Michael Jordan is not rejoining the Chicago Bulls. And he is not giving up his dream.
Jordan, responding to published gossip that had him leaving minor-league baseball's Birmingham Barons for the NBA, told reporters in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday that he'll stay with the Double-A club at least until the end of the season.And the Bulls?
"I don't see myself being back in the game (basketball) at any time in the near future," Jordan said.
The near future . . .
"OK, the far future," he said. "Either way you want to put it. I just don't like to say never; I don't like to close doors - but if you want me to say it: OK - never. I will never play basketball again, except recreationally."
On leaving the Barons:
"There's no truth to it," he said. "It's nothing but rumors. I'm not going to throw a curveball at the fans. I told them I would be here, and I'm here."
The Barons, a Chicago White Sox farm club, have drawn 245,000 to Birmingham's Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in 39 dates, about 2,000 a game ahead of their 1991 franchise record - and that's before the big Fourth of July weekend. They continue to be the Southern League's top road draw.
He did admit talking some time ago to Birmingham manager Terry Francona and his staff about quitting, but they urged him to stay, Jordan said.
"Sometimes I'm a little down," he said. "The last time was probably about a month ago. I asked them to evaluate my progress, and I told them I didn't want to be just taking somebody's spot on the roster.
"They told me I had made good progress and that the potential was there. They told me everybody in baseball goes through what I've been through. I didn't realize that. It's encouraging."
As he took the field Friday night against the Memphis Chicks, Jordan was batting .197 with 12 doubles, a triple, no homers, 26 RBIs and 73 strikeouts in 269 at-bats.
"Nobody expected me to hit .300 except maybe myself," Jordan said, "and a lot of baseball purists said I couldn't succeed. But nothing has changed since spring training. We said we would look at it at the end of the season and make a decision then.
"The end of the season is not yet here. And that decision has not yet been made."