CHICAGO -- Michael Jordan has had his share of losing at his personal tryout camp, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.
One of the players in camp, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that Jordan's team was beaten in 10 straight mini-games by a squad of current NBA players on Wednesday, the third day of the camp.
Players brought in this week by Tim Grover, Jordan's trainer, include Anfernee Hardaway, Jerry Stackhouse, Antoine Walker; Michael Finley, Tim Hardaway, Juwan Howard; Charles Oakley, Marcus Fizer, A.J. Guyton, Ron Artest, Quentin Richardson and Omar Cook.
"Like everybody else, Jordan had a lot of fun except for the losing," said the player, who kept his name out of it because Jordan had sworn everyone to secrecy. "He got upset with each loss. But there was little that he or anybody else could do because -- man! -- this was a day when Tim, Penny, Finley, Oakley and (Bobby) Simmons could do no wrong.
"That's the way it is sometimes in scrimmages. A lineup gets hot and gets on a roll and nobody can touch them. So they ran the table today. We play to seven points, and in one game they rallied from three down to win.
"Michael played OK when he played but he mostly took it easy," the player continued. "He was really pacing himself, probably because of that tendinitis in his knee. I've had the same thing and it's hell. Every NBA player gets it sooner or later. But Michael is being smart about this thing. He is more interested in winning the war than winning the battle. He obviously is working his way back into this thing gradually and doesn't want to try to do too much too soon and risk making his injury worse."
Jordan has asked all the players not to talk about what goes
on inside the Chicago gym where he is testing himself ahead of a
mid-September decision about playing again.
Television networks were also preparing for a surge of
interest should Jordan end his three-year retirement, the
Washington Post said.
The Wizards are not on NBC's schedule at all and appear only
once on the Turner Sports schedule, at Philadelphia against the
Eastern Conference champion 76ers on Nov. 28.
But NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said all that would
change if the Wizards had Jordan on the floor.
"If he comes back, we have the flexibility to get him on
close to the maximum number of times we're allowed, if we so
choose," Ebersol told the Post, declining further comment.
NBC is allowed a maximum of 11 appearances by any one team
during its season.
Turner spokesman Greg Hughes said Jordan's presence could
mean TNT and TBS might televise a maximum of 15 Washington
games, the newspaper reported.
The Wizards open their season on Oct. 30 against the New
York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. If Jordan comes back, the
game is virtually guaranteed to be telecast by TBS, league
sources told the Post.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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