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By Johnny Ludden <br>
<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=211&xlc=901114">San Antonio Express-News </a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <br>
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Stephen Jackson wanted to be like Mike. Same shoes. Same smile. Same gravity-defying dunks. Even the same flapping tongue.<br>
Growing up in Port Arthur, Jackson idolized Michael Jordan. He saw every clutch shot Michael Jordan made. He always wanted to own the latest version of Air Jordans. <br>
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Michael Jordan was emulated by players such as Tony Parker in France, Manu Ginobili in Argentina and Stephen Jackson in Port Arthur, something Jordan knows and uses to his advantage.<br>
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When the Spurs visited Washington last season, Jackson stood toe-to-toe with Jordan for the first time. So he did what came natural.<br>
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He froze.<br>
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"I had a hard time guarding him because I kept thinking, 'I'm guarding Michael Jordan! I'm guarding Michael Jordan!'" Jackson said. "It blew my mind."<br>
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Though the air Jordan treads these days isn't as rare, he continues to inspire awe in the league's younger players. As Jordan makes what is expected to be his final playing appearance in San Antonio tonight — in what he assures everyone is his final season (honest) — he finds himself matched up against a generation of players who grew up mimicking his every move and worshipping his highlights. <br>
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"There's not a kid now in the league that hasn't watched Mike and wanted to emulate some of the things he's done," said Sacramento assistant coach Terry Porter, who entered the league one year after Jordan made his debut in 1985. "When these younger guys were on the playground, it was always, 'Michael Jordan has the ball. Five ... four ... three ... two .. one ... he shoots, he scores!'" <br>
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Jordan's appeal, perhaps more than any other athlete besides Muhammad Ali, has stretched far beyond U.S. borders. <br>
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"I played soccer," Tony Parker said of his childhood days in France, "until I saw Michael on TV."<br>
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Manu Ginobili recreated his own Jordan moments in his hometown of Bahia Blanca, Argentina. He watched Jordan on television whenever possible. He studied Jordan's highlight tapes. To this day, a giant poster of Jordan hangs in the bedroom Ginobili shared with his two brothers.<br>
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"He was the guy I admired most," Ginobili said. "I still do. My whole family does. My mom didn't know anything about basketball, but she knew who Michael Jordan was and where he played." <br>
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Ginobili, who remains on the injured list with a sore right ankle, said he will be very disappointed if he does not get to play against Jordan either tonight or Dec. 31 when the Spurs visit Washington. And if he does? <br>
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"For sure, it will be special," Ginobili said. "It will be a big moment, but I won't let it be too big."<br>
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Seattle forward Rashard Lewis thought the same when he faced Jordan last season for the first time. Then he stepped on the court and saw him.<br>
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"I was just staring at him," Lewis said. "I got caught up watching him. Once the game got a little more intense, I sort of forgot about it. <br>
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"But, still, if he's out there making those moves, you're watching."<br>
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That's exactly what Sonics coach Nate McMillan fears most when assigning his younger players to guard Jordan.<br>
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"I try to remind them not so much about what he used to do, but how he has to do things now," McMillan said. "And that is tricking you into relaxing. I think he befriends the players to get them to relax and get them to seem like it's fun. That's just smart. He's still using his mind to dominate the game. If he can get you to let your guard down for a second and play as if this is some friendly game of one-on-one, then that gives him a slight edge."<br>
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Jordan's mystique has swept up the young and old alike. A few years ago, a former Spurs TV analyst wanted to talk to Jordan before a game but was so nervous he asked a team official to stand next to him for support. The analyst was a four-time All-Star who had played against Jordan for nine seasons.<br>
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"The one thing I told our guys," McMillan said, "is you are in awe of this guy and he is the best player to ever play this game. So don't get caught up in the conversation he will carry on with you on the floor because he will still torch you."<br>
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Jordan proved that this week. After matching his career-low with two points Sunday against Toronto, he scored 30 points against Atlanta and 33 against Memphis. <br>
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Parker is looking forward to sharing the floor with his hero for the first time tonight. When the Wizards visited San Antonio last season, Jordan did not play because of a knee injury. When the Spurs visited Washington a month later, Parker couldn't play because of a sprained ankle.<br>
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"But I still went into the locker room and shook his hand," Parker said. "He was nice. He was Michael."<br>
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jludden@express-news.net<br>
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I envy you people in San Antonio who will have a chance to see Michael and David on the same court for the very last time in San Antonio tonight.<br>
If you are not going to this game, you are not a bball fan.<br>
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Here is a Doug Collins quote about MJ that I just loved to read:<br>
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"On his way to Texas, Collins ha a most appropriate analogy.<br>
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"Michael's not the same player he was. He knows that. But he has a brilliant mind and he's still a fabulous player," said Collins. "These days, he's like Wyatt Earp. By the end, Wyatt didn't have to go out in the street. The young guns came looking for him.<br>
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"We don't want Michael out there dueling. We just want him to stay in the saloon and keep playing the piano with us all night." <br>
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Say goodbye to the best athlete of all-times in pro-sports in style tonight San Antonio!
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub61.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=blondie@sanantoniospurs62937>Blondie</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://homepage.eircom.net/~bray/em/orose.gif " BORDER=0> at: 12/21/02 8:54:14 am<br></i>
