If you happen to own stock in the companies which make Zoloft or Prozac, you might be in for an unanticipated windfall. Doug Collins is coming back to coach in the NBA -- and for the Washington Wizards.

	Hamilton was Jordan's choice a year ago, but he was out after 63 losses.

Washington hoop el jefe Michael Jordan clearly is hoping that the third time is indeed a charm for hyperactive Collins, who did some nifty turnaround work in Chicago and Detroit before crashing and burning in both locales. What's still not certain is whether Jordan turned to Collins with the understanding that he, Jordan, would be returning to play.

The Collins-Jordan relationship has been hashed over time and again. Suffice it to say that if Jordan really got Collins fired in Chicago, he would not have turned to him now to oversee his own team, especially if he's serious about playing again. (We could never see him playing for now-former coach Leonard Hamilton.) Collins was more a victim of his own, crazed, all-consuming, micro-managing coaching style which, in the end, had as many people worried about his well-being as about his ability to call a play.

This was clearly a Jordan-orchestrated move from beginning to end. What he has in Collins -- and what he did not have in Hamilton -- is an individual who comes to the job with a resume, a reputation and a knowledge of how the NBA works. Coaches will tell you that television work can be a rewarding experience, in that it enables them to keep tabs on the game, talk to the individuals, and yet still be sufficiently withdrawn from the process so as not to get overwhelmed by it.

Collins' reputation as a turnaround guy is backed by the facts. The Bulls went 30-52 in the year prior to Collins' arrival in Chicago. (Jordan only appeared in 18 games that season, however.) In the next three years, the Bulls won 40, 50 and 47 games. In what turned out to be Collins' last season, Chicago stumbled into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, then upset the 57-win Cavaliers in the first round and the Atlantic Division champion Knicks (coached by Rick Pitino) in the conference semifinals. They even had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the conference finals against Detroit before the Pistons woke up and finished them off.

But by then, Collins had all but disassembled. He wasn't speaking to his top assistant, Phil Jackson. He had another assistant, Tex Winter, tossed from practice. The team was in disarray, succeeding only because Jordan wouldn't allow them to do otherwise. Had the Bulls not upset the Cavaliers in the first round, Collins' dismissal would have seemed logical and proper. Nevertheless, Collins is still understandably bitter about the firing, feeling he set the foundation for the run of titles over which Jackson presided.

Collins then went into his own wilderness years, staying away from coaching for seven years. Over that span, he developed a reputation as a top television analyst, one he still has. In conversations during those years, Collins would say how much he loved the television gig and how he felt he could not relate to the modern NBA player. But then the Pistons came calling in 1995 and, much like the situation in Chicago, Collins inherited an underachieving team with a legitimate star in Grant Hill.

In his first season in Detroit, the Pistons went from 28 wins to 46 wins. The following year was even better, a 54-28 season. But both years resulted in first-round playoff departures, the latter coming to Atlanta after Detroit led 2-1 and couldn't close it out at home. The following season, after starting out 21-24, Collins was fired.

		The move will surely fan the flames of a possible Jordan return, namely, why would Collins do it for any other reason. But a Jordan return would also result in Collins being viewed as little more than a well-paid marionette, moving to MJ's every whim. More plausible is that Jordan has a coach he knows and can relate to -- and vice versa -- and that Collins is someone the players recognize and will listen to.

Again, the same reasons surfaced. Hill came to the conclusion that he was playing for a lunatic. Collins was losing weight, going nuts and, basically, destroying himself. But replacement Alvin Gentry was only 16-21 with the same group and the Pistons failed to make the playoffs. That also was the year that Collins, who had the power to make trades, dealt Theo Ratliff and Aaron McKie to the Philadelphia for Jerry Stackhouse and Eric Montross.

So, you have to wonder, why would the 49-year-old Collins allow himself to do it all over again -- and with a team that will be lucky to win 30 games next season. Yes, there's the money. It's better than what he's getting at NBC, but, unless he emulates the working style of Jordan (read: two days a week), the new job is going to be a lot closer to 24/7 than the one he has now. Those days of leisurely golf in January in Arizona are a thing of the past.

The move will surely fan the flames of a possible Jordan return, namely, why would Collins do it for any other reason. But a Jordan return would also result in Collins being viewed as little more than a well-paid marionette, moving to MJ's every whim. More plausible is that Jordan has a coach he knows and can relate to -- and vice versa -- and that Collins is someone the players recognize and will listen to. Collins also, if history holds true to form, will be exacting, demanding and even oppressive, but will have the players' working hard and winning some games.

Say this for MJ: he's not afraid to make moves. It was clear that most of the Wizards players had no use for Hamilton, who should have heeded Pitino's advice when he called the then-Celtics coach last summer and asked what he should do. Pitino said a bad NBA team is not a good place for a good college coach (unless, apparently, you're given $50 million.)

Collins will be starting fresh with a bad team that does have some hope. The Wizards will still stink next season, regardless of whether Jordan plays or not. But this is a long-term arrangement and, by the summer of 2002, the Wiz will have money and, possibly, even some cachet.

All of this depends on a mellowing of Collins. He's bright, articulate, and accommodating. He's already the early favorite for the head coaching job on the 2001-2002 All-Interview team. He should know by now what went wrong in Chicago and Detroit and he only needs to look in the mirror as a reminder. The NBA is usually not a league which allows for patience and understanding. Collins will need a lot of both in Washington -- and even then, that still might not be enough.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.