Here come the detractors, people calling Michael Jordan's comeback unsuccessful. Although he added a few pages to their Jordan scrapbooks, they feel violated, deprived of a happy ending. Somehow, his legacy has been tainted.

The critics are missing the point. This wasn't Willie Mays floundering after a fly ball in the '73 World Series. This wasn't Magic Johnson during his abbreviated comeback. This was Jordan putting the Washington Wizards in position to make the playoffs. This was Jordan proving he was still an All-Star at age 38. This was Jordan taking a team that won 19 games the year before and winning 26 -- by the All-Star break.

	Despite people wanting to make his career decisions for him, Jordan came back on his terms, for his reasons, and gave the Wizards a value they could never get from a high draft pick or a pep talk. Jordan led by example.

In late December, Jordan scored 51 points against Charlotte and then 45 against New Jersey two nights later. Along with being one of the top 10 scorers in the league, he taught the Wizards how to win, to not quit. He gave the franchise an identity it hasn't had for 20 years, the last time Washington advanced past the first round of the playoffs.

And because he signed a two-year contract, he said he will be back again next season -- at age 39.

The only part of Jordan's comeback that failed was his surgically repaired knee, which finally gave out and ended his season. Aside from the knee, Jordan defied his age. Despite people wanting to make his career decisions for him, Jordan came back on his terms, for his reasons, and gave the Wizards a value they could never get from a high draft pick or a pep talk.

Jordan led by example. With him playing on an injured knee, the Wizards learned more than if Jordan had been his old self, circa 1990. Watching him play, seeing how he contributed in different ways each night and how he came back from surgery, the Wizards began to understand the mental toughness it takes to be great.

In the locker room, the Wizards look like a developmental league team. Yet that's what they did -- develop. Once an NBA laughingstock, they even began walking with a swagger. They learned. Popeye Jones got better. Rip Hamilton got better. So did Chris Whitney and Courtney Alexander.

Kwame Brown? Maybe, maybe not. The No. 1 overall pick may have gained more toughness, more of a readiness to practice and work hard. A player can't be around Jordan without absorbing those qualities, even through osmosis.

Jordan and the Wizards have nothing to be ashamed of. They played hard and enjoyed some bright moments. Instead of the Wizard players saying, "Let me tell my grandkids I played with Jordan," they will be able to say, "This is what I learned from playing with Jordan, who wasn't at his best, who never quit, who gave us a chance to make the postseason, a dream we didn't have the previous year and wouldn't have had without him."

How many players can a team get who would earn $1 million, average around 23 points a game and fill up the arena in every city they visit? Jordan was the best bargain in basketball.

So what if he went out limping? Jordan can hold his head high. He came back successfully and left for a reason he couldn't control. But the knee will be brought under control in the offseason, and the Wizards will be better next season. Why? Jordan will make them better.

Without Jordan, the Wizards are still entertaining a playoff spot; they are three games out of the eighth spot in the East with seven games to play. Watching the Wizards over the final two weeks, we may get a truer sense of what Jordan meant to them, of what they learned.

The Wizards face long odds to make the playoffs, but the odds were even longer at the beginning of the season. Maybe there could still be a happy ending for Jordan and the Wizards after all.