WASHINGTON -- Highlights from Michael Jordan's news conference Monday, at which he explained his decision to end his three-year retirement and play for the Washington Wizards this season:

"I'm not walking into this scenario thinking I'm failing. I'm walking in thinking I'm confident and 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."

"Physically, I know that I'm not 25 years old. I'm not stepping up and saying I will be 25 years old when I step on that court, but I feel like I can play the game of basketball at the highest level, and that's what I aim to do."

"I come from where you're expected to dominate and you are the target -- everybody's shooting at you. Well, here, no one's expecting anything, so I'm kind of coming from the underdog aspect of things, which is kind of different, but yet it's fresh, it's new. We're not expected to win 50 games. From what I hear from most of you guys, we're not expected to win 30 games. And that's a challenge. ... I'm not coming in with these preconceived ideas that we're going to be 50-32. I'll be totally surprised if we're 50-32, but I think we can be far better than 19-63."

"I am going to have to be patient and let things fall into place and not expect myself to come out and score 40 or 50 points the first night. I'm just going to try to work my way back into the intensity of the game."

On the possibility of diminishing his legacy: "If that was my concern, I wouldn't do this. ... I'm not afraid to take on a challenge. ... I'm not afraid to take a step. If I fall, I fall, pick myself up and move on."

"I'm all about challenges and seeing if I can go out and see if I can achieve something. If at the end of the day I do it, great. If I don't, I can live with myself."

"Everybody was so negative about what I was trying to do. ... 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. 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."

"I'm not about the money. I don't care if I get paid a dime. I've said that many years. ... I'm going to play the game of basketball because I love it."

"The young dogs are going to chase me around. Well, I'm not going to bark too far away from them, either. I'm not running from nobody. If anything, it'll be a great challenge. I'm not saying that I can take Kobe Bryant, that I can take Tracy McGrady. You guys are the only ones saying that they can take me. All good and fine. I'm pretty sure they're sitting back welcoming the challenge. Guess what -- I'm sitting back welcoming the challenge, too. 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'm know everybody's putting my head on the block. Everybody's motivated to come out and play against me. Everybody's motivated to come out and play against me. Well, everybody was motivated to play against me when I left. So things haven't changed."

On his perspective following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: "We're entertainers. I don't think my job is more important than all the firemen and policemen's jobs each and every day. There is a place for relaxation, and I think that's where my responsibility lies. Hopefully, I can provide relaxation for some people."

"Obviously, when I left the game, I left something on the floor. You guys may not be able to understand that. After we won the last title, I didn't sit down, ready to quit the game. I didn't want to go through the whole rebuilding process at that time. If Phil (Jackson, the Chicago coach) had stayed there and the team had stayed intact, I would have still been playing."

"There's an itch that still needs to be scratched here, and I want to make sure the scratch doesn't bother me for the rest of my life."

"I didn't realize the scratch was still there until I got close to the game, became involved in the responsibility, got close to the players. I understood that the competition created an itch. What I'm trying to do now is get that last scratch in -- so that when I walk away I don't have to worry about that itch."

"A lot of people were very nervous about me stopping the growth of the NBA because of my participation. I'm here to aid, to help, and at the same time, get that itch scratched."

On the possibility that the Wizards could trade him: "I'd have to be playing really bad for them to think that way. Whoever I'd go to would have to be really sentimental about taking me. ... That's a pretty good twist I hadn't thought of. My agent would think that way."