Once he was Air Jordan. Now, he's often just swinging at air.

In a recent game against Charlotte, after Michael Jordan arrived too late to stop a key late dunk by Hornets forward Lee Nailon, he punched the air in aggravation. Minutes later, his Washington Wizards lost yet another game.

Jordan never has seen losing like he is experiencing now. The first three Chicago teams he played on, from 1984-87, all had losing records, but were able to make the playoffs.

The Wizards need not make any reservations for May. They enter tonight's game at Gund Arena against the Cavaliers at 3-9, having lost eight of their past nine games.

``I'm disappointed more than frustrated,'' Jordan said. ``We've made some improvements since Day 1, but we're not nearly where we should be. Change is happening in this organization. Unfortunately, it's all through losing. That's not fun.''

Jordan always has had fun playing basketball, usually because he has been on the winning side. He won an NCAA title at North Carolina and six NBA crowns with the Bulls.

Jordan, 38, didn't expect to win a title this season after coming out of a three-year retirement. But he couldn't have envisioned that his supporting cast would turn out to be a bunch of B actors missing their lines.