William Gildea writes in the Washington Post that no matter how many points he scores -- and with an average of 26.8 he's scoring just about as much as he ever did -- Michael Jordan appears doomed to leave us mildly disappointed over his return to the court. The consolation could be that he is bringing pleasure to great numbers of fans, who are glad to have him back or have been drawn to his personal challenge to be (something) like Mike was. But if Jordan's comeback seems underwhelming, it's not because of Jordan, it's because of the circumstances surrounding his comeback -- the woeful team that he himself has assembled to play with, and the missing ingredients customarily associated with classic comebacks.

If the Wizards were 9-2 instead of 2-9, people would be lauding Jordan's comeback. If the team were better, Jordan's stats wouldn't matter. But an individual's comeback in a team sport necessarily attaches itself to the team, and the Wizards are a bad team. Jordan succeeded in his mid-1990s comeback with the Bulls. But he may have miscalculated in thinking he could improve the Wizards significantly. With him or without him, the Wizards are off to their usual miserable start because the supporting cast is weak. The memory of Scottie Pippen becomes clearer every day.