WASHINGTON -- On the bedroom wall of his boyhood home in Chicago, Bobby Simmons grew up beneath a pair of Michael Jordan posters. One was a picture of Jordan, Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen holding a championship trophy, the other a shot of No. 23 hovering above the rim in his 1988 Slam Dunk contest duel with Dominique Wilkins.

Now, some 13 years later, Simmons, a rookie from DePaul University, will get the opportunity to not only play alongside his boyhood idol, but learn from him as well. It's a process that's already underway, with Simmons having played alongside Jordan in pickup games this summer.

"He makes everybody hungrier. You want to work that much harder when he's around," Simmons said. "Every time I stepped on the floor with him, I expected to win. His competitiveness is unmatched."

It's that competitiveness, that desire, that Jordan and coach Doug Collins hope can rub off on a Wizards team that features nine players on its preseason roster with less than four years of NBA experience.

Last year, with Jordan as the President of Basketball Operations, the Wizards won 19 games. With Jordan on the floor this year, Washington is hopeful they might be able to make the playoffs.

"I want to be sort of a teacher on the floor and try to make this team better," Jordan said Monday in his first public comments since returning to the NBA. "Either they will listen to me or they won't. But I just want to teach them some of the small things to make them better and in turn make the game better."

Collins is confident that will be the case.

"By being with him and going through it everyday, the younger players will see how he approaches the job," Collins said. "They will see that fire burning inside him and it will rub off on them.

"He is the ultimate winner and that's the kind of guys you want to be around."

In addition, Jordan's presence will surely alleviate some of the pressure that would have been centered on the team's young stars, specifically No. 1 draft pick Kwame Brown of Glynn Academy High School.

"Now they just worry about concentrating on their business because all eyes are going to be on how MJ's doing, what MJ's doing," Collins said. "Guys like Kwame can grow now without all the attention around them."

Brown, the first high school player ever taken with the No. 1 overall pick, was the center of basketball attention in D.C. before Jordan decided to return. The repercussions of that decision were evident Monday, as numerous media members shuffled around Brown to speak with Doug Collins and others about Jordan.

Jordan's everyday presence will also make players more accountable for their on-court actions. Nine-year NBA veteran Christian Laettner, who has played on five different teams, says Jordan will bring discipline.

"Just having somebody like him on the team, in the locker room, will hold every single player accountable," Laettner said. "Some kid can't look in the mirror on a certain night and say, 'I'm going to get 25 points because tonight is my night.' They'll have to answer to Michael. He'll be the one to help enforce what Doug wants."

The setup presents an interesting challenge for Collins, who was hired by Jordan three months ago. Though on Monday both Jordan and Collins clearly defined their roles as "player" and "coach," the fact remains that a week ago, Jordan was Collins' boss.

"A lot of people ask, 'How are you going to coach him, he's your boss?' " Collins said. "But that's simple. I'll coach him because he wants me to coach him. He's told me time and time again that he wants to let me coach the team. He wants me to help him."

Still, despite all the talk of Jordan rubbing off on the team's younger players, Collins said Monday you'd be mistaken if you thought that was his only motivation in this return.

"People have been getting hung up on this teaching thing, but Michael is the kind of guy that wants to kick ass while teaching a few things," Collins said. "Those who think he's going to come back as Socrates are going to be mistaken."

Simmons, who rubbed shoulders with Jordan on pickup courts in Chicago all summer, agrees.

"Our first game is going to be an eye-opener for a lot of people," Simmons said. "People think that he's slow, that he can't jump, that he can't shoot, but it's not like that. He's still got it."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com.