ABOUT THAT DUNK SHOT ... A SMILING JORDAN TRIES TO EXPLAIN JUST WHAT WENT WRONG.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Michael Jordan walked to the podium to takes his medicine.

``All right,'' he said. ``Who's going to be the first to ask?''

Jordan was victim of, if not the most memorable moment of the NBA All- Star Game, then certainly the most embarrassing. All alone on a breakaway, Jordan rose up to dunk the ball only to have it ricochet off the rim.

``I laugh at myself,'' said the 39-year-old Jordan, who joined his teammates in doing so on the court. ``It's been a while since I've been in that circumstance. You're just worried about something popping or whatever. As you get older, you just don't have the same type of confidence. You've got to go through a checklist. I went through the checklist and by the time I was ready to dunk the ball, I wasn't there.''

--All business: In a game full of no-look passes, high-wire dunks and little defense, Elton Brand stood out like a lunch bucket on a white linen table cloth.

The Clippers forward went about his business in his first All-Star Game as if it were just that, business. Brand played 19 minutes, contributed 10 rebounds, six points and played defense as if he meant it. He took only five shots, the fewest on the West.

``I passed it up to the veterans,'' said Brand, the first Clipper to play in the All-Star Game since 1994. ``I didn't want to shoot too much.''

--What a dream: Baron Davis called his first All-Star experience a dream come true.

The former UCLA guard had a clubhouse attendant get his Charlotte jersey autographed by the entire East squad.

``I'm going to frame this,'' Davis said as he stuffed it into a duffel bag full of memorabilia. ``I'm not going to sell nothing in here. I'm just waiting for this to soak in.''

--What a dunk: There was no question about the highlight play of the night: Tracy McGrady's dunk, in which he threw the ball off the backboard, caught it on the opposite side and threw it down.

``That was one of the best dunks I've ever seen in a game,'' Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal said. ``I've never seen anything done in a game like that.''

--Foot fetish: Chris Webber made the fashion statement of the night, sporting a pair of chrome-colored shoes.

``I got a lot of comments,'' Webber said. ``Overall, good ones. It gave us players something to talk about.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Michael Jordan loses the ball as he tries to dunk during Sunday's All-Star Game.

Gene Puskar/Associated Press

Box:

(1) PAST MVPS 

(2) PAST RESULTS