Jordan on the Lakers!!!!

[E. J. Rizo]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=afp-basket_nba_jordan&prov=afp&type=lgns

 CHICAGO (AFP) - Los Angeles Lakers  coach Phil Jackson admits he has thought about asking one of his former players, Michael Jordan, to come out of retirement if Kobe Bryant is unable to play in the upcoming season.

                 "It has crossed my mind," Jackson said. "But I don't think I would ask Michael that question until it became absolutely necessary or it became a reality. It's just speculation."

               Jordan, 40, played under Jackson on six championship teams with the Chicago Bulls . Jordan retired for the third time last April after the Washington Wizards  failed to make the National Basketball Association play-offs.

               Bryant faces charges of sexual assault and faces a Thursday hearing in Eagle, Colorado. He is probably going to sit out of two pre-season exhibition games against Golden State in Hawaii, where the Lakers are training.

               The Lakers added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to a lineup that already featured dominating center Shaquille O'Neal and backcourt playmaker Bryant, whose absence would dim the club's hopes of a fourth NBA crown in five years.

               But the Lakers, ousted in last year's playoffs by eventual champion San Antonio, would be in a solid position for a title run if Jordan replaced Bryant in the backcourt.

               Jordan's two-year stint with the Wizards showed that time has weakened some of the skills that made him one of the game's all-time greats. But together with what amounts to an all-star lineup, Jordan could fill a key void.

  I WANT THE JERSEY!!!!  

[R-Tistic]

I heard this speculation. I don't think it'll happen...but also, months before we got Payton and Malone, who ever woulda thought they coulda came? So much wild shit happened this summer if this happened I wouldn't be toooooooo shocked but still. The ONLY reason I want Jordan to come is so I can get the jersey. Otherwise I don't care.

[T.J.]

i highly doubt this will happen.

[Hittman2001]

not happening

this was just posted at the espn website

ESPN.com news services

Michael Jordan playing for the Lakers? The thought has occurred to Phil Jackson. But it hasn't occurred to MJ, who said his answer would be no.

Jackson, the Lakers coach and Jordan's former coach in Chicago, intimated in a published report that he has reluctantly considered a scenario in which Jordan would play for him if Kobe Bryant is unable to.

"It has crossed my mind," Jackson told the Chicago Tribune for Tuesday's editions. "But I don't think I'd ask Michael that question until it became absolutely necessary or it became a reality. It's just speculation."

Jordan, 40, has not dropped hints that he'll play again.

In fact, his response -- issued through a spokeswoman -- was short, to the point and unequivocal: "100 percent no."

Jordan retired after last season as a Washington Wizard, missing the playoffs for a second straight season. He butted heads with teammates and ownership and, ultimately, was fired when he tried to return to his front-office position with the franchise.

Bryant has a scheduled court appearance in Eagle, Colo., on Thursday, when it will be determined in a preliminary hearing whether he will stand trial for felony sexual assault. A trial date has not been set, and it is possible that a trial could come during the NBA's regular season or during the playoffs.

The thinking is Jackson wants Bryant to be able to straighten out his personal life and get back to being the 25-year-old star player he's known to be on the court. Bryant has acknowledged that he considered not playing this season, a revelation that may have gotten Jackson thinking about short-term roster alternatives.

Bryant has denied raping his 19-year-old accuser, contending he was guilty only of adultery for having consensual sex with the woman.

Meanwhile, Bryant is continuing to build strength after having offseason shoulder and knee surgery. At 205, he's 15 pounds lighter than he was a year ago. Jackson said Monday that Bryant probably will not play until the Lakers' Oct. 14 preseason game against Phoenix in San Diego.

"I can pretty much do everything except explode. My leg is weak at some spots," Bryant said in Honolulu, where the Lakers hold training camp.