Bulls and the Jazz, it also (at the time at least) capped an impressive career. The image of Jordan juking Russell, soaring into the air and pausing to watch his shot fall in the net is a lasting one and would have been a great ending to any player's career.
But that doesn't matter to Jordan. He's not coming back to basketball worrying about his legacy or ending his career with a cinematic still shot. Jordan is a basketball player, and playing basketball is what he's good at. In his press conference Monday, Jordan said he had an 'itch that needed to be scratched' and that's why he came back.
Jordan's scratched that itch before, and it's resulted in some of the most impressive basketball of our time.
Here's to hoping he can do it again.
