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Jordan III is double-edged
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October 30, 2001: 3:36 p.m. ET
Superstar's third coming could hurt young players the NBA will need soon.
A twice-weekly column by Staff Writer Chris Isidore
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - It might seem strange to say it on the day that Michael Jordan returns to the National Basketball Association, but the league ought to be really worried about what it'll do the next time he retires.
After all, it hasn't done that well during his previous two retirements from the game, as television ratings and interest in the league plunged. And even if Michael III is everything his fans expect and more when he resumes his career tonight, a third and likely final retirement can't be all that far away for a player who turns 39 in February.
There are those who think that the league could actually be hurt by the return of the most popular player in history, as attention is diverted away from the next generations of stars the sport needs to build up.
"I think they were about to turn the corner and put Jordan in the rear view mirror this season," said a marketing executive with one of the networks carrying NBA games, who spoke on the condition his name not be used.
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Michael Jordan's return to the NBA tonight will mean better ratings, but less attention for the young stars the league will need in the future. | |
"It's obvious that if he hadn't come back, we would have focused this year on rising stars and can the Lakers be beat," said the executive. "Now we're focused on 'Jordan's back.' It can't help but to take some of the focus off rising stars and the Lakers."
Turner Sports (a subsidiary of CNNmoney's parent AOL Time Warner), which broadcasts NBA games on its TBS and TNT channels, and NBC are clearly thrilled to see the bump in ratings from Jordan's return. The broadcasters have added games of Jordan's Washington Wizards teams to their lineup of games. NBC even broke with its tradition of a Christmas Day start to its NBA coverage to broadcast a Wizards game this Saturday.
The network executive said the upside for the league is an immediate bump in ratings and the opportunity for Jordan fans to be introduced to young stars like Tracy McGrady of the Orlando Magic or Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, who have become stars since Jordan's retirement at the end of the lockout in 1999.
But those players' ability to build strong fan interest and allegiance will take at least a step back with Jordan's return, said Bob Williams, president of Burns Sports and Celebrities Inc., a Chicago firm that handles athlete endorsements.
"These other players, they need time and opportunities to capture the minds of fans," said Williams. "It's not going to happen now. Long term, it's not good for the game."
NBA officials now say they're thrilled to have Jordan back in uniform, but the comments from Commissioner David Stern and others last spring suggested they saw Jordan's third coming as a double-edged sword.
"You'll get more interest and more ratings, but it's a short-term uptick," Stern said last spring as the league's playoffs were about to start. "The long-term future of the league is in the players and the teams that are in these (playoffs)."
The problem is that none of the other stars have shown either the ability or broad popular appeal to push aside interest in Jordan on their own. Jordan's popularity grew to myth-like levels when he was a young player despite the presence of the Lakers' Magic Johnson and the Celtics' Larry Bird, two hall of famers who were among the game's most popular players.
He didn't need anyone else to get out of his way to shine.
The inability of the current young stars to grab the spotlight is a sign that players like Jordan, Bird, and Magic are rare and special players for a sport to have, not something a league can automatically count on being present.
"The NBA was very fortunate to have three stars like that back to back," said Marc Ganis, president of SportsCorp Ltd., a sport consulting firm. "That wasn't planned, it was an alignment of the planets."
Turner Sports demonstrates both what the sport has been lacking and the attention that Jordan is now receiving with its current promos.
Click here for CNNSI.com's NBA coverage
"For years, you're been looking for the next Michael Jordan," said the promos. "Now, the Superstation's got him."
If it was easy to be "the next Michael Jordan," then Kobe Bryant or Grant Hill or Allen Iverson would already be "the next Michael Jordan."
The fact that Michael Jordan is "the next Michael Jordan" suggests that next time he leaves, he'll probably take the title, the attention and the ratings with him once again. 
Click here to send mail to Chris Isidore
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