Jan 19, 2002 02:44 PM
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(Updated Jan 19, 2002 02:44 PM)
Announcing his second comeback has virtually thrown Michael Jordan into the spotlight. “His second coming is bound to heal the economy”, says an investor at the New York Stock Exchange. And indeed it will. Jordan had generated $ 106 billion in revenues for the game and the broadcasters and also helped raise basketball salaries by 2500 per cent. He took the Chicago Bulls and Nike to phenomenal heights in between 1978 and 1998. The Chicago Culls, with whom he won six national NBA titles in the nineties, were often referred to as “Michael Jordan and the Jordanaires”. And with Nike, Jordan endorsed a lot of footwear for which he was paid $130 million. His face and that flashy smile graced anything and everything from lunch boxes and t-shirts to school bags and advertisement signposts. He now returns with the Washington Wizards, a weak team, but then, that’s Jordan. He likes playing hard. He has trained six months for the upcoming opening game with the Wizards. It will be a long hard campaign, as Jordan will have to play 82 games in the new pro NBA season.
The opening game of the Wizards saw tickets for courtside seats being sold illegally for $ 4500. An ardent fan of sport may loathe basketball but still watch Jordan seven nights a week. And that’s wherein lies Jordan’s greatest appeal.