Washington ? Michael Jordan will probably be able to play again this season. Whether he can make it back in time to save the Washington Wizards’ drive for the playoffs is another matter.

Jordan had surgery for the first time in his career Wednesday morning. Team physician Dr. Stephen Haas found and repaired torn cartilage in the 39-year-old forward’s right knee, an injury Haas said was the result of normal wear and tear for an athlete of Jordan’s caliber.

Typically, recovery time for such an operation is two to six weeks, and many variables age, severity of the tear, workout ethic can determine where a patient fits in that range. The Wizards will have a better idea of Jordan’s time frame when he begins therapy after a few days of rest.

“Anytime you have a knee where you’re getting swelling, you hope that when they go in there they find something they can fix,” coach Doug Collins said. “When I talked to Michael, he was happy they found the source of the problem and that they were able to fix it.”