A Q&A with Michael Jordan in something called Hoop magazine once asked:
“What does Michael Jordan want to be doing at 40?”
(I personally love it when an interviewer asks Michael Jordan what Michael Jordan will do next. I suppose at the White House he would ask: “President Bush, what is President Bush going to do to Iraq?”)
Anyway, here was Jordan’s answer:
“Playing golf every day.”
OK. No big whoop-de-doo there.
Ah, but our intrepid interviewer also had the presence of mind to ask: “How about at 50? What about the senior golf tour?”
Jordan did not take the bait.
“No,” he said. “That takes a lot of work to do that.”
Apparently he had come to grips with the fact that outplaying Fuzzy Zoeller or Hale Irwin wouldn’t come as easily for him as outplaying Kobe Bryant or Yao Ming.
In fact, in the Bahamas once, addressing the same subject, Jordan told a different interviewer, “I’ve come to the realization that I’m a hack.”
So I guess we can rule out golf.
Yet what will Michael Jordan do when he’s 40?
It’s a pertinent question, because the grizzled old Bull-Wizard will turn 40 on Feb. 17. And they say he’s giving up basketball for good. (Again.) That Friday night really, truly, honestly, swear-to-God could be his final appearance in Chicago in uniform. (Anybody’s uniform.)
Do you believe it?
Some of you probably don’t. You might be tiring of Michael’s retiring. You’ve seen him retire, unretire, try something else, tire of that, re-retire, unretire, then confirm his plan to re-retire. The whole 360 spin move.
I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed any new announcements, way out here in San Diego hanging with football players all week. So I checked out www.washingtonwizards.com.
There I found two hot items:
“Michael Jordan makes basket to become NBA’s third-leading scorer of all time.”
“Office Depot Jerry Stackhouse Bobblehead Package! 4 Tickets, Wizards vs. Cavs, 1 Bobblehead. Only $76!”
So obviously the Wizards weren’t overly excited about Friday night being Michael’s final anything. His last game in Chicago ever . . . what do they care? He’s a Wiz!
And furthermore, they’re already making sure Jerry Stackhouse doesn’t feel slighted. You know, just in case by next season Jerry Stackhouse is about the only wonderful Wiz there is.
I happen to believe this really is Jordan’s last big sports gig.
However, because I like Mike a lot and want to be of some help to him, I got to wondering what the White Sox would say if Mike had another of those changes of heart.
“What if Michael Jordan asked if Michael Jordan could try baseball again?” I asked.
After all, I have always believed that Mike gave up on baseball too soon. (Or that it gave up on him.)
The man did go 2-for-5 against the Cubs in an exhibition. The man did go on a 13-game hitting streak for Birmingham in his first month of professional baseball. The man did steal 30 bases in his only full season. And he was only 31 years old when that season came to an end.
Heck, Michael Jordan could probably start for the Detroit Tigers by now.
So how about it? What if he wanted one more crack at it?
Ken Williams, general manager of the White Sox, gave this question all the consideration it deserved.
Hey, Ken, you’ve been going after some big stars lately. Michael Jordan’s a big star.
“My own company-instituted policy,” Williams replied, “is that no player can be older than me, unless his first name is Barry, Randy or Roger.”
So I guess we can rule out baseball.
Pretty shrewd of the Sox, settling only for Bonds, Johnson or Clemens in their old age.
But where does this leave Michael? Can’t we find another sport or another profession for the guy? He can’t just advertise Hanes underwear for the rest of his life.
Dan Duva, the boxing promoter, once (seriously) offered Jordan a purse of $15 million if he would fight the winner of the heavyweight bout between Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer. “This offer is not a joke!” Duva cried.
Michael passed.
And somehow I can’t see him going 12 rounds with Lennox Lewis or Roy Jones, although he could probably knock out a hundred of the other stiffs out there.
Then how about hockey?
A lot of people don’t realize that Michael Jordan owns 12 percent of Lincoln Holdings, which owns 100 percent of the Washington Capitals. He had to be personally approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors as an owner.
“I’m learning more about another game,” Jordan said that day, “and it’s fun.”
Hmmm. Mike on skates.
Just keep him away from Theo Fleury.
I am running out of ideas for now, but I hope Michael Jordan will let Mike Downey know how much Michael Jordan likes getting ideas from Mike Downey.
As a matter of fact, I expect to see Al Davis, the owner of the Oakland Raiders, sometime this weekend. I know Al pretty well from our L.A. days. I’ll bet he and Jerry Rice would be happy to have another 40-year-old wide receiver.
Let me know, Mike. I’ll ask.
Moments to remember
ChicagoSports.com asked what readers considered their favorite Michael Jordan moment in Chicago:
– 33.6%: Three-pointers and the shrug against Portland in the ’92 Finals. (913 responses)
– 26.8%: The switch-hand layup against the Lakers in Game 2 of the ’91 Finals. (728 responses)
– 24.2%: Father’s Day 1996, clinches title No. 4 and breaks down. (656 responses)
– 8.0%: Winning the ’88 slam-dunk contest and All-Star Game MVP at the Stadium. (216 responses)
– 7.4%: Dancing on the scorer’s table after winning ’92 Finals. (203 responses)
