He made the decision -- there can be no doubting this, now -- to put himself back into the starting lineup and to play more minutes. After all that was said for eight months about the need to pace himself, Michael Jordan looked at a sub-.500 record and a rough patch of play and couldn't resist the need to try, one more time, to save his team.

I think it's a mistake.

For all the reasons that both Jordan and Doug Collins, correctly, gave over the summer and before training camp began.

	More talent on the Wiz means less wear on aging legs. At least that's what Michael Jordan thinks.

Last season was different. The Washington Wizards were, without Jordan, a collection of maybes and never-weres, totally intimidated at the prospect of playing with The Man but utterly lost without him. For Washington to have any chance to win, Jordan not only had to score 25 a night, but he had to guard the opposition's best backcourt scorer, grab five or six boards, gamble for a couple of steals and dish out a half-dozen assists. Quite naturally, his body, three years removed from its last such burden, collapsed. And after the heat of the season subsided, both Collins and Jordan stated what was obvious: Jordan could not assume such a burden again and make it through his final season.

(Let me stop here for a moment. I was off last Thursday when Jordan confirmed what absolutely no one thought was in doubt -- that this is his last season. I do not understand why this was a big story. He signed a two-year contract in September 2001, and said he planned to honor his two-year contract and had no plans to play after the contract was over. Last week, he reiterated that. Why were there banner headlines in newspapers and breathless telephone interviews on the air about this? If Jordan had said he planned to play in 2003-04, that would have been news.)

Anyway, everyone was on the same page going into training camp. Jerry Stackhouse would get the Wizards going offensively -- and get the opposition into the penalty -- and Jordan would come off the bench, where he would still be better than 90 percent of the people trying to guard him. His presence would force opposing defenses to adjust, creating better scoring chances for other reserve Wizards. But by coming off the bench, he wouldn't rack up killer minutes, and he'd still be on the floor with Stackhouse at the end of games.

That made a lot of sense.

It still makes a lot of sense.

Jordan and Collins maintain that the reason Jordan is starting again is that his body is finally ready to handle the grind, after he didn't play much at all during the summer or in the preseason to rest his surgically-repaired knee.

"Physically, I feel confident about myself," Jordan said Monday. "Early on in the season, I still had doubts in terms of 'Am I feeling OK today? Am I going to feel better tomorrow? Should I go left, should I go right? Can I land on this knee?' -- blah, blah, blah. That's over and done with. Which is one of the reasons why me starting would have been disastrous for me. 'Cause I wasn't ready to start. Now, I'm ready to start. And been waiting, waiting for the time when Doug felt it was appropriate, or whenever he wanted me to step into that lineup."

See, this is where it gets dicey. Was it Collins' call, or Jordan's? Knowing Jordan just a bit, I think you know the answer.

Regardless of how it goes, I think this puts Collins in one heck of a tough position. He is a coach, and coaches don't think about plans or the longterm goals of the organization. They think about winning the game tonight, because their livelihood depends on their winning and continuing to win. How can Collins possibly not use Jordan up, if it's the difference between making the playoffs and not making them?

	“	If (Jordan) wants to play more minutes, there is no guarantee that isn't going to cause a (physical) problem. So we'll just have to see how it goes. ”
		— Doug Collins

"I've just been trying to get him built up," Collins told reporters on Monday. "I think (the minute watch) will be up to you guys. You guys keep bringing it up ... if he wants to play more minutes, there is no guarantee that isn't going to cause a (physical) problem. So we'll just have to see how it goes."

Since I am a reporter and was standing there, I felt the need to interject. The reason why the minutes question was constantly asked, I said to Collins, was because both Jordan and Collins -- again, correctly, in my view -- said before the season that Jordan's minutes had to be carefully monitored.

"He wasn't ready to start at the start of the season," Collins replied. "He was not ready to start and play those kind of minutes. He has now just built to that point, and I think Michael would be the first one to tell you that."

By the way, let's make one other thing clear: This is not a criticism of Jordan's decision to come back. That old chestnut is still, inexplicably, being dragged around by columnists in Chicago and New York.

(What amazing fortitude these men have, to be parents both to their own children and to a 39-year-old man who lives hundreds of miles away. How do they find the time to tell the world both what's wrong with their teams in their towns and to be curators of the "I Know What's Best for Michael Jordan" museum?

Is there anyone other than these sour folk that believes Jordan hasn't played at a very high -- if not Vintage MJ -- level over the past 13 months? Is he the best player in the league? No, he's not. Is he one of the best, say, 25? Would you take Jordan right now over the likes of Hedo Turkoglu? Or Derek Anderson?

This is the universe in which Jordan now plays. He isn't at T-Mac's level, or Kobe's. But he isn't a scrub, either. Good Lord, can we get off this tired subject?)

Both Collins and MJ believe his minutes should be lesser in intensity, if not number, this season. Last year, when Jordan had to do everything, there was never a minute's rest on the court. This season, the argument now goes, Jordan could play the same number of minutes but not have to expend nearly as much energy. Because he has help.

"I can play 37, 38 minutes if I have to," Jordan said. "And it's a different 37, 38 minutes than it was last year. Last year I was asked to carry a lot of the load on the offensive end and the defensive end, and all of that. Now I can divert some of that energy to Stack and to other players."

That's just the point. This isn't the same group of helpless Wizards as last season. Stackhouse is a star in his own right, a legitimate No. 1 scoring option. He isn't some kid who needs to be shown the ropes. Which is why it was odd to see Jordan get the ball at the end of Saturday's game against Philadelphia, on a night when Stack had rung up 38, including a 3-pointer just a couple of minutes earlier.

Bryon Russell has guarded every small forward of significance in this league since 1996, and he has been on two Finals teams. He's not some wild-eyed newcomer.

ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS

THE TOP 10 1. Dallas 2. Sacramento 3. Indiana 4. Philadelphia 5. San Antonio 6. New Jersey 7. Detroit 8. Boston 9. New Orleans 10. Orlando THE BOTTOM FIVE 25. Miami 26. Denver 27. New York 28. Memphis 29. Cleveland THE MIDDLE FOURTEEN 11. Seattle 12. Minnesota 13. Phoenix 14. Milwaukee 15. Houston 16. Atlanta 17. Portland 18. Washington 19. Utah 20. L.A. Lakers 21. Toronto 22. L.A. Clippers 23. Chicago 24. Golden State

Charles Oakley? Please.

Tyronn Lue has established himself as a solid point guard, if not a starter, who can shoot and harass opposing points. Larry Hughes may be just 23 years old, but this is his fifth year in the league.

Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon are rookies, but they're not still-raw rookies like Kwame Brown was last season. Dixon played four years at Maryland and the next thing he's scared of will be the first. His last college game was in the NCAA Finals -- where his team beat Jeffries' Indiana team. Jeffries knows from pressure. He was brought to Bloomington to save Bob Knight's program. Think he's going to play scared?

But Jordan says things didn't go as planned.

"Our offense didn't flow as easy in the second quarter, or whenever I came in, as it did initially when Stack got out," Jordan said. "He initiated everything. When I went in for B Russ or whoever, it was a difficulty in trying to fit into that rhythm of what was happening. I found myself more on the perimeter than inside. I couldn't utilize my going to the free-throw line. Rarely did I go to the free-throw line. My biggest emphasis now is to get to the free-throw line like I used to. I haven't done that. I've been relying on my jump shot more than I should."

Recognizing this, Russell went to Collins last week and said that it didn't make any sense for he, Russell, to play four minutes and then come out because Jordan was coming in. So Russell volunteered himself to the bench. Stackhouse, publicly, says the same thing, that if Jordan was coming in anyway, he might as well start and get in the flow quicker.

It all sounds reasonable.

I still think it's wrong.

Not because Jordan can't help the Wizards. But because he can't help himself. The more he's on the floor, the more he'll feel obligated to expend every drop of energy he has, regardless of who's out there with him. Ultimately, that catches up with 39-year-old knees, whether they play hard or easy minutes. And if he empties his bucket in a playoff push now, what good will Jordan be in April and May, when his presence would be most valuable?

Jordan is not this team's future. The only way this franchise will turn the corner is if Brown, Brendan Haywood, Jeffries and Jahidi White develop. Jordan is playing six more months. At some point, these kids have to sink or swim on their own.

I don't think Jordan is being selfish or protecting his "legacy," to use the words of the Keepers of the Jordan Flame. He is doing what experience and instinct have told him to do since 1982. Your team is in trouble. Do something about it. For almost two decades, that little voice has served Jordan well. But it isn't 1982. Or '92, for that matter. If Jordan is to save this franchise, it should be in a suit, not on the floor.

Last call for Miller time
Reggie Miller had one thing to say to his kid teammates this past offseason.

"I told them, 'Don't waste my time,' " Miller said. "I don't have a lot of time left in this game. Don't waste my time.' And they assured me, man up, that they weren't going to waste my time. And for the most part, through these first few games, they've shown me. I've backed off of a lot of the wear and tear on them, because they understand. A lot of times, I don't have to speak. I glare a lot. But I don't have to speak, because they get it."

	Reggie Miller, at 37 years old, wants one last shot at a ring.

The Pacers are who the Wizards want to be. Miller is doing what Michael Jordan had hoped he could do this season -- fill in the cracks, score when necessary, but mostly sit back and let Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Al Harrington and the rest of the deepest squad in the East do the heavy lifting. The difference is, Indiana's kids have been playing and growing for three years.

Isiah Thomas' new offense has created an egalitarian bent with the Pacers; anybody can score on any given night. (By the way, where are the Isiah Haters now? Can't hear them now that Indiana is playing .824 ball.) And Reggie Miller has had no choice but to accept it, with the bum ankle he suffered before the World Championships keeping him out of action until last week. Miller says his ankle will never be right again, but that he can play well enough on it. (Was Miller completely happy with the diagnosis and course of treatment he received? I hear he wasn't, but he's not biting on that subject now.)

So Miller has had to be counselor and drill sergeant to his teammates, who say they learned something valuable after losing their first-round series with the Nets.

"I think everybody's emotionally scarred from what happened last season," Harrington said. "We were so close. This year, everybody's playing hard, playing their minutes like it's their last. Because they know that there's somebody right behind them. Which is a good thing."

Thomas wants to bring Miller along slowly, playing him with Harrington so that Baby Al won't have to do as much chasing on his still-healing knee. With Ron Mercer accepting a reserve role, the Pacers are ridiculously deep and interchangeable at the two and three. So Miller doesn't have to play more minutes than his ankle can bear. (It does beg the question of how Donnie Walsh will be able to re-sign his remaining free agents, including O'Neal and Miller, after the season. But Walsh says he can without busting the cap and putting the Pacers in TaxLand.)

For now, the issue is winning the Central and getting Miller one more shot in the postseason. When Larry Bird, Rik Smits and Mark Jackson all left after the Finals run in 2000, Miller wondered if he still had a place in Indiana. His teammates are now answering that question.

"They understand how good collectively we can be if we play together," Miller said. "Sometimes it takes a little heartache, and it takes some tough talk from Uncle Reg for them to get it. It's been a long process with these young guys."

David Aldridge, who covers the NBA for ESPN, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.