By BOB MATTHEWS
Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle

Michael Jordan's latest and presumably final retirement from the NBA is an opportunity to salute the astonishing feats of Wilt Chamberlain, the only legitimate challenger to Jordan as the "greatest basketball player in history."

Jordan is being hailed as the all-time No. 1. I'll go along with that, but only after recalling a few highlights of Chamberlain's awesome career.

Jordan's fans reasonably point out that his first retirement erased three potential peak seasons and cost him the distinction of being the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

But things evened out for Jordan in terms of the NBA's other major scoring record - average points per game.

Jordan was able to walk away this week as the NBA's all-time leader in points per game only because Chamberlain decided to alter his playing style in his final two seasons.

Jordan finished with 32,292 career points, good for No. 3 on the all-time list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,374).

Had Jordan played the 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, he probably would have scored around 7,000 points (he had scored 7,279 the three previous seasons with the Chicago Bulls). That would have put him on top with more than 39,000 career points.

Jordan wound up averaging 30.12 points in 1,072 games in a 15-year career. He edged Chamberlain, who averaged 30.06 points in 1,045 games over 14 years.

But Wilt could have finished around 32 points per game had he not significantly reduced his field-goal attempts in his final two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Chamberlain's third season in the NBA (1961-62) was by far the greatest offensive season in league history. As a Philadelphia Warrior, he set all-time NBA single-season records for scoring per game (50.4), field-goal attempts (3,159) and field goals (1,597). He scored 100 points in one game.

But late in his career, with the Lakers, he figured the team had plenty of firepower with Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and Jim McMillian, and that he could most help the team by focusing on rebounding and playing defense.

In the 1971-72 season, Chamberlain attempted only 764 field goals and averaged 14.8 points with a league-best .649 field-goal percentage. He led the NBA in rebounding with 19.2 per game and the Lakers were the regular-season (69-13 record) and playoff champions.

Prior to the 1972-73 season, Wilt decided to try to set an NBA record for field-goal percentage. He enjoyed setting statistical goals for himself. For example, prior to the 1967-68 season, he decided to silence critics who said he shot too much by leading the league in assists. He did it with 702 (he averaged around 325 assists in his other 12 full NBA seasons).

In 1972-73, Chamberlain attempted only 586 shots in 82 games and made 426 for a record-smashing .727 field-goal percentage. He averaged 13.2 points and again led the NBA in rebounding (18.6 per game) as the Lakers finished the regular season 60-22 and lost in the playoff finals to the New York Knicks.

Wilt was weary of the regimented NBA life style and decided to retire. He wanted to travel, wine and dine the ladies, play with his Great Danes and pursue a pro volleyball league (his favorite sport). He was 36 years old but still had plenty left. He was second in the NBA in minutes played his final season and didn't miss a game in his final three seasons.

Chamberlain always said that records were made to be broken, but he also was a very proud individual. He died Oct. 12, 1999, and I wonder if he would have had any regrets about reducing his scoring output late in his career had he known Jordan would come along and break his career mark for points per game.

Wilt was prouder of leading the NBA in rebounding 11 times than his seven scoring titles and he wouldn't have to fret about his rebounding records being surpassed. He had 23,924 rebounds in his NBA career (22.9 per game). The next-best rebounder was his old rival, Boston's Bill Russell (21,620 and 22.5 per game). No one else is close.

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The New York Yankees are off to an amazing start considering that they've been playing without Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and Jason Giambi hasn't started to hit yet. Hideki Matsui appears to be a legitimate big-time player and a cinch for American League Rookie of the Year, even if he doesn't deserve it.

Matsui would be the third Japanese veteran to be AL Rookie of the Year in the last four years (joining Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000 and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001). Players with more than five years of experience in Japan's top leagues should not be eligible for Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year awards. It simply isn't fair.

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Ken Griffey Jr., Player of the Decade for the 1990s in one major poll and second to Barry Bonds in another, won't make the top 500 for the current decade. At age 33, he is either extremely brittle or extremely unlucky. But if he never plays another full season, he has accomplished more than enough to make the Hall of Fame: .295 career batting average; 2,044 hits; 469 HRs; 1,359 RBI; 176 stolen bases; 10 Gold Gloves for fielding excellence; 11 All-Star Games.

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Finding flaws in sports superstars is a common practice, but the latest knock on Tiger Woods is a joke. Some critics are noting that Tiger has yet to come from behind to win a major golf championship. Considering the fact that Woods has won six of the last 12 majors and eight overall, his "problem" seems to be having the lead too often to stage a lot of rallies.

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2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch is scheduled to interview next week with the Canadian Football League Toronto Argonauts. If he's fortunate, he'll be as successful in Canada as fellow Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie was. He'd play quarterback for the Argos. The St. Louis Rams drafted him in the third round to play defensive back.

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NBA Commissioner David Stern has to be smiling these days. The three-time defending champion Lakers appear vulnerable entering the playoffs, the embarrassing dysfunctional Portland Trail Blazers don't figure to survive beyond the second round, and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony could become the most exciting and charismatic 1-2 NBA draft picks since Oscar Robertson and Jerry West in 1960. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird would've been the all-time 1-2 punch in 1979 had the Boston Celtics not used a loophole to select Bird No. 6 overall as a "future" in 1978.