On his way out, he drew 62,045 at the Georgia Dome, a record crowd for the NBA that is not likely to be approached or toppled.

	Jordan still has game, but what about in a few months?

That was three years, eight months ago.

On his way back to being Michael Jordan, he drew 20,077, a record sports crowd for the relatively new Philips Arena.

While his physical prowess has declined, the lines in his face deepened, the fast twitch muscles slowed down a touch, you could not say Thursday night that Michael Jordan at 38 was clearly inferior to the guy who walked away from the game in June, 1998. But his circumstance makes his task a killer.

After watching him struggle against the Knicks on a 7-for-21 opening night, it was revealing to see a younger, much less disciplined and less well-crafted defense battle Jordan.

The Hawks let him get going before they tried to clamp down hard with double teams. Jordan had 19 at the half and he was in rhythm and by then it was too late.

As Jason Terry said afterward, "We didn't know how to play him. Me, [Dion Glover], a lot of guys, we hadn't played against him before and he dictated our defense. We didn't do like the Knicks [who held Jordan to 19 points and got after him from the start]. They knew what to do. But next time we'll do it differently."

There is a sense of overkill about this Jordan business. He still can play the game, still has the duck-in baseline and fadeaway move. He still out-thinks most guys on the floor. His ups? Well, let's say the elevator stops at the second floor.

Poor Glover tried to stop him on a series of plays and, even though he knew what to expect, could not repress a Pavlovian reaction and "jump 10 feet in the air when he uptakes. I knew he would do it. I knew I would go for it and I did."

Glover, who has played relatively little ball since tearing two knee tendons as a sophomore at Georgia Tech, said Jordan is simply a wonder.

"I been watching him since I was a kid. And I don't care if he can't jump out the building any more, he's too smart, man. He was so far ahead of us mentally. I've never seen a guy that smart on a basketball court."

Fans adore Jordan. He was cheered mightily in Atlanta and he will be worshipped Saturday night in his own building and then in Detroit and Boston next week. He is the magic elixir for what ails mediocre teams at the box office, a lock to sell out every venue he plays, for at least as long as the Wizards are competitive.

"They are going to win their share of games and be pretty good as long as his supporting cast can deliver," Terry said after Richard Hamilton and Chris Whitney combined for 36 points.

	Hamilton

	Whitney

But Terry offered a caveat: "Mike's gonna have to be out there on the court the whole fourth quarter like he was tonight."

To get 31 points on 13 of 30 shooting, six assists, six rebounds, Jordan had to go 40 minutes, 21 in the first half. He handled the ball on almost every possession in the fourth quarter of a 98-88 game that was closer than the score. That's his white hot competitive fire burning. But the suspicion is that Jordan won't be able to do that every night, or even most nights if the defense challenges him and wears on him from the start of a game.

At that pace, the cost of winning will exact a terrible toll and Jordan may be burned out by New Year's.

The pressure on him will be enormous. Not a week will pass this season when Jordan and the Wizards are not on national cable or network television. Not a game will be played when Jordan is not measured, studied and judged by rivals, by fans, by the press and each game will call for a definitive verdict even when the facts are murky.

When Jordan was in his prime, or just past, his game and the results said all that needed saying. He played. The Bulls won. He had Scottie and, for a few years, Toni, and throughout there was Phil, the psychological master, the spokesman deflecting pressure.

Now, we can expect that the Wizards will lose a lot of games and that will sour the audience and the critics and Jordan, so fiercely competitive, will chafe and grow testy. His body will bruise as much his ego. He will grow increasingly waspish with his teammates and it's more than a guess that he will intrude on Doug Collins' coaching authority. Already, Collins is the target of growing resentment over his insistence that the Wizards give Christian Laettner a four-year, $21 million deal. One year would have been gracious plenty because Laettner lost his own competitive fire a long time ago.

The plain truth is that Michael Jordan will ask as much of himself as we do and the requirements for being M.J. will become increasingly difficult to meet.

Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, et al, are waiting their turn to test Jordan. The Wizards will try to protect him, but the young Turks will find him and they will pursue him as jackals pursue an old lion.

Week after week, month upon month this business will wear on Jordan and upon his teammates, on Collins. And the media frenzy will eventually dissipate and fans will question whether they really want to go to the arena to see an aging jump shooter who fronts a bad team.

After a time, it won't be much fun to watch.

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.