He has filled arenas, helped television ratings, dominated the spotlight and played well, but he still hasn't turned the Washington Wizards into winners.

Maybe he isn't a basketball god after all. Maybe he can't walk on water.

Michael Jordan -- at age 38 and after sitting out three seasons -- has returned to basketball and found a spot among the best players in the league, but he isn't working the miracles he once did with regularity.

The Wizards (5-10) will be home tonight against the Orlando Magic (7-9), another team that hopes to deliver a payback for all those beatings Jordan administered in his prime. The Magic want to use him as a springboard to ignite a run.

He has become a steppingstone, a big-name fighter who may have stayed in the ring too long.

"I hate to say I feel sorry for him, but he was such a great, great player for so long that it's a little painful to see him on a team now that's struggling," said Magic forward Horace Grant, who helped Jordan win his first three NBA titles in Chicago from 1991-93. "On the court, everyone is going after him. He's been taking a lot of hits."