October 7, 200322 yr Jordan could get the call to replace Kobe October 7, 2003 AFP - Oct 7, 2:25 pm EDT More Photos CHICAGO (AFP) - Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson admits he has thought about asking one of his former players, Michael Jordan, to come out of retirement if Kobe Bryant is unable to play in the upcoming season. "It has crossed my mind," Jackson said. "But I don't think I would ask Michael that question until it became absolutely necessary or it became a reality. It's just speculation." Jordan, 40, played under Jackson on six championship teams with the Chicago Bulls . Jordan retired for the third time last April after the Washington Wizards failed to make the National Basketball Association play-offs. Bryant faces charges of sexual assault and faces a Thursday hearing in Eagle, Colorado. He is probably going to sit out of two pre-season exhibition games against Golden State in Hawaii, where the Lakers are training. The Lakers added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to a lineup that already featured dominating center Shaquille O'Neal and backcourt playmaker Bryant, whose absence would dim the club's hopes of a fourth NBA crown in five years. But the Lakers, ousted in last year's playoffs by eventual champion San Antonio, would be in a solid position for a title run if Jordan replaced Bryant in the backcourt. Jordan's two-year stint with the Wizards showed that time has weakened some of the skills that made him one of the game's all-time greats. But together with what amounts to an all-star lineup, Jordan could fill a key void.
October 7, 200322 yr It doesn't surprise me at all. MJ can't live without the attention. He is an egomaniac to the highest power.
October 8, 200322 yr If Jordan comes back to play again he's gonna look like Emmitt Smith is with da Cardinals. Just giv it up already.
October 8, 200322 yr If Jordan wants to play until he's fifty and someone in the NBA still wants him I don't blame him. If you or I could do what we loved and get paid for it I'm sure we'd do it for as long as we possibly could. I don't see why people care if he "tarnishes his image", which is ridiculous because he'll always be remembered for what he did with the Bulls. I would imagine it would be hard to just walk away from the game after doing it for so long.
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