"Yah, I dropped the ball," said Gates, referring to his decision to retire. "Basketball is hard-coded into my brain. My choice to leave the sport has been eating away at me like open sores."

Although he was one of the lankiest point-guards in the game, Gates had the uncanny ability to power his way through the competition, almost as if he was programmed to do so. He ran plays like they were part of a built-in algorithm, and whenever his shooting percentage dropped, he would work on a new release.

"He definitely knew the system," said former teammate Gary Payton. "I just hope he can restart his career. Personally, I think his team could use some upgrading."

One of Gates' best moves involved a pick play which he called the "blue screen of death," a clever maneuver that would always freeze his opponents. And despite his tendency to lock up unexpectedly during a game, his teammates admitted he had one of the best screenshots in the game.

"Bill definitely knew when to seize his windows of opportunity," said former coach Lenny Wilkins. "He would always load up his shots, crash the boards, and reinitialize our game whenever we started to lag. I tell you, he monopolized the floor whenever he was on the court."

Gates says his return has nothing to do with money, although security is important to him. His love for the game, above all else, is his reason for attempting the comeback. He just hopes to cache in on his previous successes on the hardwood.

"I still feel I can chip in," said Gates, who set the benchmarks for success. "I once led the league in takeovers, and I think my style is compatible with the team's system. But I'm not going to return if I'm just going to be a back-up. I'm still capable of shutting down the opponent. I want to contribute."

Gates indicated that should he not make the team, he has threatened to buy the Orlando Magic and move them to Redmond, Washington, building a team made up entirely of fully-networked nine-foot robo-android players with laser optics and titanium exoskeletons.

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