Jordan Knows How Gretzky Feels

As the ambassador for the sport he still loves, Michael Jordan knows better than anyone what Wayne Gretzky is experiencing as "The Great One" gets ready to leave hockey.

"I'm glad to see that he made the choice he felt comfortable with. A lot of people probably wanted to see him play but only he knows and I understand that truly," Jordan said Saturday night before he watched, of all things, a hockey game.

Three months after his retirement from basketball, Jordan visited his old Bulls locker room for the first time. He was at the United Center to be interviewed about Gretzky and later to watch Chris Chelios, the former Blackhawks captain, return to the United Center for the first time with the Detroit Red Wings.

In a brief but wide-ranging interview in the corridor, Jordan said he is still interested in purchasing part of the Charlotte Hornets, was not surprised that the Los Angeles Lakers released his former teammate Dennis Rodman and had no problem with someone using his old locker, which now sits empty.

He is an acquaintance and occasional golf partner of Gretzky.

"I'm sure there are challenges out there and Wayne will find some of those in business or whatever opportunity you may find," Jordan said.

Jordan said walking back into the locker room where he once dressed was not a traumatic experience. But he sounded philosophical.

"I got a lot of memories, but it's always a great pleasure to come back," he said

"Unfortunately it was not to get dressed or anything to that nature. I'm here to watch a hockey game, but I mean that's where my life is going. I'm coming back to watch other things instead of play."

Jordan's old locker was boarded shut earlier in the season but now just sits empty. The team that still calls itself the Bulls struggles nearly every night just to score 70 points, a far cry from the one that won six NBA championships in the 1990s.

"People can use it (the locker), I don't have a problem with that, it doesn't bother me," Jordan said.

"It's in the past. It's a whole new era and things are going to happen, things are going to change. They have to rebuild and get themselves back to the goal that we set. We set high standards and it's going to be a challenge for them."

Jordan said he was aware that earlier this month the Bulls set an NBA record by scoring just 49 points, the lowest output since the inception of the shot clock in 1954.

"That wapretty ugly. I think I can do better than that," said the man who scored at least 50 points in a game 38 times during his career.

On purchasing part of the Hornets, Jordan said:

"I'm still in conversation, still evaluating the opportunity. There is nothing that I can report at this time. There is some interest. It's only just from an economical standpoint and I will evaluate it. Until I feel like it's appropriate for me to make an announcement, I won't."

The Lakers finally got fed up with Rodman's antics, being late for practices and pretty much living by his own set of rules -- as he often did while helping the Bulls win three titles.

"Very few people can deal with Dennis. We did a good job with that. I don't know if there's anybody else out there that can deal with him," Jordan said.

"He carries a lot of baggage."

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