Jordan’s Return Won’t Air in L.A.

Michael Jordan’s return to Chicago today will be televised in 72% of the country, but not in Los Angeles. This market will get the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs at 10 a.m.

The Laker game was on the NBC schedule all along and the Washington-Chicago game was added as the second part of a doubleheader after Jordan announced his return.

But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the NFL rescheduling that delayed the playoffs one week meant a second NBA game on NBC today would have gone head-to-head with an NFL playoff game.

So NBC, according to a network spokesman, opted to show the two games at the same time on a regional basis, thus depriving L.A. viewers of Jordan’s return to Chicago.

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Larry Stewart