When he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year, Michael Jordan joked that you may see him one day playing in the NBA again at the age of 50. Well, perhaps he was not joking. According to fellow University of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball alum Antawn Jamison, Jordan could not only still play in the NBA today and make a comeback at age 50, but still average double digits for a team, if placed in the right situation.
“One day you might look up and see me playing the game at 50,” Jordan said toward the end of his speech at his induction ceremony back in 2009. “Oh, don’t laugh. Never say never. Because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”
That was almost four years ago. Jordan is set to turn 50 in just over a week. If he decides to lace up the old Air Jordans and make a return to the court, Jamison says he could still make quite an impact.
“I wouldn’t doubt that in the right situation with a LeBron (James) on his team or with a Kobe (Bryant) on this team, he could get you about 10 or 11 points, come in and play 15-20 minutes,” said Jamison, according to ESPN. “I wouldn’t doubt that at all, especially if he was in shape and injuries were prevented and things of that nature.”
At the age of 40, while playing for the lowly Washington Wizards, Jordan averaged 20 points per game. He had little to no surrounding talent. Of course, that was 10 years and however many pounds ago. A decade later, if he did have a player such as Bryant or James in the same backcourt, could Jordan still play the game he helped keep relevant for so long?
“He wasn’t joking,” Jamison said in reference to Jordan’s speech. “You hear stories still to this day, especially last year, him going to the practice facility and playing 1-on-1 with the guys and still they can’t stop him.”
But could he still enjoy the same level of success in an actual game situation? Would playing for the Los Angeles Lakers or Miami Heat along side Bryant or James be enough for Jordan to consider making yet another unprecedented NBA comeback?
Unfortunately, I doubt we will ever find out the answer. But it sure is entertaining to at least consider the possibility.
What about playing with d rose??