There is little doubt that basketball and boxing can use them, but as a society we may need them even more, as hero and antihero, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Air and Iron. In Chicago, Jordan's return has been positively biblical. And it wasn't just Chicago that was devoted to Michael. That day Jordan made his debut against the Indiana Pacers, and though he shot only 7 of 28, he moved well considering he had been playing baseball for a year. His performance was nearly as impressive as the 63 points he scored in a 1986 play-off game on the same parquet floor.
Greatness has a price, though.
For some fans, it was the four-figure ticket. Sometimes with Jordan, you don't know where the reality ends and the commercial begins. It was like going to my guru. Drink it up. Actually, the guru is wrong.