ESPN.com - Hey MJ, why don't you give TV a try?

ESPN.com: NBA

Friday, August 1, 2003
Hey MJ, why don't you give TV a try?

By Sam Smith
Special to ESPN.com

POSITION WANTED: To Own or Run an NBA Franchise. Starting salary $10 million per year and equity in the team, probably 10 percent to start. Ambitious 40-year-old with 19 years experience on all levels of NBA. Also some experience in Major League Baseball. Good dresser, especially the shoes. Substantial experience in sales, but looking for a management position. Will be available to make personnel decisions, though sometimes on the cell phone from the golf course. Influential friends in high places. No need for 401K, pension or health benefits, but would like to be able to smoke cigars in the workplace. Eventually expect to own and run the company, but personal investment uncertain. Available to start immediately. Contact Michael Jordan, Highland Park, Ill.

So just what is Michael Jordan going to do?

There doesn't appear to be any franchise other than Charlotte, which begins operations in the 2004-05 season, with the welcome mat out for the formerly greatest player in the game. Jordan was supposed to own the Milwaukee Bucks by now, but owner Herb Kohl decided to retain his franchise. There was some talk about Jordan getting an interest in the Miami Heat or Atlanta Hawks, but nothing appears imminent. And Jordan has told friends he's not excited about returning to Charlotte to live.

So here we have it. For the third time since Jordan came to the NBA in 1984 and was primarily responsible for the greatest boon in the history of the league, Jordan is not involved with the NBA.

There was 1993 when he went into baseball after retirement No. 1. There was retirement No. 2 in 1998, something about a cut finger on a cigar cutter and too much Jerry Krause. So there was plenty of golf and gambling. Jordan came back to run the Washington Wizards in January 2000 and then decided to play again in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

There are those who still think in the end Jordan will play again, this time for Charlotte when the locals get a look at the team they'll be putting on the floor in 2004. It will be Jordan to the rescue and a chance to make all the decisions as a reward for saving them in their first year.

That's one reason Jordan hasn't committed to the new Charlotte Bobcats. They have an owner and Jordan is looking for a position where he can make all the decisions and not be held accountable by some guy with all the money, like Abe Pollin in Washington.

But the opportunities look slim for now.

Which is why Jordan should spend this season working for ABC-TV on NBA games.

It's the perfect job for Jordan. You don't even have to work every week, and barely before May. And you can always say you're going out to scout for a future assignment to get out of the house.

What a coup it would be for ABC or ESPN to get Michael Jordan in the studio.

Hey, Jordan talks a lot. Just ask his friends and the opponents who dare taunt him, though there wasn't much payback the last few years.

There always was this notion that TV broadcasting was beneath Jordan's stature as the keeper of the NBA flame. Nonsense. Dr. J was a broadcaster. So was Bill Russell. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tried it on the NCAA last spring. Isiah Thomas has done it. So has Oscar Roberston and Jerry West. Magic Johnson had his own talk show. So there's no problem in looking bad.

But that's just a temporary job. Jordan wants to get back in there and run something, like Larry Bird is now, like West and Kevin McHale. And look how much better that job would be now that he wouldn't have to talk with Jerry Krause.

And Jordan has some very powerful friends helping. Actually one, but the main one.

David Stern doesn't forget. Not when he gives you a $20 bill for a corned beef sandwich and wants change, and not about what Jordan did for the NBA.

	There are things he could do ... Maybe Ahmad Rashad can help Jordan get something at NBC. Larry Brown wanted to give him his job a few months back, and little did we know then that Brown wanted to give the 76ers' job to anyone.

Not that the league was dying. Well, actually it was. Teams were about to go out of business. So much so that Stern got the union to go along with sport's first salary cap. Sure, Magic and Bird were there, but they were still working on getting the Finals off taped delay. Perhaps anyone would have sparked the league's turnaround with the momentum from Bird and Magic, but Jordan did.

His game, his style, his dress, his look -- everything about the NBA changed with Jordan.

Stars could be marketed like never before. With that came a celebrity status that reflected on the game. Kids lined up to buy products because of Jordan. The length of shorts changed. Shoes became a fashion statement. So did baldness. Great rivalries began and a great dynasty was born.

NBA TV ratings for the first time ever -- and only time ever -- rivaled baseball when matching the Finals against the sainted World Series. The NBA was hot.

It's not so hot anymore. It's not completely because of the decline of Jordan as a player, but Stern remembers well what Jordan did for the NBA. And Stern also figures it isn't bad advertising to have your most notable property involved in your sport.

So Stern is doing all he can to get Jordan a franchise. It hasn't happened yet, although it probably will at some time. Everyone's trying to hang on to see what Stern has up his sleeve on this international expansion that could mean huge dividends for the current owners. But attendance and TV ratings are sagging in many markets, and some franchise will open.

Many believe Jordan is waiting for Jerry Reinsdorf to retire in Chicago and to lead a group to buy the Bulls for a perfect symmetry to his career.

So, in the mean time, Jordan waits.

There are things he could do. Tiger Woods hasn't been quite the same this year, and perhaps he could have his buddy Mike on his bag a few times to change his luck and give Jordan a few weekends work. Maybe Ahmad Rashad can help Jordan get something at NBC. Larry Brown wanted to give him his job a few months back, and little did we know then that Brown wanted to give the 76ers' job to anyone. He'd certainly take Jordan on as an assistant for awhile. The Las Vegas casinos could probably come up with something considering all the business they've done with Jordan over the years. Maybe he could join Doug Collins again, doing the Bill Walton and Steve Jones schtick on NBA games.

He's not back!

But he is out there looking.

Sam Smith, who covers the NBA for the Chicago Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.