WASHINGTON -- If he fails, Michael Jordan won't regret it. If he embarrasses himself, he'll shrug it off. If he loses his final game, he'll live with it.

	Michael Jordan considers himself physically fit and plans on playing in all 82 games this season.

Jordan made it clear Monday his latest comeback isn't about succeeding in other people's eyes. It's about making peace with himself and giving basketball another chance before it's too late.

"It's an itch that still needs to be scratched here, and I don't want that itch to bother me for the rest of my life," he said.

Jordan, 38, took the stage at the Washington Wizards' home arena to explain in detail why he was returning to the NBA again, after an absence of more than three years.

Sporting a goatee, he answered every question in calm, measured tones, sounding a little defensive only once or twice.

"Everybody was so negative about what I was trying to do," Jordan said. "If I read every newspaper about negative things that I was trying to do, I swear I wouldn't live in America. America's supposed to be the free will to do whatever you choose, do whatever you want to do.

Wiz tickets hot commodity

About 400 people braved the cold and rain to wait in line Monday for tickets to see Michael Jordan play for the Washington Wizards this season. Others used the Internet or telephone to grab a chance to watch No. 23 back in action. Wizards players Jahidi White and Brendan Haywood helped customers as more than 60,000 of the 80,000-plus individual tickets on sale Monday were snapped up. "I've been here since 1988, and certainly we've never seen anything like this," Wizards spokesman Matt Williams said. John Phillips, of Potomac, Md. was at the front of the line because he showed up at 10 a.m. Sunday -- 24 hours before the MCI Center ticket office opened. "I'm a Jordan fan," Phillips said. "We never got to see him in his previous stints but now that he's on his third time around, we figure the third time is the charm." Although he was at the front of the line, Phillips had to compete with those using computers or phones to order tickets. He wasn't able to get all the seats he wanted for the Wizards' home opener against the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 3. Customers are limited to 12 tickets per game. "There should be enough to go around for everyone," Phillips told the ticket agent. Others such as Michael Licalsi, of Arlington, Va. changed their allegiances once Jordan announced he was returning after a three-year retirement, his second hiatus from the NBA. "Actually, I was a Knick fan," said Licalsi, who stood in line for more than six hours. "I hated his guts when he was with the Bulls, but since I'm here now, we can root for him."

"That's all I'm doing. I'm not committing a crime here. I'm just trying to play a game of basketball.

"What if I'm tired of playing YMCAs or the Boys and Girls Clubs? I want to step into the elite competition. If I can do it, great. If I can't, that's great, too. But you can't take my six championships away. You can't take all the things that I've done."

If anyone has a problem with that, too bad.

"I'm not walking into this scenario thinking I'm failing. I'm walking in thinking I'm confident and I'm pretty sure that I can make it work. If I sit here and listened to everyone else tell me that I can't do it, then obviously I wouldn't be here," he said.

He characterized his motivation this way: "I'm all about challenges and seeing if I can go out and see if I can achieve something," Jordan said. "If, at the end of the day, I do it, great. If I don't, I can live with myself."

Jordan wore a black baseball cap and a black sweatsuit with red trim from his personal line of athletic clothing -- a color scheme closer to the Chicago Bulls' than the Wizards.

He faced about 200 reporters for nearly an hour, fielding questions about his legacy, critics, the young rivals who have circled certain dates on their calendars. He was asked about his health, his stamina, his patience, his effect on the game.

Though he answered them all, it was clear none of those things really mattered. Playing is the only thing.

He said he will try to start slowly, try not to do too much too soon. He said the Wizards should improve on last season's record of 19-63, but he'd be "surprised" if Washington can win 50 games.

The Wizards open training camp Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C. Their first regular season game is Oct. 30 in New York against the Knicks.

Jordan won 10 scoring titles and six championships while playing with the Bulls. He left the NBA prior to the lockout-shortened 1999 season, when it became clear the Bulls were ready to break up their dynasty and rebuild with younger players.

Jordan was only 35 then but insisted he was at peace with the decision. That was before he discovered how much he missed the game.

"When I left the game, I left something on the floor. You guys may not be able to understand that," he said.

Jordan began working out early this summer with an eye toward making a comeback. He shed 30 pounds, held daily workouts against NBA-caliber competition and started to get the feeling that he was not too old or too brittle to resume playing the game.

He made it clear Sept. 10 that he was committed to making a comeback, and the official word finally came last week.

"I'm not walking into the dark. I know what I'm capable of doing. I know what's going to be expected of me. I know everybody is putting my head on the chopping block," Jordan said.

Jordan said he considers himself 100 percent fit and plans to play in all 82 of Washington's games. He twice mentioned Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, but didn't talk about other young players who are undoubtedly looking forward to their chance of going head-to-head with the greatest player of all time.

Latrell Sprewell will be his matchup in the season opener; Allen Iverson will be going after him in Washington's first home game. Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse will get a shot at him in exhibition games.

"I'm pretty sure they're sitting back welcoming the challenge. Guess what? I'm sitting back welcoming the challenge, too. Everybody was motivated to play against me when I left, so things haven't changed," Jordan said.