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--> --> Michael Jordan will be without the Bulls jersey and some of his trademark dunks as he puts on a Washington uni. AP Jordan returns - again WASHINGTON (AP) - Michael Jordan might not be able to outrun or outdunk Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant upon his return to the NBA. So he has another plan. "He told me: `Mr. P., don't worry. I'll outsmart them,"' Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin said. "That's Michael. He'll do whatever it takes to be a winner." Winning won't be easy with the Wizards, and Jordan all but admitted as much in his statement Tuesday confirming his plans to play for the next two years. There was no mention of winning another championship, just the hope that he might help a young, rebuilding team get to the playoffs. "I am returning as a player to the game I love," said Jordan, 38 and three years removed from what seemed to be a storybook ending to an unparalleled career. "I am especially excited about the Washington Wizards, and I'm convinced we have the foundation on which to build a playoff-contention team. "The opportunity to teach our young players and help them elevate their game to a higher level, and to thank the fans in Washington for their loyalty and support, strongly influenced my decision," he said in a statement issued through his management agency. Jordan said he would donate his first-year's salary - $1 million - to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He'll continue to rake in money from other sources, however, and even his comeback announcement was delayed one day by negotiations over the licensing rights to a video game featuring his likeness. NBA rules also required Jordan to sell his ownership stake in the Wizards, and he had to relinquish his front office position of president of basketball operations. The five-time league MVP retired for a second time in 1999 after leading the Chicago Bulls to their sixth title of the decade. He never completely ruled out a second comeback, hedging his bets with the statement that he was "99.9 percent" certain he would never play again. "I am happy to welcome Michael Jordan, the player, back to the NBA, although, as commissioner, I am sorry to lose him in the board room," NBA commissioner David Stern said. Jordan's announcement was sure to hearten a city - and entire country - shocked by terrorism. Washington's economy has suffered since the attacks, with Reagan National Airport remaining closed and hotel bookings far below capacity. "We've all been so saddened and down," Pollin said. "A little good news like this is really a good thing to happen." Jordan said he would not answer questions about his return until Monday, when the Wizards report for media day in Washington. His first official practice will be the next day, when training camp opens in Wilmington, N.C. Jordan's regular-season debut will be Oct. 30 at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, and his first home game for the Wizards will be Nov. 3 against Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. Jordan will be in the unusual position of playing for the coach he hired, Doug Collins, who joined the Wizards in April and also coached Jordan for three seasons with the Bulls. in the 1980s. "Michael asked me to come in here to be coach," Collins said. "I don't think he would expect me to do anything but coach him and treat him as a professional like I'm going to do everyone on this team." But Jordan won't be treated exactly like everyone else. Collins, for example, said Jordan will probably practice just once a day during training camp, sparing him the grind of two-a-days. Jordan's summer workouts were slowed by back spasms, knee tendinitis and two cracked ribs, raising doubts about whether his body could endure the rigors of an 82-game schedule. "He said `I'm 38 years old now and maybe things that would've come easier for me before, I'm going to need you to push me a little bit.' I feel very good that he wants to work exceptionally hard," Collins said. Jordan will share the court with players he signed, drafted and traded for, including high school sensation Kwame Brown, selected No. 1 overall by the Wizards in June, and veteran forward Christian Laettner - a graduate of Duke, the archrival of Jordan's alma mater, North Carolina. Jordan has been in training for about six months, at first saying he was simply trying to lose the 30 pounds he had gained in retirement. Inspired by his friend Mario Lemieux's successful comeback with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jordan rigorously worked himself into playing shape during the summer by holding several invitation-only camps of pickup games with other NBA players at a gym in Chicago. He occasionally worked out with the team last season when he was president of basketball operations, a job he used to almost completely overhaul Washington's roster and put the team into a rebuilding mode. His supporting cast will include the likes of Jahidi White, Richard Hamilton and Courtney Alexander - none of whom were in the NBA when Jordan played for the Bulls. Collins said he envisions using Jordan at both guard spots as well as small forward. Turning a team that won only 19 games last season into a winner might be an insurmountable challenge - even for Jordan. The Wizards haven't won a playoff game in 13 years. "I think Michael definitely makes Washington much better," Philadelphia 76ers general manager Billy King said. "Does it make them an Eastern Conference Finals contender? I don't know. Nobody has seen Michael play. You don't know what level he is at." Such statements will no doubt feed Jordan's competitive nature. "You hear so many negative things being said," Collins said. "I know Michael's probably sitting back, and this just motivates him even more. I've never been around a guy like him ever. He loves competition, and he does love to play." With his announcement, Jordan immediately overshadowed the arrival in Washington of another winter sports star, Jaromir Jagr. The NHL's leading scorer last season was acquired by the Capitals in the offseason. Speculation over Jordan's comeback had already pushed the Wizards close to a record number of season ticket sales. "We just had somebody walk up with $12,000 in cash and say `I want season tickets,' which is a pretty good sign for us," said Pollin, speaking less than two hours after Jordan's announcement. NBC said it would change its television schedule to include some Wizards games. Turner Sports will do the same, with TBS in line to air the season-opener. Jordan will return without the all-star cast that he hoped would accompany him. Charles Barkley, who spoke of playing with Jordan, abandoned his comeback bid, and the Wizards were unable to sign any marquee players. But by ridding the Wizards of the high-salaried, long-term contracts of Rod Strickland, Juwan Howard and Mitch Richmond, Jordan has given the Wizards enough salary cap flexibility to restock the roster next summer. When he returns for the 2002-03 season, the Wizards could have a roster that bears little resemblance to the current one. Jordan's $1 million salary for this season was confirmed by a team source, speaking on condition of anonymity. Jordan won 10 scoring titles and is the NBA's fourth career leading scorer with 29,277 points. He has averaged a league-record 31.5 points per regular season game and 33.4 in the playoffs. Jordan's first retirement came in October 1993, after he led the Bulls to three titles. He played baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization for one season, but he couldn't make it out of the minor leagues and returned to the Bulls in March 1995. Jordan led the Bulls to three more titles and retired again in January 1999, shortly before the start of the lockout-shortened season. He made his final shot in a Chicago uniform, sinking it in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals - a play that came to be known as Jordan's "last shot" - to give the Bulls their sixth title of the decade. "While nothing can take away from the past," Jordan said, "I am firmly focused on the future and the competitive challenge ahead of me." --- Eds: Basketball Writer Chris Sheridan contributed to this story from New York. Email your... 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