In his first four years as Jordan’s teammate in Chicago, Armstrong got used to hearing him make comments that wouldn’t resonate until much later. Jordan, Armstrong said, was especially interested in getting the full scouting report on Latrell Sprewell, the Golden State Warriors guard who made first-team All-NBA in Jordan’s first season of retirement. Jordan would ask questions about players the Bulls had faced, inquiring about opposing individuals’ habits, go-to moves, what they did after three dribbles. Armstrong remembers Jordan checking on him a few times during that comeback season and their conversations suggesting that Jordan hadn’t fully checked out. Michael made that decision (to come back) because he missed basketball. When he does something against the norm, everyone has an explanation as if it’s a tsunami coming or something supernatural. “Everyone has these conspiracy theories about why he does things, which is interesting because he’s so popular. I’m not sure that I ever had a player who loved the game more than he loved it,” said Jordan’s longtime agent, David Falk in the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of Jordan’s return. Whether you act on those impulses is a different issue. “When he retired in ’93, he had to have had the thought in the back of his mind that when you retire at 30, at the top of your career, you’re going to have pangs to come back. But before he stunned the sports world on Mawith the most memorable two-word fax in history – “ I’m back” – and returned to the court the following afternoon at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis to play the Pacers, Jordan needed time to get his mind right, to dedicate his energy to not only come back, but also to be close to what he was when he walked away in October 1993 with three straight NBA championships. He needed basketball and the game needed him more. And basketball’s call became more intense as baseball dealt with an ugly, seemingly never-ending strike that ended one season and threatened to delay another. Jordan craved the competition, hungered for the next challenge.
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