MJ says gooodbye again

PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Jordan's final shot was a free throw, and like his final appearance in an NBA uniform, it was good.\nJordan played the last game of his illustrious career Wednesday night, receiving a lengthy standing ovation from nearly everyone in the arena -- including the coaches and the other players.\nJordan soaked it all up with a wide smile and a wave to the crowd after exiting the game for good with 1:44 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 107-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.\nJordan finished with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes -- drawing several adoring ovations from the last sellout crowd that will ever watch him play.\nHis final points almost looked scripted, with Eric Snow of the 76ers fouling Jordan in the backcourt, for no apparent reason except to send him to the line.\nBoth foul shots went in, and the Wizards committed a foul one second later so that Jordan could be removed from the game and receive the proper send-off. In a rare scene, the 10 players who remained on the court turned to Jordan and applauded, too.\nIt wasn't the kind of ending Jordan would have preferred: a game that was meaningful only to the opposing team. But it was a stirring night nonetheless, the last time the basketball public was treated to the sight of one of the greatest athletes in history playing the game one last time.\nWith the Sixers ahead by 21 points with 9 1/2 minutes remaining, the crowd began chanting "We want Mike." The chant grew louder as the period progressed with Jordan remaining seated, and fans ignored the game to stand and stare at the Wizards' bench, wondering why Jordan wasn't playing.\nEventually, this being Philadelphia, they booed.\nJordan finally pulled his warmups off and re-entered the game with 2:35 left for his brief final appearance.\nEarlier in the game, he wasn't all that spectacular. There was a play in the first quarter when Jordan looked like the Jordan of old -- except for the result. Starting near the foul line, Jordan ducked his shoulder, lowered his head, stuck out his tongue and drove to his right, the ball rolling off his fingers ever so softly as it arched toward the net.\nRather than going in, though, the ball hit the front rim and missed -- one of several of his shots that came up a few inches short.\nOne of the exceptions was Jordan's final shot of the first half -- a one-handed dunk that came after he received a nice pass under the basket from Bobby Simmons.\nJordan hit his first two shots of the third quarter but didn't do much else positive in the period. On an alley-oop pass from Tyronn Lue, the ball hit him in the fingertips and bounced harmlessly away. A lazy crosscourt pass was picked off by Aaron McKie, leading to one of Philadelphia's 31 fast-break points, and Jordan's final field-goal attempt was a missed layup with 8:13 remaining.\nAllen Iverson scored 35 points as the Sixers clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.\nMany people in the sellout crowd wore Jordan replica jerseys, including one small boy in an oversized black Bulls jersey who wasn't looking when Jordan tussled his hair as the boy walked along the sideline. When the child turned around, he was stunned.\nThe 76ers had a couple of pregame surprises for Jordan, presenting him with a golf cart that was driven onto the court by Moses Malone and Julius Erving, then having longtime Chicago Bulls public address announcer Ray Clay introduce Jordan with his familiar inflection of "From North Carolina ..."\nThe standing ovation that Jordan received lasted about three minutes, with Jordan smiling, nodding and chewing gum throughout. The group Boyz II Men sang "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye" between the first and second quarters as a montage of Jordan's career highlights was shown on the scoreboard.