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N.B.A. ALL-STAR GAME; Jordan Stars One Last Time (Probably)

A brush with the flu left Michael Jordan's body a bit achy and numb. And yet, he could still feel the significance of the moment playing out beneath the pinwheel ceiling of Madison Square Garden last night.

So Jordan was absorbing everything, storing it all in a mental hope chest of sorts, because he was all but certain the 48th annual National Basketball Association All-Star Game was his last.

It is not the hype of this event he will miss if he goes, but the camaraderie and competition.

So he will miss nights like this. Beneath the commercial fluff of this game, there was a basketball court and a challenge. There was the daring teen-age pinup, Kobe Bryant, who was staring into Jordan's watery eyes. And the 19-year-old kid, the youngest player to start in an All-Star Game, was on the attack. It was the perfect remedy for Jordan. He watched Bryant's helicopter dunks and playground moves add up to 18 points. But in the end, Jordan had 23 points, a 135-114 victory for the East All-Stars and his third most valuable player trophy.

''He came at me pretty early,'' Jordan said of Bryant. ''I would if I was him. If I see someone that's maybe sick or whatever, you've got to attack him. He attacked. You know, I liked his attitude.''

Jordan saw a little of himself in the player so often picked to slip into his place after he retires. And Jordan had to admit it was a fun matchup. So how could he be serious about leaving all this, about walking away with the league's youngsters nipping at his heels?

''I'm very serious about it, actually,'' Jordan said. ''If I can't continue to have fun, then it's not worth playing. If you can't have fun out there with an environment that feels comfortable to you, what's the purpose of playing?

''How many times do you want me to say it,'' Jordan continued. ''If Phil Jackson is not in Chicago, I'm not playing. I'll say it once more.''

Jordan was loud and clear about his intention to retire if Jackson, the Bulls' coach, was not back next season. And yet, there is a sense of denial about Jordan's retirement: few people believe he will leave, especially when he is still the best. He does not leap from the foul line to dunk anymore. He is a complete player now, but it was a process.

''Kobe is going to go through the same thing,'' Jordan said of the second-year Laker. ''When you come to these games, it's O.K. to have the creative game, but with good, solid basketball, you'll be able to play with anyone.''

Bryant is more flash than fundamentals at this stage, making him the perfect All-Star Game participant. But more than that, Bryant seems to have that certain something that makes him Jordan-like. Maybe it is the telegenic quality of Bryant, a player who makes teen-age girls squeal and high school boys grow their hair high like his. Bryant is not a starter for the Lakers, yet he was voted to start for the West.

It took Bryant to bring a somewhat docile crowd of corporate types and celebrities to their feet as he did a 360-degree dunk on a fast break in the first half of a game in which ordinary jumpers brought yawns.

Unless, of course, that jumper came from Jordan. He scored the first points of the game. Then he took Bryant's dunk and raised him a dunk and a couple of fall-away jumpers.

''He hit those two turnarounds,'' Bryant said. ''And I was like, 'Cool, let's get it on.' ''

And it was on. Everyone on the court seemed to clear the way for Jordan to face the future of the league in Bryant.

''I kind of looked over at Jordan and he had this look in his eye,'' Reggie Miller said. ''He was like, 'You're right, they are trying to plug this as Kobe going after Michael.' We all took that personal. Plus any time you can beat up on those sissy West players, you've got to go after them.''

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The East, which outshot the West, 52 percent to 40 percent, had all the bravado. But Bryant, who hit 7 of 16 shots in 22 minutes, might have had a chance to push Jordan for the m.v.p. if West Coach George Karl had not seated him for the fourth quarter.

Karl is an alumnus of North Carolina. Jordan is, too. So conspiracy theories were brewing. ''I think I'd better stay away from that one,'' Karl said. ''Best for me not to answer that. Really, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Michael is Michael.''

It is not as if there weren't other stars, but it seemed as if Jordan's one-on-one with Bryant overshadowed everything else.

''I think there was a little too much of that stuff today,'' San Antonio's David Robinson said. ''It's hard. Some of us mid-generation guys, we're all about trying to win the game and aren't into that one-on-one kind of deal.''

But this was an All-Star Game, where it's all about style. So what's a gritty rebounder like the Nets' Jayson Williams to do?

''Just have fun,'' Williams said. ''I'm just in awe. I was getting on the bus with the guys today and thought, I ain't never been this close to $1 billion in cargo.''

Jordan made the trip to the Garden, too. There was concern he would not. On Thursday, Jordan dropped a golf game in Las Vegas, Nev., because he felt ill. By Saturday, he had a fever of 101 degrees and was listed as questionable for the game.

''If it had been yesterday,'' he said, ''I wouldn't have been able to play. I spent the whole day in bed yesterday so I could get up and play.''

By being out, he avoided being peppered by questions until last night: Why would he quit now? Why can't he be a Knick? Although Jordan was sitting at the locker usually reserved for Patrick Ewing, he was sure he was never going to be a permanent fixture in the Knicks' locker room. But wait, didn't he say he would consider being a Knick?

''The only thing I ever said was, 'If I was single,' '' Jordan said. ''And I'm not single, so --''

So this was it, apparently. Three All-Star Game m.v.p.'s and out.

''People don't want to see it,'' Jordan said. ''Or people just don't want it to happen. This day was going to happen sooner or later.''

If anyone believed Jordan, they were doing as he was last night: soaking in every sight and emotion of his last All-Star Game. Players from the East and West seemed to sense this. After Jordan received the m.v.p. trophy, the All-Stars greeted him as he left the floor. Some hugged him, others patted him on the head.

''Everyone respects him,'' Anfernee Hardaway said. ''I think this was it for him. This was his last one. Everyone will remember this.''

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A version of this article appears in print on February 9, 1998, on Page C00001 of the National edition with the headline: N.B.A. ALL-STAR GAME; Jordan Stars One Last Time (Probably). Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe