"I never realized you were such a big Trent Tucker fan. You appear to have plagiarized his game since you came back," said New York writer Peter Vecsey.
"I never realized you were such a comedian," Jordan responded.
But is Vescey right? In his latest column in the New York Post Vescey pointed out that Jordan shot 16 jumpers out of his 17 attempts in the Wizards loss to the Raptors on Sunday, and that he has been resorting to his jumper more and more this season. The result has been the lack of free throw attempts Jordan has received this year, including only two against the Raptors.
This was bound to happen with age, something that Jordan himself seems to have both recognised and accepted, but with the understanding he has of the game of basketball he has been able to adapt and still keep his game on a high and effective level.
But the bad news about Jordan's explosiveness abandoning him may be that, if the final possession of the Raptors encounter is anything to go by, the referees have begun to abandon myth. As Vescey states any superstar will tell you, there's no coming back, no way to overcompensate for losing the refs' respect.
What Vescey is referring to is the no call when Jerome Williams appeared to make contact with Jordan after MJ grabbed a defensive rebound then who spun around right into Antonio Davis. In the past this was an automatic call in Jordan's favor, with Williams himself stating that a foul could have been called in that situation, but is the tide changing?
"Yeah, I got ripped off," Jordan stated. "Yeah, I got fouled . . . all over my body . . . Yeah, I had plenty to say to the refs."
But down by one after the above incident Jordan also had a chance to redeem himself. It was, as we have all come to know, 'Jordan Time'. The game was on the line, his team had the ball, and this was to be the last shot of the game.
But as Vescey so elegantly put it 'Jerome Williams guarded him so tight, Ahmad Rashad and Charles Barkley got jealous'. Jordan went to his spot at the top of the key, stopped short as he likes to so, but Williams had stopped short as well. The pump fake was thrown, but Williams didn't bite. Jordan had no choice but to heive the ball up there and prey for a miracle that wasn't to be answered.
'A couple hours later, I observed Jordan and the rest of the Wizards going through customs on the way to their charter. Got stopped there, too, by some middle-aged guy who didn't appear to be in the best of shape, despite some picks set his body guard,' wrote Vescey.
'There's no fighting it; this is what happens when you become just another jump shooter.'