Washington ? Hobbled throughout his comeback by a painful right knee injury, Michael Jordan is taking a break to have arthroscopic surgery.

Jordan was placed on the injured list Tuesday for only the second time in his career. He will have to miss at least five games, starting tonight at home against Portland.

“Michael is very disappointed,” Washington Wizards coach Doug Collins said Tuesday. “Michael has not been right since the All-Star break. So much of what we do depends on him and his energy. He hasn’t been himself. He’s been hurting. He’s down about that.”

The prognosis won’t be known until the team physician, Dr. Stephen Haas, performs the surgery. Jordan committed to play two seasons when he returned to the court last fall.

“He’s got to go in there and just find out what’s causing the irritation and why his knee is continuing to swell,” Collins said. “And depending on how much work he has to do, that will be the deciding factor in how long Michael will be out.

“I think (the surgery) would give him hope for next year. I think he knows that if he didn’t have this done, he wouldn’t be able to continue to play. More and more, the swelling is coming back. There’s something in there that’s irritating his knee to make him have the swelling.”

Jordan’s right knee has been giving him problems since he began workouts a year ago in preparation for his second comeback. Team officials are concerned there might be a more chronic, arthritic condition in the knee.

“If it’s a cleanup, hopefully he could be back,” Collins said. “If it’s something a little more severe, then we’ll have to wait and see.”