MONTHS AFTER THE 1998 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan sat on one side of a giant table inside a Manhattan conference room. It was the site of a bargaining session between NBA owners and players. The league was embroiled in a lockout. The season was in jeopardy. But Jordan had other unfinished business to attend to.
A group of players sat with Jordan, who was an advocate for the union despite being weeks away from announcing a second retirement. There was one microphone in front of the six-time NBA champion and another in front of Dave Checketts, president and CEO of Madison Square Garden, who sat alongside seven owners and commissioner David Stern on the other side of the table.