He can still play.

What's more important, he can still play in a league that needs him to play.

Let's face it. The NBA -- more recently known as the National Boring Association -- needed a jumpstart to its 2001-2002 season.

It needed Michael Jordan gliding up and down the court, ready to pounce on energy, enthusiasm and electricity.

A 38-year-old Jordan brought all that to The Palace Thursday night. It was almost like when he brought it here more than a decade ago, snuffing out a short-lived dynasty called the Detroit Pistons.