Basketball: The One And Only

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That's pretty generous, though not convincing. And it's not the attitude most fans are taking. Although many have been preparing all season, there are plenty of X-Files-style conspiracists who refuse to let go. "I don't care what they say," says Jordan fan Michael Sims, 27, of Detroit. "I don't think the NBA will allow it." Even in Piston country, Jordan reigns. Which is a political miracle if you remember that Jordan disrupted Detroit's dynasty, with a little help from Jackson, who taught him the importance of limiting himself for the good of the Bulls. Alan Jones, 30, also of Detroit, rants against Chicago but deifies Jordan: "He's a gentleman. He's not a boaster. He could say, 'I'm the best thing since fried ice cream.' But that's not part of him." Though passionate, Jordan fans aren't necessarily the most articulate.

Through such fans Jordan has, according to FORTUNE magazine, added $10 billion to the economy. What makes him a perfect pitchman for absolutely anything (Nike, Gatorade, McDonald's, Oakley, Rayovac, WorldCom...) is that he wins. While his skills were once those of Baryshnikov, age and triple-teaming defenses have grounded him. So, like Sinatra after he lost his crooning voice, Jordan, with delimited skills, developed an even better game. Through practice, his fadeaway jumper, passing and defense are twice as good as when he started in the league. During the last seconds of the play-off series with the Pacers, Bird told his team to swarm Jordan and see if he was great enough to pass. He was--and Bird should have known it, because it has been true for some time (review the tape of last year's final play-off game, Larry).

Through maturity and Jackson's required Zen meditation sessions, Jordan has bottled his frenzy, turned it into intensity and shared it with his teammates. Ex-Bull B.J. Armstrong, whom Jordan never fully embraced, said Jordan showed him how to win. "He has passion. And you have to have that same passion, that same will, to beat him," he says. "He prepares himself in a way that no one will understand because I don't think too many people are willing to pay that price."

His will to power is what has kept us on his side after all these years. His stumbling, brilliant performance, cramped by stomach flu, in last year's play-offs overwhelmed the opposition by sheer force of spirit. Last week his halftime speech to his team in Game 3 against Utah was, "Let's bury these guys and make them think about it." They routed the Jazz by 42 points. Without the benefit of a rival (imagine Ali without Frazier, Navratilova without Evert) and without innovating the game (Dr. J had already defined the dunk), Jordan became the greatest player of all time through intensity and hypercompetitiveness. Nets center Jayson Williams says that when he faces Jordan, his plan is never to look in his eyes.