There was a fellow screaming into his cell phone on the corner of 51st and Fifth Avenue early Tuesday afternoon. He got the tickets, he was explaining with some excitement to someone.

"No," he exclaimed. "Not the Yankees' tickets. The Jordan tickets!"

Michael Jordan Returns: The Second Coming wasn't, of course, the only must-see show off-Broadway on Tuesday night.

But after months of will he or won't he, rumor and hearsay, and more buzz than can be delivered by a triple espresso laced with ephedrine, it was the must-see show. Kind of like a one-evening engagement with Streisand. The Yankees would play another night.

So they crowded around the blue police barricades that circled Madison Square Garden as tip-off neared. Those who couldn't get in, just wanted to be there. Just wanted to say they were close to the show.

Michael Jordan's return obviously adds fuel to the debate about which player will be the most electrifying in the NBA this season.

Can Jordan regain his crown from the top contenders during his retirement ? namely Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Allen Iverson? Only the one-on-one battles will help answer that.

But before the foursome takes to the court, we can at least decide which player has the most electrifying Web site.

Unfortunately, only Jordan has an official site, meaning Bryant, Carter and Iverson must rely on their best available fan sites. But don't let the difference fool you ? a player's official site doesn't necessarily mean a better one.

With that in mind, here's how they rank:

From Air Jordan to Despair Jordan?

Michael Jordan didn't exactly detract from his legacy. But at this rate, he certainly won't add to his highlight reel.

Playing a slower, smarter game way below the rim, Jordan delivered an underwhelming 19-point performance in his highly anticipated return to the NBA Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. As expected, Jordan's Washington Wizards lost to the New York Knicks, 93-91. But in a shocking reversal from his dominant days as the best player to ever lace up sneakers, a new Jordan dawn was received with a collective yawn.

Said Wizards coach Doug Collins, "I thought Michael was fine."

Despite apparently leaving his gravity-defying super powers in the 20th century, Jordan was clearly his team's best player with four steals, six assists and five rebounds, despite missing 14 of 21 shots in 37 minutes. But to the disappointment of the sellout crowd of 19,763 and an audience expected to be among the biggest in cable TV history, he didn't come close to dunking or even prodding a single ooh or aah. Instead, he settled for a variety of jump shots launched by any number of NBA players on any given night and even threw an air-ball 18-foot jumper. In fact, in a performance not only under the rim but barely off the floor, the 38-year-old Jordan did nothing better or different than any of his younger peers.

It's hard to predict where Michael Jordan will be on the final day of the NBA season.

Last night, there was no mistaking where Jordan was on the first day of the NBA season.

He was at Madison Square Garden in New York. He was causing a stir, as only the greatest basketball player ever can do, even with legs that have less spring and with a Washington Wizards team that figures to frustrate him, no matter how much he promises to teach, push and inspire.

Is it really his nature to play this parental supervisory role, even if this is the only role left to him?

It is almost impossible to imagine this will satisfy him, but this is the plot line Jordan has set. He maintains he is back to do a new job, at the same time refusing to lay the Jordan of old completely to rest.

With 18 seconds left in the game, Jordan wanted to be the Jordan of old, not an old Jordan.

After working three quarters to involve his young teammates and distribute the ball like he was the new John Stockton, Jordan knew it was his time.

He switched from point guard to gimme-the-damn-ball clutch shooter. It didn't quite follow Jordan form of the past.

One of the biggest comparisons you will see this season will be between Toronto's Vince Carter with Washington's Michael Jordan.

Both played collegiately at North Carolina. Both won the slam dunk contest. Both possess tremendous physical skills. Both are nicknamed Air.

But that, at least for now, is where the comparisons stop - until this seasons ends, that is. Because Jordan won six championships while he was with the Chicago Bulls, but Carter, still young and growing, has yet to win one.

Many think this could be Carter's chance to imitate Jordan in that area as well. Not only did the Toronto Raptors hold on to Carter by signing him to a $90 million contract that will keep him - and professional basketball - in Canada for a while longer, but they also signed veteran center Hakeem Olajuwon by outbidding the Houston Rockets for his services.

Something Missing in Jordan's Return

Michael Jordan didn't exactly look like the No. 23 of old and he missed his biggest shot of the night in his return to the NBA.

Looking more like a promising playmaker than one of the game's greats, Jordan spent the majority of his minutes at point guard in his regular-season debut for the Washington Wizards after a three-year retirement.

He scored 19 points and passed the ball as much as he shot it, getting six assists but making a few key mistakes that the old Jordan might not have made in a 93-91 loss Tuesday to the New York Knicks.

Jordan had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in front of the Knicks bench with 18 seconds left, but missed the shot ? one of 14 misses in 21 attempts. He also had an air ball and a missed layup in the first quarter and a turnover late in the fourth that diminished a final stat line that included five rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes.

They threw the biggest, hottest, Everybody-Who's-Anybody-Will-Be-There Mega-Event comeback concert on the world's grandest stage Tuesday night.

Knicks 93, Wizards 91.

After all the bald-headed hysteria, that's what the night of nights delivered. A basketball game between two teams nobody will confuse with the Lakers.

Well, maybe the Minneapolis Lakers.

And in other news, Michael Jordan returned.

The Big Story never really materialized. Jordan had 19 points, but he made only seven of 21 shots. When the game was his for the taking, Jordan either missed or passed or did little to justify the fact the Earth reportedly stopped spinning for three hours.

Michael Jordan's long awaited return to the NBA last night didn't have the fairy tale ending so many Washington Wizards fans thought it would. Jordan struggled in a soldout (19,763) Madison Square Garden, shooting 7-for-21 and finishing with 19 points as the Wizards fell to the New York Knicks 93-91 in their season opener. Jordan led the Wizards with a team-high six assists.

Even though the Washington Wizards' coaching staff would ideally like to play forward Michael Jordan between 32 and 35 minutes per game, Coach Doug Collins said he would not hesitate to play Jordan more minutes if needed.

"I'm not going to monitor Michael's minutes on a night we have a chance to win a game so that he can play the next night," Collins said tonight. "If we've got a chance to win a game we've got to try to do that. The monitoring would have to come the next night. We can't get to a point where I say, 'Oh, jeez. He's played 33 minutes, I've got to get him out of there because we have to play tomorrow night.' He might play 39 minutes one night, come back the next night and play 29 minutes. I think we both know how we want to monitor that situation."