PITTSBURGH -- If anyone knows what races through Michael Jordan's mind as he returns to the NBA, it's Mario Lemieux.

Jordan is facing the same problems and questions that nagged at Lemieux nearly a year ago during his own comeback.

	“	I wouldn't have come back unless I thought I could play at a high level, to be the best player in the world again. I wouldn't have come back to embarrass myself. That's the last thing I would do ... it's the last thing he would do.”
		— Mario Lemieux on Michael Jordan

The expanded waistline. The sore muscles. The quizzical looks from younger stars who wonder why a long-vanished one wants to crash their party.

Those fleeting moments of self-doubt: Will he be the player he was before? Is it all worth it?

Like Lemieux, Jordan was his sport's quintessential performer not just once but twice, taking a season off in midcareer only to return as good -- no, as great -- as before. When Jordan retired in 1998, a year after Lemieux did, there seemed to be nothing left to accomplish, nothing left to prove.

However, Jordan found something missing in his life away from the athletic arena that couldn't be captured on the golf course or in the owners' box or boardroom. It wasn't about the money or the fan adulation; it was about looking in the mirror and knowing that he was somebody that nobody else could be.

Michael Jordan missed being Michael Jordan, and that is something even the more private Lemieux can relate to.

"I wouldn't have come back unless I thought I could play at a high level, to be the best player in the world again," Lemieux said. "I wouldn't have come back to embarrass myself. That's the last thing I would do ... it's the last thing he would do."

Jordan cited Lemieux's successful comeback to the Pittsburgh Penguins last winter following a 3½-year layoff as a key reason he decided to end his own 3½-year retirement and play for the Washington Wizards.

Jordan and Lemieux became friends during charity golf outings years ago, and Lemieux was among the first in whom Jordan confided when he began considering his own comeback last winter.

"When Mario Lemieux came back to the Penguins, it stirred something in Michael," Wizards owner Abe Pollin said.

When the two met on the golf course this summer, Lemieux was convinced Jordan would not regret his decision.

"He looks the same as he did when he retired, maybe in better shape," Lemieux said. "He knows he has to be in great, great shape to be able to compete with the young athletes now, and as long as his legs are strong he should be able to play most of the games."

	“	Just getting the timing back, that's the biggest part. He's been away from the game for a while and the game, I'm sure, has gotten faster in the NBA like hockey did over the years. Just trying to get used to the speed again and the intensity of the game, that's his biggest challenge. ”
		— Lemieux on Jordan

Like Jordan, Lemieux worked for weeks to shed weight and regain his game legs, conditioning that was largely responsible for his success last season. Projected over a full season, his nearly 1.8 points a game would have easily led the NHL in scoring.

Jordan isn't promising any scoring titles but, like Lemieux, he said he would not return unless he could again be an elite player.

"Just getting the timing back, that's the biggest part," Lemieux said. "He's been away from the game for a while and the game, I'm sure, has gotten faster in the NBA like hockey did over the years. Just trying to get used to the speed again and the intensity of the game, that's his biggest challenge."

The only concession the 38-year-old Jordan should make to his age is not to rush back from injuries and possibly turn a two-week ailment into a two-month layoff, Lemieux said.

"It doesn't matter how great of shape you're in, you might have a few nagging injuries here or there and you just have to be patient," Lemieux said. "He might be forced to take some time off when he doesn't want to.

"That's the hardest part when you're coming back. You want to play every game and that's the biggest thing you've got to be patient about."

Jordan is older than Lemieux was when he returned in December at 35. But while his body might not do the things it once did -- he can't soar from the foul line on a dunk anymore -- Jordan can tap a career full of knowledge, experience and can't-be-duplicated tricks.

"I'm going to have total confidence once I step on the basketball court that I can do the things I'm capable of doing," Jordan said. "In terms of mentally playing the game at the highest level, I will be totally confident.

"I'm not saying I'll be 25 years old when I step onto the court, but I feel I can play the game of basketball at the highest level and that's what I aim to do."

Substitute the word "hockey" for "basketball" and the same quotation could have been from Lemieux.

"You just have to have fun, really," Lemieux said. "This is his last chance to play the game, and you have to enjoy every day. It's a challenge again, especially at his age, but I'm sure he'll be fine because he is a great athlete.

"He wouldn't come back unless he could be the best."