Less than a month ago Michael Jordan warned sportswriters at the Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that they shouldn’t be surprised if he decides to return to the court when he turns 50. Most people laughed it off (ok, maybe it was more nervous laughter after MJ had just eviscerated the entire room).
It turns out that there may be something behind that comment as the news coming out of Illinois today suggests that Jordan may lace them up again. Before you start going on a rant about how he is going to ruin his legacy by the returning to the court (an argument that I never bought into), there’s one important thing to consider–the Jordan who is returning is not Michael Jeffrey Jordan (career average 30.1 PPG), but instead it is his son Jeff Jordan (career average 1 PPG) who has expressed interest in returning.
I know some of you are probably having the same thoughts that I had when I heard the news namely “I didn’t even know that he left”. It appears that young Mr. Jordan may have more than his name in common with his father as Jeff “retired” back in June. Unlike his father, Jeff never claimed to have run out of challenges. Instead, he cited a desire to focus on his studies, which given his basketball future didn’t seem like a crazy thing to do even though he had been awarded a basketball scholarship just a few months earlier:
“I loved playing for the Fighting Illini and appreciate the support I was given by my teammates, coaches and the great fans here, but I have come to the point where I’m ready to focus on life after basketball. I will concentrate on earning my degree from the University of Illinois and the opportunities that await upon graduating.”
While there isn’t much information about why Jordan changed his mind (we can’t imagine it was the tuition and room and board that he would have had to pay), it seems like his academic schedule may have gotten a lot lighter or he realized the “opportunities that await upon graduating” could involve globe-trotting with his famous father. In any event, Jordan tweeted (is that the correct conjugation?) about his change of heart:
“wanna go 2 open gym with the squad like old times,but dnt knowif im still allowd up ther lol they might have banned me from the facility GNR”
Although the discussion appears to be in the preliminary stages (Jordan hasn’t met with coach Bruce Weber yet), Jordan’s return could have a significant impact on the Illini by providing them with a perimeter defensive presence that any college team would benefit from having.