Transcript - Doug Collins

Reporter: Good day for you Doug?

Doug Collins:The last few days have been interesting because I talked to Michael and I knew he was very close to getting this done. I haven't seen him much. Last time I really saw him was in July. I saw him eight weeks ago in our rookie camp for two days and then we broke camp and I went back to Arizona and spent about six weeks there. I did see him about two weeks ago with the coaching staff and we saw him lifting weights and there was an energy and commitment about him. I knew he was happy with they way his training was going and with the way he was playing. I felt two weeks ago when I saw him that he was going to play.

Reporter: What does it mean to the NBA? What does it mean to the NBA?

Doug Collins: Well, we'll see how fast this number 23 Wizards jersey becomes the number one selling jersey here in the NBA. It'll probably start today. You know I've been hearing so many negative things being said and I know Michael is probably sitting back and this just motivates him even more. I've never been around a guy like him. He loves competition. He does love to play. I don't know where it started that Michael was going to retard our young players' growth. I think he's going to help our young players' growth. I can only see him on the floor everyday working in drills with our younger players showing them on a daily basis what it takes to be a champion in this business. That's going help our players. I don't think in anyway that can hold them back in their development. So I think this is all positive. I think it's great for the city of Washington with the energy that this will bring about. And it will be good to see Michael, just to see him on the floor and doing what he loves to do. He loves to play basketball.

Reporter: Going into training camp , You know this guy is 38 years old, are you going to try to push him the way you pushed him ten or twelve years ago? Are you going to have to gauge it to see if he needs to be paced? How is that going to be handled?

Doug Collins: Well, it's interesting. The last time in July when we were on our way to rookie camp, I said to Michael if you do play, you're going to have to let me know on a daily basis how you feel, how much you want to practice, and what you want to do, so we can make sure we don't wear you down in practice so you'll keep your energy up and you'll be able to be strong the entire season. He looked at me and he said " You know I expect you to motivate me to get to run that extra line and do those extra things. I'm 38 years old now and maybe the things that would have come easily for me before, I'm going to need you to push me a little with" I feel very good that he wants to work exceptionally hard every day. Now in training camp he'll only go once a day. There's no need for him to go twice a day. You know we'll obviously build and I'll talk to him about how he wants to handle that. He'll probably go the evening sessions where we do more of our scrimmaging and watch the morning session when we do a lot of our teaching. I expect him to come to practice everyday and do the things he's always done. One thing about Michael Jordan is you don't have to motivate him. He's one of the most self-driven human beings I've ever been around in my entire life.

Reporter: How do you vision him as a part of the team?

Doug Collins: I think Michael will play all three perimeter positions I think we've got a lot of different teams that we can put out on the floor now. The addition of Tyronn Lue is going to give us a team that can really push the ball, and when we can get the ball across the floor quickly, we have shooters to put out on the floor. I think if you look at our back court, Chris Whitney is an excellent shooter and Tyronn Lue is a very under-rated shooter. We've got Courtney, Rip and Hubert Davis. We've got guys that can shot the ball. I can foresee us going to a back court where you have some bigger guys. Late in the game I can maybe see having Rip, Courtney and Michael all being in the game together. I think it gives me a lot of different things I can do. I can see him playing a little point guard. I know he'll play some small forward. I know he can play the 2 guard. So, I think he'll play all perimeter positions. I might even go to a small line and play some zone. And hide him on the back line somewhere. We'll see.

Reporter: How will losing be on him coming to a team with a losing record? When was the last time Michael was a part of a losing team?

Doug Collins: The last time was my first year in Chicago. We won 40 games. We went from 30 to 40. From then on Michael's never tasted losing. You know that Michael never talks about that. I don't think that's something he dwells on. I think his big thing is in coming to Washington, is to do everything he can to make this one of the elite franchises in the NBA once again. I think he feels like playing right now is going to help where we're trying to head. He's done a magnificent job in the front office when you look at what has happened. We've added some young players. We have salary cap space for next year and in the future. We've added Tyronn Lue. We've added Kwame Brown, Etan Thomas, and Brendan Haywood. Courtney and Rip are both young players. We have hope in this franchise. Michael sees that, and I think he's excited to help build it.

Reporter: Will you be conservative with him defensively?

Doug Collins: I think it will go game to game based upon what the game dictates. It could be what we need at that particular time. Obviously the defense has changed this year. You can do a lot of different things. You can play some zone. You can play some matchup. You can do some trapping and pressing. I'll have to see how the game goes this year. I know all the coaches are all probably sitting around wondering how things are going be. None of us have ever really coached under these new rules. Michael's never going to run away from a matchup, you know that. We'll go game to game and see, but I'm not going to hide him. Michael would be very upset if I hid him.

Reporter: Knowing Michael's stature and the amount of respect the younger players will have for him. There probably will be sometimes when you'll have to get on him. Are you going to get on him?

Doug Collins: I'm going to coach Michael. I'm going to coach him just like I'm going to coach the rest of our guys. I don't expect to curse anybody out. I'm going to coach them all. Michael asked me to come in here and coach. He's been with me before when he was a young player he asked me to come in here and to what I do, to try and make young players better. I don't think he would expect me to do anything but coach him and treat him like a professional, like I'm going to do with everybody on this team.

Reporter: What type of player do you have now? Is he a jump shooter now?

Doug Collins: I haven't seen Michael play in nine weeks. July 12th was the last time I saw him play and he had 2 sprained ankles and 2 broken ribs. I haven't really seen him.

Reporter: What do you expect from Michael?

Doug Collins: I expect a really good player. I don't know exactly how he's going to play but I think he'll be a terrific low post player. He'll play a lot at the foul line and under, He will create a lot of opportunities for open shots for other players on the floor because you know how good he is around that post area. I expect him to be very good with screen and role situations, making plays. He's a brilliant basketball player. It's pretty hard for me to speculate what type of player he'll be when I haven't seen him. I know Michael well enough to know that he hasn't practiced this hard and done the things he's done to come back and not be a pretty good player.

Reporter: What do you make of some of the speculation being negative? Mark Cuban not the only one saying he won't be even one of the ten best players in the league.

Doug Collins: What would we be without negativity? If everybody said good things there would be no press conference here right now. We got to have other things out there you guys know that. It's a business where you always have to prove yourself whether your Michael Jordan or whoever, you always have to prove yourself. If you've watched Michael throughout his career, he's never run away from a challenge. This guy walked away from three championships then went and hit .220 in baseball and wanted to bat in the ninth inning after striking out three times. Then he came back and won three more championships, so he's never been afraid to risk failure. I think that's an unbelievable quality he has. There are a lot of people who are fearful of putting themselves in that position. Michael thrives on that.

Reporter: Michael, Rip and Courtney are similar types of players. How have you planned to work with Rip and Courtney's development, who both need playing time and shots?

Doug Collins: Oh, there's plenty. There's 96 minutes at those key positions. That's 32 minutes apiece. Are you asking me who's not gonna start?

Reporter: As far as getting them on that upward learning curve?

Doug Collins: Learning time is earned. When you play on a bad team and score 20 points that doesn't mean anything. I want Courtney and Rip to become guys who can be excellent players on a team that wins. I think Michael is going to help them see that. I don't know how many games we're going to win, but I think anyone trying to equate Michael coming back with hurting Courtney and Rip is a huge mistake or assumption to make.

Reporter:Can you talk about Michael's many different motivations for coming back, and how much did you encourage him to come back.

Doug Collins: I got in all kinds of heat when I was doing games on NBC. People thought that I already knew, and that I was holding back. Michael called me today and finally said "I'm sending the FAX." Two weeks ago, if you had asked me, I would have said, "I think he's gonna play." Up until that point, I remember we talked about two weeks prior to that, and he was struggling with some tendonitis in his knee. And he was concerned. He's been through some broken ribs, some back spasms, the tendonitis, and he fought threw it. When we talked about me coming in here to do this job, I didn't ask "Michael, are you going to play?" I said, "Michael, are you going to be in Washington? Are you going to be there as President? As long as I know that, then I'll come be there. But I don't want to come in and all of a sudden you decide to play and play somewhere else." And he assured me that he was going to be here and be in Washington and be a part of this process as it is being rebuilt. I knew that at some point he would call me and let me know how he felt. He did not need me bugging him. As I said before, I've seen Michael once in nine weeks.

Reporter: People are looking for all sorts of reasons for Michael's return. He says it's for the love of the game. Other people say no.

Doug Collins: In July, at rookie/free agent camp. I was standing here on this practice court, and Michael and I flew in together the day before. And he came walking down those steps with a flak jacket on and two rolled ankles. And he could not wait to get on the floor and play basketball. If you could've seen the joy on this guy's face about just going out to play. And I've seen that joy before, and I know how much he loves to play. People are always going to read into all different kinds of things. Like what Michael's motives are, that he has a disdain for younger players, or this and that. Michael's not coming back for revenge, Michael's coming back to play. He loves it.

Reporter: How do you think Michael's decision will affect the country at this time?

Doug Collins: I just spoke to my daughter's fifth grade class in Allentown, PA. And every question was, "Is Michael Jordan gonna play basketball again?" They want to watch him play. Michael Jordan, when he's out on the court, he exhibits confidence, joy, pride, all these things that we're all about. And when he's out on the court, that's his place to do what he loves to do. I'm excited about that. I wish that there weren't so much negativity. I think it's a very exciting day. It's a very exciting day for the city. Since Michael's come here, the hope and how this franchise is starting to turn, and the energy in the locker room, the players and the way they're working, Michael has him imprints all over this franchise right now. And I know there's a lot of people who can't wait to watch him play basketball. I think it's going to be a tremendously uplifting thing for everybody.

Reporter: You said earlier this summer that if he did come back, you would be one of the happiest guys in the world. How excited are you?

Doug Collins: I wrote Michael a note and I sent something to his house. The only thing I really said was "Michael I hope this decision will be an easy one for you to make. And I hope it will be one that will bring you great joy." Because he deserves that. For all that he has given to this game and all that he has done. He has epitomized winning and the way he has handled himself and all the things that he has done. This guy is something special. And I am honored to once again be with him. To be his coach and to sit on the bench and to travel with him and just watch this man prepare to do something that he loves to do. I think it is going to be a wonderful thing.

Reporter: If he's not one of the top ten players in the league, or top twenty players in the league, how will he react.

Doug Collins: If you are asking me, Michael Jordan will be one of the top ten players in the league. To me he is going to be one of the top ten players in the league. My big thing is that I hope and pray more than anything else that he can stay healthy. That's the big thing: I hope he can stay healthy.

Reporter: Will you have to limit his minutes to keep him healthy?

Doug Collins: Absolutely not, but again that will be something that we talk about and we practice and all the things we do. He will be back in here before we start training camp and he and I will have a chance to sit down and talk about a lot of different things. But I am very excited. And I thank everybody for coming out here today. I know it was quick. I didn't know until 3:30 today when I talked to Michael but thanks for all your coverage and all and I hope it will be an exciting year for the Wizards and thanks again to Michael for coming back to play.