From the Sidelines: Don't welcome Jordan, Knicks fans

By Nola Breglio

I sat in Madison Square Garden last Friday night watching the New York Knicks play as if they might actually defeat the Chicago Bulls. When New York built its lead to nine points, I was pleasantly surprised and proud. Even subdued n ewlyweds Woody Allen and Soon-Yi were getting excited. Spike Lee, clad in Knickerbocker orange and seated next to notorious Bulls fan Gene Siskel, PC '67, leaped up every time New York scored.

Michael Jordan continued to hit shot after shot. When he didn't shoot, he perfectly fed teammates cutting to the basket or routinely stole the ball from sloppy New York guards. The scrappy Knicks kept finding ways to score and huddled tightly during each game break. In the final minute, the game was close and tensions ran high on both sides.

Then Jordan, as I had been half-expecting him to, made an impossible lay-up, seemingly stretching his arm entirely around the hoop while weaving between two defenders. New York would have to come up with a last-second shot in order to defeat the Bulls, w ho were a point ahead. Jordan clung closely to guard Chris Childs at the three-point line and suddenly, with three seconds left, backed away from the Knicks guard. Taken aback at being left unguarded, Childs launched an improbable three-point shot, and it clanged off the rim. Game over.

Jordan backed away at the perfect moment. How had he known? He later claimed it was because he did not feel Childs would attempt the three-point shot. Or was it because he knew if he backed off, the trigger-happy Knicks would throw up a low percentage sh ot? Or was he simply toying with the Knicks? After the game, Jordan met with the press, all of whom questioned him about his future in the NBA. The Bulls star told reporters, "It wouldn't be that I wouldn't love to play in New York. I would love to."

Predictably, the morning tabloids screamed that Jordan wanted to come to New York. His Airness is no fool--he was fully aware that such statements would make waves from coast to coast. He knew that Bulls management would be listening. And he knew that Knicks fans would also be listening, with visions of an orange and blue number 23 jersey appearing in their heads.

Right away, championship-starved New York basketball fans were starting to imagine Jordan throwing a crisp lead to a healthy Patrick Ewing for a dunk off the pick and roll. Jordan's agent, David Falk, was perhaps already grinning, thinking about how many millions he could coax commercially-conscious Madison Square Garden bigwigs to shell out for his premier client.

Jordan, most likely, has no intention of joining the Knicks. He is on track to lead the Bulls to a sixth league title and then retire, assured of his place in history as the greatest basketball player ever. He knows, however, that even the slightest possibility of his leaving Chicago frightens the Bulls management while it injects hope into the hearts of Knicks fans. He is toying with everyone.

Air Jordan always found a way to defeat New York when it really counted in the playoffs, just as he did last Friday night. He has always been aware of what he wants and how he plans to get it. In that pressroom, the Knicks were a convenient foil for Jordan, just as they have been in playoff series after series. He can continually reflect his own splendor off New York's dull surface. "Look, World, I, His Airness, might join these clumsy thugs! Wouldn't that be a travesty?"

No. Knicks fans should spit in Jordan's face when he says he might play in New York. For the New York team of the '90s, winning the championship has primarily been about beating the Bulls. And not just any Bulls--Jordan's Bulls. If Jordan joined the Knic ks and the Knicks won the championship, the win would be forever tainted. Jordan has humiliated New York year after year, furthering his own reputation. Knicks fans should refuse the urge to embrace him and sink to his level, even if it means sacrificing that elusive championship.

Jerry Seinfeld once remarked on the peculiarity of sports fandom. Fans really only root for their team's laundry, he said. When a player is traded to another team, he becomes an enemy. When another is acquired, he is cheered. So, in effect, it is the uni forms that are playing the game, not the players. A very astute statement, and especially in this case, one that Knicks fans should avoid proving true.

Although Jordan might promise to look nice in Knicks laundry, remember that he would be the same man who has simply grinned after crushing New York's title hopes, year after year, all decade long. The same man who sat in the Madison Square Garden pressroom last week and jockeyed for his next year's millions by issuing vague threats of joining the hated Knicks. God forbid.

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