CHICAGO (KRT) — This could be what many feared — that the end for Michael Jordan wouldn’t be a shot to win a championship, a pose for eternity.
Jordan had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday and could miss the rest of the season. So the last playing memory of the man many regard as the greatest ever to play basketball is now of a player sitting helplessly on the bench, his face a mask of pain and frustration, just nine points next to his name on the scoreboard and his team losing.
Jordan, who turned 39 last week, will miss Friday’s Bulls game in Chicago after being placed on the injured list for only the second time in his career. He missed 64 games in his second season, 1985-86, with a broken foot.
“I’m getting old,” he said Sunday after what could be the final game of his career. “It’s a sign that this might be coming to a closure as to where my career is heading. The body sends you messages.”
The message: When you are literally run off the court by the Miami Heat, it’s time to stop playing. Washington Wizards head coach Doug Collins had to remove Jordan from Sunday’s game with almost seven minutes remaining.
“He has to go in there and find out what’s causing the irritation and why his knee is continuing to swell,” Collins said. “And depending on how much work (the surgeon) has to do, that will be the deciding factor in how long Michael will be out.”
Although no timetable was given, Jordan is expected to be out at least a month. And it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to play immediately afterward. Thus there could be just a few games left in a season in which the Wizards (27-28) have lost seven of their last eight and are in danger of falling out of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
If they are out of contention, Jordan could elect not to return this season. And though he has said he intends to play one more year, that could change if his knee problems persist over the summer.
“I think (the surgery) would give him hope for next year,” Collins said. “I think he knows that if he didn’t have this done, he wouldn’t be able to continue to play. More and more, the swelling is coming back. There’s something in there that’s irritating his knee to make him have the swelling.”
Jordan has been brilliant often enough this season to spark talk that he should be the league’s MVP for pushing the lowly Wizards into playoff contention. But he has slowed considerably lately. In four of his last six games, he scored 16 or fewer points to lower his season average to 24.3. He has averaged fewer than 20 points a game since the All-Star break, though he won a game in Phoenix last week with a buzzer-beating shot. He had his second game in single digits this season-the third of his career-in the loss to Miami.
Jordan had his knee drained before that game, but the next day it swelled up again. The problem initially was diagnosed as tendinitis.
“I need to take some time off and let it get better,” Jordan said after the Miami game. “I can’t ignore what my body is telling me. My mind is still consistent. But my body isn’t.”