Jordan has the last laugh - at himself

Michael Jordan may be the greatest basketball player of all time but with his 39th birthday only a week away, and his on-court skills unable to save the Eastern Conference from a 135-120 All-Star Game loss on Sunday, 'MJ' was not afraid to laugh at himself.

"If I can't laugh at myself, I can't laugh at anybody," the legendary Washington Wizards star told a roomful of admiring sports writers after the NBA's mid-season showpiece.

Jordan, who returned the all-stars for a 13th time after spending three years in retirement, played 23 minutes -- about double the 12 minutes he had expected to allot to himself and his ageing physique -- and ended up contributing eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

"It was fun to see him out there playing, and to see the intensity of how he plays up close," said Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who scored 31 points with five rebounds and five assists to be named the game's Most Valuable Player.

But the spectacle that attracted most attention to Jordan was a botched first-quarter breakaway dunk in which he found himself alone at the basket only to slam the ball off the back of the rim while trying to execute one of this patented slam-dunks.

"As you get older, you just don't have the same type of confidence," explained Jordan, who was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history six years ago.

"You've got to go through a checklist. And I went through the checklist and by the time I was ready to dunk the ball, I wasn't there," he added. "It was fun. I'd laugh at myself, I guess."

HARD TIME

The play drew some ribbing from Jordan's Eastern Conference team mates, including first-time All-Star and Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal.

"We gave him a hard time. We told him that his legs aren't as young as they used to be. He just smiled," O'Neal said.

The show-stopping play that Jordan might have made on a different day came in the second quarter from Orlando Magic guard Tracy McGrady.

He shot from the top of the key only to drive the ball of the backboard, then caught it in mid-air and slammed it home for two points and a burst of cheers from the crowd.

"It was great! Tracy went back to the playground. Old school," said Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics.

Jordan, who has won six NBA championships, two Olympic Gold medals, five NBA MVP awards, has scored more than 30,000 points in his professional career and notched the only triple-double in All-Star history.

"Michael is one of those guys you can tell whose competitive nature started to come out, especially in the third quarter.

"He really wanted to get back into the game and really wanted to win," said Eastern Conference coach Byron Scott, the head coach of the New Jersey Nets.

During that period, Jordan hit only one of six field goal attempts but managed three assists and four rebounds.

"I don't know why everybody is tripping because Jordan missed a dunk," remarked McGrady.

"He is not that Jordan that he used to be where he could put his hips up into that doggone rim. It was great for me just to participate in this game, and Jordan to be a part of it. I think the guys really enjoyed themselves this weekend."