M.J. All-star by merit, not just name

As I rummage together the $175 I have saved over the past seven weeks to buy the Air Jordan XVIII- discounted from last year's $200 model - that go on sale Saturday, it is pretty apparent that I still want to be like Mike even as his fortieth birthday is only ten days away. But after his third comeback to basketball, it seems that the rabid fans like me are becoming rarer and rarer, as critics of Jordan are finally having their day with his Airness apparently having joined the human race both on the basketball court and off.

Since Jordan signed a two-year contract with the Washington Wizards a year and a half ago, No. 23 has been barraged with questions about his diminishing talent, troubles with his wife, disagreements with his youthful teammates, possible children out of wedlock, the tarnishing of his legacy and simply not being Mike. And now, just as it seemed that the greatest player that you, your parents, your grandparents, your grandchildren and your great grandchildren will ever see could not be discredited any more, his selection as an All-Star reserve has been said to be a choice based on former prowess, not current merit.

This is in fact incorrect, as the 10-time NBA scoring champ a Chinese newspaper refers to as "the flying man" still proves - though not as consistently as in his younger years - why it is rare that someone doubts his distinction as the greatest basketball player who ever lived.

As basketball purists will surely complain that the current NBA players only care about the dunk and flashy moves during Sunday's All-Star game, Jordan still shows why he is the most fundamental player in the history of the game. While many of his basic skills were hidden by his athleticism in the 1980s, Jordan at 40 still makes defenders look stupid with his footwork. This is the reason that after analyst John Thompson jokingly nicknamed him "Floor Jordan" for his most recent run, the Wizards captain took the comment as a compliment. Nearly everytime Jordan matches up with a young superstar, Thompson's point is proven.

While players like Paul Pierce and Tracy McGrady would dominate other players in the NBA with comparable speed to the current Jordan, the CEO of the Jordan Brand instead has taught those two specifically lessons about the game, scoring over 20 points against the 20-somethings in Wizard victories over the Celtics and Magic, respectively.

Criticism for returning solely for the attention he missed in basketball exile has also been slapped onto Jordan. Most persons with this theory claim he did not return to the game he loves to rebuild the Wizards - who have not reached the playoffs since 1997 - but to continue to once again be the talk of the town.

This has certainly not been the case, as Jordan even sacrificed his starting position to Jerry Stackhouse earlier this season in order to give the Wizards a more cohesive line-up. It was only after the Wizards entered a tailspin and were several games under .500 that Jordan began to look for his shot again. After his average hovered in the low double digits earlier in the year, Jordan is now averaging 18.8 points a game, and if the playoffs began today, the Wizards would qualify as the eighth seed.

If the Wizards qualify and the post season proves to be anything like the regular season, watch out for another spectacular post-season run from the six-time Finals MVP. Jordan has performed closer to the player he was of old against great teams rather than the Gandalf-like Wizard he has sometimes resembled in his off-games. Jordan's two best games were against playoff bound teams this year, netting 41 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers, who are tied for first in the Eastern conference, and dropping 45 against the New Orleans Hornets to get his team out of a slump while Stackhouse watched from the sidelines with an injury.