A LETTER TO MICHAEL: THIS IS OUR TIME NOW.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. c/o The Wizards Washington, D.C. Oct. 30, 2001 Dear Mike, Well, it looks like you're really going through with this. So we wanted to drop you a line to say, Welcome back to the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= ! Our NBA. We look forward to extending greetings in person when the Wizards and the World Champion Lakers play for the first time Feb. 12 here in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Assuming your comeback is still going by then. Please be assured that we are not among those who doubt that you are sincere in saying you are returning for the love of the game, or that your presence will help us all to promote the great sport of professional basketball this season. After all, every season's story needs a subplot sub·plot n. 1. A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work or film. Also called counterplot, underplot. 2. A subdivision of a plot of land, especially a plot used for experimental purposes. . Seriously, each and every one of us with the World Champion Lakers counts you among our role models. It's so important for young people to have older men to look up to. Kobe remembers watching you with the Bulls when he was 6! When Kobe scores 50 on Feb. 12, we hope you'll take that as a tribute to you and the example you've set for him. Frankly, we're not surprised you decided to come back. Midlife crisis midlife crisis n. A period of psychological doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age. midlife crisis makes guys do crazy things. Usually they settle for a sports car or a younger wife. To each his own. We were surprised you retired in the first place, or the second place or however many retirements it became when you walked away following the 1998 NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association. The team winning the Eastern Conference Finals earns one of the two berths in the championship round, with the other going to the team that wins the Western Conference Finals. against Utah. A lot of people thought that game-winning shot of yours was the perfect capper cap·per n. 1. One that caps or makes caps. 2. Informal Something that surpasses or completes what has gone before; a finishing touch or finale. 3. to a career, the ideal time to walk away, right at your peak. Shaq hung a poster with a photo of that shot on his son's wall. Good news: Now you're an inspiration to younger players' children. But did you stop to consider that if you were still sharp enough in 1998 to lead the league in scoring and hit the winning shot in the finals, it might have been too soon to get out? Far be it from us, though, to second-guess. We realize it's impossible for a great player to please everybody, including himself, by hanging up his self-titled sneakers sneakers Noun, pl US, Canad, Austral & NZ canvas shoes with rubber soles sneakers npl (US) → zapatos mpl de lona; zapatillas fpl not a moment too soon or too late. Learning from your experience, we plan to take extra care when it comes time to decide about our retirements after we've won our sixth title - or seventh. Of course, by the time Kobe wins six or seven titles, he might be only 27 or 28, and just warming up. By the way, everything we're saying here is just between us and you. We'd hate for it to get out, because you just know people would get the impression we're cocky and disrespectful dis·re·spect·ful adj. Having or exhibiting a lack of respect; rude and discourteous. dis  re·spect of our
elders. Or that we're jealous of your popularity and worried that
your return will steal the spotlight from our threepeat.
When Shaq told the writers recently, ``Keep in mind, everybody has to come through L.A., I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. who it is,'' he wasn't talking about you, he was referring to, um, Austin Croshere. Jealous? Not us. We think it's quite an accomplishment that, at age 38 and after three years going soft in a business suit, you're the second-hottest topic in the NBA this season. Worried? Actually, we think all the coverage of you and the Wizards will be good for us. We know that as admired as the World Champion Lakers are, fans could get bored if everything for the next eight months was ``unstoppable Shaq this'' and ``fabulous Kobe that'' and ``Derek's the toughest man alive'' and ``Rick did something to his hair'' and ``what's Phil trying to say?'' A player who won three championships in a row twice understands how difficult that is to do, or just to be in position to do. So we hope you won't begrudge be·grudge tr.v. be·grudged, be·grudg·ing, be·grudg·es 1. To envy the possession or enjoyment of: She begrudged him his youth. See Synonyms at envy. 2. us the feeling that the beginning of the 21st century is our time. Just as the end of the 20th century was yours. Every NBA season needs a plot and a subplot. If we can do anything to help you make the adjustment, don't hesitate to ask. Your friends, The Lakers CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) LAKERS TEAM STATISTICS (2) NBA TEAM STATISTICS |
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