It is twilight in the reign. A month, maybe six weeks, and then it will be over for Michael Jordan. The itch has been most effectively scratched. Now the questions come in hushed tones: Do you think he's tarnished his legacy? Was this comeback a failure? They think they have their evidence now -- because the Washington Wizards are struggling to hold onto the last playoff spot in the East, the Urkel of conferences -- that Jordan's playing these last two years was one man's ego run amok, a display of personal hubris that put the franchise on hold.

I will acknowledge that I had some of these doubts myself, at the beginning.

	Michael Jordan is putting forth the kind of effort he gave during his three-peats in Chicago.

But inside MCI Center, it's been a different story. For there are people who have waited, patiently -- too patiently, in many ways -- for the Wizards to show a pulse, a hint of professionalism, some pride, for Wes Unseld's sake. An entire generation has grown up in Washington with no knowledge that this was once one of the NBA's storied franchises, one that made the playoffs 12 straight seasons from the late '60s to early '80s and 18 of 20 seasons through the mid-'80s. The entire Bird-Magic-Isiah-Bulls era came and went with the Bullets/Wizards on the outside looking in, collective noses pressed against the window. While the league was resuscitated, and then thrived, Washington's franchise was a mudslide of mediocrity; even the hopes brought about by the joint arrival of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard flickered out quickly, destroyed by youthful mistakes and adult impatience, replaced by a half-empty building with people motivated only to boo the listless home team.

Jordan's arrival didn't make the Wizards into title contenders; this isn't a fairy tale. But first as an executive, and then as a player, he has restored some of the franchise's identity, the hard-won respect that men like Unseld and Elvin Hayes and Phil Chenier created. The Wizards will not win every night, but they will play hard. They will know what they're doing on the floor. They will not be embarrassingly outcoached. And, in Washington, they matter again. For the last two years, Abe Pollin's building has been sold out every night, and the crowds are loud, and knowledgeable, and grateful.

But it's just about over.

I asked the other day if Jordan realizes that his career is 99.9 percent done.

"Things are getting short," he said. "When you lose, we're fighting an uphill battle. Can we ever get over the hump? We get right there and they just can't get over it. Short time. One more night to study before the test comes, and the next thing you know, you've got to take that test. And we have not responded well. For me, it's frustrating, because I think I have a lot more desire to finish strong than some of these other guys, because this is the last time I'll be playing. It's easy to say 'Wait 'till next year,' when the situation starts over fresh again. But for me, it's not. I'll go back upstairs, and I'll be watching them, and more or less sending some messages down to the locker room."

He must take most of the responsibility for this, because he picked 11 of the 12 players that are on this team; only Jahidi White, who has played all of three minutes this season, remains from the team he inherited three years ago. These are his decisions. That is why it galls him all the more when they err in crunch time (so has he, by the way, and more than once). He holds Kwame Brown to a higher standard because Brown is his signature choice, the biggest decision Jordan has made in D.C. With Elton Brand on the table and others dreaming of Shane Battier, Jordan opted for the 19-year-old. So far, it hasn't worked out, and that's a reflection on MJ. (Kwame, that's why he's so hard on you.)

But patience and wisdom will be required when Jordan takes off the uniform for good. Brown may not yet be ready for prime time, but he is 6-foot-11, he has skills and he's a good kid. The very fires that stoked Jordan to greatness as a player can be his undoing as an executive. He cannot fix what's broken in a month, or a year. It takes time to build a franchise, and the Wizards have some pieces in Brown, and Jared Jeffries, and Juan Dixon, and Larry Hughes, and, yes, Jerry Stackhouse.

Stack may prove to be an even bigger test for Jordan than Brown. For Stackhouse is a grown man, an All-Star that has proven he can score the ball in this league. The two circled each other like Riff and Bernardo this past week, hoisting accusations each other's way after tough losses to the Bucks and Knicks. Neither backed down, even after they spent several hours together hashing out their differences, but the tone on Monday and Tuesday was much more conciliatory. Stackhouse reiterated that he wanted to stay in Washington, and I continue to believe he won't opt out of his contract at season's end. But what will Jordan do with him?

For now, though, Jordan aches to make the playoffs with him. On Sunday, Jordan had to mostly go it alone, as Stackhouse had a brutal day against Allan Houston. But Jordan tried. Oh, how he tried. He used some smack from Shandon Anderson to fuel him through the day. He raked at the ball on defense and rose up for jumpers at the other end. Like the aging Larry Bird, Jordan cracked his skull on the floor diving for a loose ball in an important game, not trying to send a message but just playing the game the way it should be played.

	Where one can properly pay homage not to Jordan's successes, but to the very act of his trying so hard. This is the very essence of it, what the detractors miss: he knows he can't win this time.

He finished with 39 points. Incredibly, there were those in my business who found fault with him even then, pointing out all the misses, the times when he looked 39 instead of 29, never acknowledging the possibility that different isn't the same as less. What is more impressive -- a young Jordan horsing it over inferior talent, or an old Jordan still scoring over superior talent? These poor people. Would they dismiss Olivier's performance in "Marathon Man" because he wasn't a kid anymore, and it wasn't "Hamlet"?

I don't believe in hagiography. There are enough Jordan Idolaters out there. The man, being a man, is flawed in many ways, some apparent, others less so. But there is a line short of worship where one can feel comfortable. Where one can properly pay homage not to Jordan's successes, but to the very act of his trying so hard. This is the very essence of it, what the detractors miss: he knows he can't win this time. The great ones know months, years before we do that their skills are dimishing, that their footspeed is slowing, that their concentration is waning.

Jordan surely knew this even before his comeback plans were known, while he was shedding his retirement pounds, while he was running fullcourt with the NBA's new generation in the summer. And even if he could fool himself about himself, there was no doubting the team he was joining. It was, to be charitable, not the caliber of any of his Bulls teams, save the first few, the ones with Granny Waiters and David Greenwood and Quintin Dailey. There was no Pippen here, no Grant, no Rodman, no Phil, for that matter. Jordan knew this team had no chance to win championships, the thing that was air to him all those years. And yet, he played, anyway. Most of this season, he has played exceedingly well. His decision to inject himself back in the starting lineup was the right one, for this franchise doesn't need any more lottery picks. It needs to know what a playoff chase is all about.

I think that's what he was getting at when he ripped his teammates in New York.

I have arrived at a difference conclusion than I expected to when Jordan announced he was returning. Then, I believed his legacy was shoving Bryon Russell and draining that jumper in Salt Lake City. Now, I think I know better. It is the very act of playing. It is that strain of professionalism that kept Joe Dumars slugging away in Detroit long after the Pistons' championship team was dismantled; that kept Bird at it long after his back had given way; that kept Cal Ripken coming to the park day after day; that kept your mother and father getting up every morning at 4 a.m. for the early shift.

For some people, the work, not the result, is the legacy. For Jordan, it is both.

ALDRIDGE'S RANKINGS

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

Is Milwaukee Payton's place?
It's a big week for the Bucks, and not just on the floor. Gary Payton's wife, Monique, and their kids are visiting the Glove in Milwaukee this week to get the lay of the land, and what they tell him may go a long way in his decision about whether to re-sign in Brew Town at season's end.

"I've still got to talk to my wife, and my kids," Payton said. "When they come to Milwaukee and they complain about the cold and all this stuff, it might be a difference. But my wife, she's with me. She's talking about whatever I want to do. I just have to make it right for my kids ... when they come and stay a week and they look at the place -- she's going to look at schools and see if they want to be in an atmosphere like that -- I'll make my decision."

But Payton still maintains that a strong postseason run by the Bucks will go a long way, too.

"If we get in the playoffs and play the way we want to play, then I'll probably make my decision during that time," he said. "It depends on how far we get in the playoffs and things like that, and see how the jell goes. We mesh good and I know this team is looking for a guy like me, and we can win in the East, then yeah, I'll probably make my decision during the playoffs." He just won't tell anybody until July.

Around the League
Why wouldn't it shock me if Alvin Gentry winds up either in San Antonio or Washington next season? He still has a house in San Antonio and Doug Collins will be looking for another assistant next season; John Bach is leaving the bench after 50 years of coaching. ... Chris Webber got a surprise for his 30th birthday two weeks ago. After the Kings lost in San Antonio, Vlade Divac cornered Webber as the two were leaving the locker room. "I told him, 'Let's go look at Tim Duncan's new ride,' " Vlade confessed later. Waiting for Webber was not a new tricked-out H2 but a limousine that took Webber, Divac and a few teammates to the airport. Webber's shoe company had arranged to fly him to Las Vegas for the Roy Jones-John Ruiz title fight, and Vlade picked up the tickets. ... Knicks thrill-seeking coach Don Chaney added to his résumé last week. Chaney, who has skydived and ridden in rodeos in recent years, spent an off day in Orlando at Richard Petty's Driving Experience. After a two-hour prep course, Chaney drove eight laps in a NASCAR-type ride, getting up to 125 miles per hour. His next goal is to climb a mountain. "Something that takes five or six days," as he put it. ... Speaking of Knicks coaches, you can probably forget the pipe dream that some in Clipper Country will certainly float at season's end about getting Jeff Van Gundy. He's already told confidantes there's no chance he'd go for that gig.

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