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CNN Live At Daybreak
Michael Jordan Back on the Court
Aired September 11, 2001 - 08:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Now on a comeback trail: It looks like Michael Jordan will be back on the court this fall. The former Chicago Bulls star expected to announce that he's coming out of retirement at age 38 to play for the NBA's Washington Wizards.
"Chicago Tribune" syndicated columnist Bob Greene wrote "Hang Time" and "Rebound," books about Michael Jordan. And Bob Green is with us in Chicago this morning.
Good morning.
BOB GREENE, JORDAN BIOGRAPHER: Good morning.
CELLINI: You're also the author of a new book, "Duty: A Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War." And I know you're on a book tour. We appreciate you stopping by.
Bob, when you heard all of this comeback talk -- out of retirement talk, did it give you an indication that Michael would indeed come back? What were your thoughts?
GREEN: Well, he has always -- you know, everyone talks about that last shot he hit to win the sixth championship as the perfect memory. But that's our memory; that's not his.
And anytime I used to talk to Jordan about the concept of legacy, he would repeat the word almost as an obscenity, "legacy." He said, "I don't have a legacy, I have a life." And when he was retired the first time and playing baseball, and the Bulls were playing in Chicago at the United Center, there were many nights that Jordan would be two miles away downtown with a bunch of guys in their 40s in a health club playing a pick up game.
So it may be something just as simple as he wants to play basketball -- the best players in the world playing the NBA. And to get the kind of competition he wants, that's what he may do.
CELLINI: You know, when Michael retired, he talked about, you know, I can go to carpool now, and I can relax with my family. But yet and still, he comes back as an executive and probably as a player.
So did Michael kind of try to talk himself into thinking he could walk away from the game? GREENE: Well, I think for so long the world has said that Jordan is more than a basketball player and Jordan transcends basketball. But the fact is he is a basketball player. That's what he is; that's what he loves to do. The guy can't sit still. And the idea of him being an executive, sitting in that executive suite, making decisions, I mean, it may have seemed tangentially a good idea for him at the time.
The NBA, I think, is going to have a problem with this, because no matter what they say publicly about how wonderful this is -- and their ratings will be huge when he comes back, if he comes back -- the fact is David Stern, the commissioner, and the owners have known for a long time that the day was going to come when they have to go on without Jordan. And they've done it twice already. And if he comes back, they're going to smile and welcome him, but they're going to realize, you know, they're just delaying the inevitable. There's going to be a day they have to live without Jordan, but it's not the NBA's decision. It's Michael's decision, and he -- so many people for so long have put their own expectations on him. If he does this, I think he's doing it for himself.
CELLINI: Absolutely.
GREENE: I mean, he wants to, you know, in his life enjoy it.
CELLINI: Ultimately Michael makes decisions -- that's right -- for himself in that regard.
Bob, you know, you've got your finger on the pulse there in Chicago. It's sad in a way that it isn't happening in Chicago -- that this is happening in Washington. And do you think part of this is Michael trying to stick it to general manager Jerry Krause and the Bulls -- the Bulls team he probably should still be a part of?
GREENE: There (ph) certainly that is a part of it. But while the rest -- you're right -- while the rest of the world, should this happen, is going to say, isn't it amazing to watch Jordan back on a basketball court again? In Chicago, of course, it's going to be, here is Jordan and the shirt says "Washington" on it. It's not going to compute real well here, and I think Chicago is going to be sort of watching it through squinted eyes. It's going to be a big international story should it happen. But locally in Chicago, it's going to be a pretty depressing thing to see.
I mean, you've got the statue of Jordan in front of the United Center, but he told me once that he never even looks at the statue, because he says, "I'm not a statue, I'm a person."
CELLINI: Well, all they have is the statue now. Bob Greene, thank you very much for your perspective.
GREENE: Thank you very much.
CELLINI: We appreciate you joining us this morning.
GREENE: Thanks. CELLINI: Thank you.
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