Michael Jordan's aging knees have forced his return to the injured list and called into question whether he will ever play professional basketball again.  While Jordan intends to play next season, he'll be approaching 40 years old, and his body may not be willing.

Time eventually brings down even the greatest athletes, and Jordan is no different.  One thing is certain, however; despite a culture that loves to kick when a man is down, his basketball legacy is secure, and no 12-minute, two-point performance can diminish anything he has accomplished.

Here's a partial list of what Jordan has done:

- six championships
- six-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player
- five-time NBA Most Valuable Player
- ten-time All NBA First Team
- selected as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players
- Defensive Player of the Year in 1987-88
- nine-time NBA All Defense Team
- only player in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year and lead the league in scoring ? in the same season
- ten-time NBA scoring leader ? most in league history

But what has he done for you lately?

This season, Jordan returned with the down-trodden Wizards, a team that won just 19 games last season and 29 the season before.  This was a Wizards team that might've won just 26 games without him, but had that many at the All-Star break.  Playing with a cast of developing youngsters and veteran role players, he forged a team that would've been in the playoffs but for some ill-timed injuries.

In the process, Jordan breathed life into a franchise that was slipping into draft lottery oblivion.  Somehow, he made his teammates believe they could win.  And until Jordan got hurt, they won more than they should have.

There's no question that this was a diminished Jordan.  This wasn't the explosive athlete we'd seen in the late 80s and early 90s.  He wasn't jumping over or blowing by anyone.  He hobbled around on gimpy knees, playing far too many minutes to prop up a team that needed his presence.

On nights when the knees felt good, he scored 44 on the Jazz, 51 on the Hornets, 45 on the Nets, 40 on the Cavaliers, 41 on the Suns, 37 on the Heat and 34 in just 26 minutes against the Bucks.  When the knees were bad, he sometimes struggled.  But it's clear that he can still play, and that he's still competitive at the highest levels of the game.

Many fans and commentators are viewing Jordan's comeback through the wrong lens.  So often I hear that Jordan should not have returned and should not come back next season because he has nothing to prove.  In fact, it's just the opposite.  And comments like that betray a failure to comprehend what motivates him.

Jordan didn't return because of ego ? if he had, he would've signed with the Lakers and won another championship.  He didn't come back for money ? he already has all that he can use, plus the prospect of making even more over the next few decades.  He didn't do it to make the playoffs, win another title, or make himself look better as a general manager.

He came back because he loves the game and he wanted to play.  He came back to share what he knows with a bunch of guys desperately in need of a teacher.  Ultimately, he came back to have fun.  And but for those creaky joints, he has clearly enjoyed himself.

Too often in sports we worry about the longterm.  We wonder what Jordan's return will mean for the Wizards' future.  We wonder what the players really learned from him and whether his effect will last beyond his playing days.

Such things do matter ultimately, and I believe he has left a lasting imprint on the Wizards.  But he has already given the franchise and fans in DC all they could have hoped for.  Every moment he played in a Wizards uniform was more fun than anything the team has done since winning the NBA championship 23 years ago.

He risked much this season.  At his age and coming off a prolonged absence from the game, failure and mounds of public ridicule was a real possibility.  Instead, Jordan sublimated the ego, made adjustments when things weren't working and the Wizards actually won consistently for the first time in more than a decade.

He hasn't tarnished his legacy this season.  Instead, he burnished it even more.