Jordan defies the odds

Michael Jordan is starting to enjoy his latest comeback

BBC Sport Online profiles Michael Jordan as he becomes the only fourth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points.

After an indifferent start to the third comeback of his career, Michael Jordan is starting to defy his age and his critics and become a dominant presence in the NBA once again.

When the 38-year-old scored his 15th point of the match against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, he became only the fourth player in history to score 30,000 points.

Joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (33,654) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) is the latest in a long line of milestones reached by the man universally agreed to be the best player ever.

But Jordan is showing no sign of resting on his laurels - he is showing all the determination of old.

Jordan is congratulated by coach Doug Collins

The awesome skills that many observers felt had gone forever are starting to resurface as Jordan leads the Washington Wizards on an impressive run.

And against the Bulls on Friday night, Jordan produced what coach Doug Collins called the best play of the season.

Jordan stole in from behind Ron Mercer's lay-up attempt and pinned the ball against the backboard in the final seconds, taking everyone by surprise.

"I can jump when I have to," said Jordan. "Especially when I get angry."

The move helped the Wizards to an 89-93 win, and came at the end of a week in which Jordan amassed 51 points against Charlotte and 45 points against New Jersey.

When Jordan announced that he had signed a two-year deal with the Washington Wizards in October, many felt he risked tarnishing his incomparable legacy.

Certainly there was nothing left for the former Bulls star to accomplish on the basketball court - his achievements are unparalleled:

• While in his first year at the University of North Carolina, Jordan led his school side to the 1982 national championship, hitting the game-winning shot in the closing seconds of the title contest
• Jordan is a five-time winner of the NBA's Most Valuable Player honour and was named to the all-NBA first team ten times
• 
  

  Jordan's Bulls were the team of the '90s
  
  He won six league championships with the Chicago Bulls and was awarded the NBA Finals MVP honour each time
• Jordan ranks fourth on the all-time NBA scoring list, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Karl Malone
• When a major sports media outlet in America compiled a list of the top 100 athletes of the 20th century, Jordan ranked number one.

That Jordan has put the Wizards in the spotlight is no surprise, but few would have believed he could make them a winning team.

To say Washington is nowhere near the level of the Chicago Bulls teams with which Jordan won his six championships is putting it lightly.

The Wizards finished last year with the third worst record in the league.

The prospect of an ageing and physically limited Jordan playing for one of the NBA's worst teams somewhat diminished the excitement surrounding his comeback.

But Jordan has already surprised basketball fans once, retiring in 1993 before returning to the Bulls in 1995 and guiding them to three championships.

The experts who believed he would not return in 1995 as the same player he was in 1993 could not have been more wrong.

Six years later it seemed a safe bet to predict that a 38-year-old Jordan playing for a second-rate team would make little impact.

Wrong again.