On The Rebound With Fresh Motivation, Jordan Wants To Become Nba’s Greatest Again

Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest athlete of his generation. The Chicago Bulls star has collected championships, scoring titles and most valuable player awards with mesmerizing grace. When he left the NBA more than two years ago, he universally was hailed as the sport’s premier player.

There are those who insist Jordan retains that crown since his return.

His Highness is not among them.

“No, I’m not,” Jordan said when asked if he is the league’s best player.

The chance to win another championship drives Jordan. But a large part of his motivation for this season is to shake the rust off his game and reclaim his stake as the sport’s best player.

Jordan believes Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon tops the elite list. In Jordan’s estimation, he is not even the best player on his team. Jordan gives the nod to Scottie Pippen.

Does Pippen regard himself as a better player than Jordan?

“Not really,” Pippen said. “I appreciate the compliment, but I think he’s being modest right now because he realizes he’s not back to the top of his game. He doesn’t feel like he is, but I think he is, just watching him in practice and from game to game. He’s still one of the top players in the game in my eyes.”

One of the top. That’s the difference. Before Jordan’s fling with baseball, he was at the top. No debate. Former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin “Magic” Johnson even went as far as to anoint Jordan as the best player in the sport’s history.

Jordan said he believes at least four players - Olajuwon, Pippen, Phoenix’s Charles Barkley and Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal - are better than he is. The 32-year-old guard includes himself in a group of five or six players who are trying to reach the top level.

For entrepreneur Donald Trump, it’s all about the art of the deal. For Jordan, it’s the art of competition.

“When I was away from the game, other players stepped to the forefront and became stars in their own right,” said Jordan, who leads the league in scoring with a 27.6 average. “I didn’t have the chance to play against those stars and compete against them and see where they stand, where I stand against them. Those are the type of challenges that are starting to come up for me.

“Anfernee Hardaway. Shaquille. Big Dog (Glenn Robinson). Grant Hill - these are players who have come in and, quite frankly, earned what they have gotten. I just want to face these guys. I think that is fun. That is the art of competing, to find the best guy out there and compete against him.”

Jordan competed against Hardaway last week in Orlando. The Magic guard outscored Jordan, 36-23, and led his team to victory. The results of that matchup indicate Jordan isn’t ready to return to the pedestal now occupied by Olajuwon.

“I’d agree with him,” Rockets guard Clyde Drexler said. “I think Hakeem is the best player on the planet.

“Michael is a very realistic guy. That’s why he’s been the player he has been for so long. The thing about him is, on any given night, he can still be the best player in the league. That’s what he’s not saying.”

The mind was willing. The body wasn’t.

That is Jordan’s assessment of his return to the sport at the end of last season. A body reshaped for baseball - larger thigh muscles for more thrust and bigger forearms for improved bat strength - hindered Jordan’s lift and affected his shot. Although he averaged 26.9 points in his 17 regular-season games, it was his lowest average in nine years. The 41.1 percent Jordan shot from the field was far and away the worst of his remarkable career.

“Mentally, I felt I knew what it took to be the best player,” said Jordan, who has a 32.2-point career scoring average. “Physically, I couldn’t do that as much as I wanted to. I didn’t feel physically I was prepared to do that.

“This year, I’m prepared to play my style of basketball. Mentally, I feel very confident about my skills. Now, to be considered the best, I think that’s something other people will have to make that recognition. I like to think my skills are still the same and I can do the things I have always felt I could. The challenge is to go out there and do it in the situations I’ve done it in the past.”

Observes Seattle coach George Karl: “There was a little lack of polish to Michael’s game when he came back to basketball, but that will return. As far as lacking the lift he had earlier in his career, that’s natural - but he has added so much more to his game.

“Hakeem delivers, and he’s the best low-box player in the last 5 minutes of the game, but Michael still is ahead of Hakeem in winning big games, and he’s ahead with one more championship. I think that’s what we’re talking about here.”

Jordan said his unsuccessful stint in another sport allowed him to see he had taken his basketball skills for granted.

“Going through baseball gave me the chance to revisit those levels of hard work and determination that I seemed to have forgotten or came quite easy over a period of time,” Jordan said. “Now, I give my dedication to shooting before the game or in workouts and improving my overall skills, sharpening my tools. It (hiatus) was my time to evaluate my dedication to the game of basketball. Without baseball, I don’t think I would have come to that conclusion.”

He has a goal now: to supplant Olajuwon on the pedestal as the sport’s best player.

“I want to be on top,” Jordan said. “Now, I’m not there, but I know what it takes to get there and I want to work my way back up.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT THEY’RE SAYING The debate as to who is the best player in the game today never can be settled. But here is what people around the NBA have to say about Chicago guard Michael Jordan and Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon: “Michael is still the best. On any given night, he can score 50. There’s no other guy in the league who could do that if he wanted to except for Charles (Barkley).” - Orlando’s Anfernee Hardaway “Superstardom is always ‘What have you done for me lately?’ Olajuwon has done it lately. Now the big question is whether Michael can come all the way back. If you crown a king now, it would have to be Olajuwon.” - Clippers coach Bill Fitch “Michael (is) a dynamic passer who can play point guard and is a fantastic scorer. He also is a great ball defender and a great team defender. When you just focus on one player, he probably has more ability to dominate a game in more areas than Hakeem.” - Sonics coach George Karl “I think the fact the Rockets have won the last two championships and Hakeem has been an MVP and a premier player, I’d have to go with him right now until someone else does it.” - Magic coach Brian Hill The Dallas Morning News