Bulls-Hawks
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Jordan

Scott: What's your motivation to keep playing?

Jordan: Consistency. I love playing the game of basketball, playing against all different forms of challenges from young players to older players, to the inner challenge of yourself to be competitive, to be consistent. I think that drives me right now. Trying to get a fifth championship. That's very important for me right now.

Scott: After the sweep of the Bullets you said it was a good series for the Bulls. You said when you win the championship you'll look back on that series. You said "when," not "if" we win the title.

Jordan: Right. I have total confidence we can win a championship. It's not going to be hard. I believe in what Phil (Jackson) teaches us and what we do as a unit. The biggest challenge as a team leader -- and Phil feels the same way -- is to make sure the young players understand it's harder to defend something than even getting there.

That's the stage we found hard in the Washington series. Those young kids taught us a lesson. When we win the title we're going to look back and say that woke us up, and we marched on to the fifth championship.

Scott: How do the dynamics of the Bulls work?

Jordan: It's a tough mix, a great mix. This is fun, one man able to blend different talents, different personalities, yet have one focus. The credit goes to Phil. He doesn't get the credit he deserves.

You've got Dennis, who's a genius in his own right; Scottie; Toni; Chief has been in the league 20 years; and young players making their careers.

You blend all of that together and find one way to make that successful as a team. A lot has to come from me, from Dennis, giving up some of that ego so that all of us can prosper from that. Phil asks for that from everyone, and we owe that to him, to the team, if we want to be successful.

That's the beauty of it all. We will never really understand how it all happened until we get away from the game.

Scott: When you fail, and we're shocked you fail, is that your fault or ours that our expectations are so high?

Jordan: It's both. I expect myself to make those shots; you guys have seen me do it so much you expect me to do it, so that's part of the motivation, that's part of the challenge to go out there and make it happen, because everyone expects it. And if it doesn't happen, I have the thought process to say, "It wasn't meant to happen. Let's go on to the next one."

Scott: Are you secure that you're the best ever?

Jordan: No, I think that's something that's opinionated and that can never be factual. No one can ever say that they were the best ever because I didn't play in different eras.

Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson -- all those eras have blended together where basketball has evolved, and I'm just one of those guys who is getting some of those opinions. And I would never say that I was the best ever because I never played against Oscar Robertson, and that would have made a big difference.

Scott: What advice would you give to Tiger Woods about handling fame?

Jordan: We've become good friends. I admire his talents. His parents have been very supportive.

He's asked me some of these questions. It's hard to give that type of advice to someone who has the world by the tail in some sense. I think it's harder for him; at the time I came out of school there weren't any guidelines, other than Dr. J. Things started happening to me, it expanded outside the game so I didn't have the guideline to follow.

He has guidelines, certain standards to live up to, which makes it even harder at a younger age. He's 21 years old. People are expecting him to be a mature 31-year-old in dealing with all the things he has to deal with, just skipping 10 years of his life. It's tough for him.

Scott: How would you react if Fuzzy Zoeller's comments were directed toward you?

Jordan: I wasn't there, didn't see exactly what was said. From what Tiger's done, he's handled it the best way possible. If you know Fuzzy, you know his joking attitude. Quite naturally you're never going to forget it, but there's always the possibility of accepting his apology.

By putting you in a predicament, answering questions about why did he say it, these are things you have to deal with. We all, in this arena, are all subjected to what we say by the camera. That's one thing hopefully Fuzzy has learned and I think Tiger's learned from the whole experience. I think he handled it in a mature way and his support system helped him do that.

Scott: What if your kids come home and want to be like Dennis Rodman?

Jordan: My wife and I have to re-establish those values that we teach in our kids. You try and inform them of the whole picture. There's not going to be another Rodman, not going to be another Jordan. There's going to be a Michael, Jeffrey and a Marcus Jordan.

They have people they admire. See why they admire these individuals and give them some advice, but if they say they want to have green or red hair, I'll tell them what my dad told me: "You must be crazy. Not in my house."

Scott: There's a unique relationship between you and Phil. Reiterate your relationship.

Jordan: I don't consider us equals in some respect. He's the leader of this whole relationship and I'm just one of his descendants once I step on the court. So is Scottie. We try to pass on Phil's leadership.

I have so much loyalty to him and what he's done since I've been here under his tutelage. We've gone from bottom to top. We never got to the top until he was the coach. ... A lot of that goes back to preparation and how he takes attention away, but leaves us some of the spotlight, allows us to be a unit.

Scott: If Phil's not back next year, you said you're going home to your family. True?

Jordan: I believe that wholeheartedly. ... From a sense of loyalty, what this is all about is we ought to have a sense of being together and finishing together, maintaining our success until we can't.

That's my stance, and that's why I stand with Phil, because I respect what he has done for me as a basketball player and I think he understands a lot of situations that can enhance young players.

It's education with him as a coach, and to start that over again would be like getting a divorce and getting remarried. It's going to take some time to build up that trust for whoever they bring in here. At my age (34), I don't want to go through that again. It's not broken, so why fix it?

Scott: If Phil goes to another team, could you go?

Jordan: I don't know. I don't want to do that. I don't want to pick my family up. They've given me a chance to fulfill my career; my wife has picked me up, supported me. I'm not going to ask her to do that somewhere else other than Chicago.

Scott: When you leave the game, what will you do to stroke that competitive edge you have?

Jordan: My competitive edge is going to be fatherhood. Make sure the way I was taught as a kid, that it can be passed on to my kids.

I'm sure I'm going to have golf breaks, business opportunities here, but my wife has been supporting me a long time. To some degree I have to give her some freedom, make sure I can watch my kids and let them become whatever they choose to do. Just be there for them.