How Good Was Wizards Michael Jordan?

the last dance was one of the hottest documentaries this year even though the real last dance of michael jordan happened five years after the story in the dock in 2001 jordan unretired for the second time and suited up in a blue wizards jersey some people say that his two wizards years tarnished his legacy and some praised mj even more so what's the real truth and how good was jordan in washington was he really washed or did he prove once more that he's the goat watch the rest of the video to find out [Music] after the last dance in 1998 mj and phil jackson went to the karaoke bar and jordan chose the careless whisper by george michael and saying i'm never gonna dance again the way i danced with you looking gently in phil's direction okay i totally made that up but jordan indeed said that he wouldn't be playing unless it's for phil jackson since the bulls gm jerry krause didn't want to re-sign phil and scottie pippen wanted to get his first massive paycheck the bulls fell apart and mj fulfilled his promise and retired for the second time and then in january of 2000 michael came back to the nba but he didn't wear a jersey instead he slipped into a suit and tie as a minority owner and president of basketball operations for the washington wizards the team was bad and finished that year with a 29-53 record and they got even worse next year with 10 wins less but there was hope on the horizon they got the number one pick mj had the chance to get a blue chip prospect and he famously opted for kwame brown a number one high school player in the country jordan saw something in kwame and he believed he is the cornerstone that will immediately turn the wizards into a winning ball club also he knew a guy pretty good at basketball a guy who was on the floor with the team at every practice and who was itching to make another comeback it's an itch that still needs to be scratched and i want to make sure this itch doesn't bother me for the rest of my life i'm just gonna play the game of basketball that i love it's not about the money indeed it wasn't about the money jordan the gm gave jordan the player the smallest salary on the wizards and mj gave all of it to the victims of the 911 terrorist attack it really was just about the game for him and because of that competitive fire that never ceased to burn and that voice in the head who kept telling him he is still better than the young guys who took over the league from him how good were the wizards the wizards had a young richard hamilton who was in his third year and who was turning to be one of the most promising shooting guards in the league and that was about it when it comes to quality players with potential the rest were either older veterans on their way out or young role players of course there was also kwame brown who by the time the season started was already crushed by jordan who insulted him at any chance he got jordan never changed his ways and just like he trash-talked all of his opponents teammates and jerry krause he was maybe even worse to kwame a 19 year old kid couldn't take it and he played with zero confidence and was basically unusable on the court nobody on the team averaged more than 10 points that year other than rip hamilton and jordan the wizards were the same team that won 19 games the year prior plus jordan and kwami mj thought it would be enough to be competitive but he overstated his team and himself return of the mack before the season jordan was working tirelessly to get himself in shape he trained every day with his personal trainer tim grover and held private training camps with various nba players to get himself in game shape so the season started jordan wasn't rusty in the first two weeks of the season jordan scored over 30 in four of his eight games in the ninth he poured 44 on the jazz picking up right where he left off in 1998 after the first 10 games he averaged 27.4 points 6.3 rebounds four assists and two steals and it seemed like he had never left as his stats were virtually the same to the 1998 regular season he was in the mvp race and made it easy for the world to fall in love with him once again however his play wasn't reflected in the team record as the wizards only notched two games in the win column they started the season 5 and 12 and were at the bottom of the eastern conference also jordan's stellar play at the beginning of the season wasn't sustainable at the age of 38. he was still michael jordan but he wasn't air jordan anymore or at least not all the time and even though his totals were still looking good mike became an inefficient volume scorer on a bad team he shot 40 in those first 17 games a landslide from his career average of 50 mj was still fundamentally sounds he could still see every play and he was still six foot six strong and confident but he didn't have the same speed and he didn't have the legs under him to shoot efficiently but if you know anything about jordan you know that he hates losing more than anything after those 17 games and a 5-12 record the wizards won nine in a row then they lost a couple and in the second of those two losses mj had the worst game of his career in 25 minutes on the floor he shot 2 out of ten and finished the game with six points which snapped his record 866 game streak of double figures scoring and the media went ballistic after the game jordan was down on himself on the bus ride from the arena he sat next to doug collins whom he hired to be the coach and asked him do you think i can still play colin said yeah of course i only took you out because we were down by 25 in the fourth and wanted to keep you fresh for the next game mj was satisfied and said he did the right thing but he needed the confirmation and the assurance that his coach still believed in his abilities two nights later he responded in a big way he scored the first three times he had the ball and he finished the game with 51 points going 21 for 38 from the field he was the oldest player ever to score 50 in an nba game he followed that up with a 45 point 10 rebounds 7 assists 3 steel effort against the new jersey nets including scoring 22 points in a row during one stretch in the game against the cavaliers the wizards were down by a point with 1.6 seconds left michael then hit a mid-range jumper for the last buzzer beater of his career in a game against his former club after enduring ron mercer's trash talk and having his jumper blocked he responded by pinning mercer's layup against the backboard with two hands and trash talking him on the way back up the court it was a game-winning play and one of the most spectacular blocks by jordan or anyone for that matter it was even more impressive that it was done by a 39 year old who spent his last three years playing golf drinking and smoking cigars by the end of the season jordan notched back-to-back 40-point games but also four more games where he failed to reach double figures and that's where the answer lies about jordan's time with the wizards yeah he could still play and yes he could still be dominant but it wasn't the kind of dominance we grew accustomed to and it didn't happen every game jordan finished the year early due to a knee injury that required surgery and the wizards didn't make the playoffs with a 37 and 45 record mj played 60 games in the 2001 o2 season and he averaged 23 points 5.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists those numbers look great in a vacuum but when you look at jordan's efficiency you can quickly tell he didn't have an overly successful season jordan took 22 shots per game far more than he should have for a player shooting 41 percent from the floor and 19 from three he was second to last an effective field goal percentage out of all players who qualified for the stat and 169th out of 177 qualified for true scoring percentage the real last dance in the offseason jordan the gm wanted to help jordan the player he traded the best young player on the team rip hamilton for a more experienced jerry stackhouse trading away hamilton was a mistake and jordan once again proved his shortsightedness in making decisions the team wasn't that much better and the season went pretty much the same as the last jordan who was a year older and was battling a lingering knee injury still had some juice left but he had to squeeze really hard to get a full cup and it didn't happen all the time he scored over 43 times becoming the first 40 year old to score over 40 in an nba game he also had seven more games where he failed to score 10 points his defense wasn't at the level it once was and numerous players took the opportunity to put up numbers against jordan something that was unimaginable in previous years kobe dropped 55 on him after jordan taunted him that he could wear the shoes but could never fill them michael was more rational with his shots in the second year and shot 44 from the floor and it was enough for 20 points six rebounds and 3.8 assists for the season jordan played in all 82 games but once again the team went 37 and 45 and didn't make the playoffs the highlight of the year was definitely the all-star game where mj was selected as a reserve after he rejected the offer from allen iverson and tracy mcgrady to take their starting spots he ultimately accepted it from vince carter at halftime mariah carey performed a special tribute to him donning dresses of both his rookie year bulls jersey and his final year wizards jersey as his career highlights played on giant screens behind her it was a proper send-off worthy of a star that was michael jordan in the game itself mj didn't shoot it particularly well but he did score 20 points and most importantly hit a tough fall away jumper over sean marion to give the east the lead with less than five seconds to play it appeared to be a game-winner but the west scored again and prevailed in overtime still jordan proved that he still belongs with the best players in the world at least for one game even though it was clear he wasn't the best anymore a mediocre dessert to a great meal if you want a recap of jordan's time with the wizards you'll get different answers depending on who you ask jerry stackhouse said that he wished he had never played in washington because everything was still going through michael jordan even though it was obvious he wasn't the same player anymore kwame brown was miserable during jordan's years there and his career would have certainly been better if he didn't play with mj as a 19 year old the wizard's owner abe poland wasn't thrilled with jordan either and he relieved him of his gm duties shortly after the last season of jordan as a player if we compare jordan's last years to some of the other nba greats we'll see some similarities the greatest players who ever did it if they took care of their bodies were still extremely effective at an advanced age tim duncan was named to the all-nba and all-defensive team in 2015 at the age of 39. karim made the first team all-nba in 86 also aged 39 and he averaged 26 points in the playoffs that year karl malone averaged 28 and five at the age of 39. so it's not unusual that jordan was still able to play but maybe the best quote about jordan's wizards years came from his agent david falk i just don't think it was a good dessert to a great meal in the words of de la soul mike was certified hot and then he dropped to lukewarm however that last two years didn't affect his legacy and the unathletic jordan who had to pump fake three times to get a separation for a shot was soon forgotten people like to remember the good things and the lasting image of jordan will always be that shot over russell and celebrating his sixth title with a cigar in his mouth [Music] you

Channel: Nonstop Sports

Views: 1,408,306

Keywords: nba, michael jordan, michael jordan wizards highlights, washington wizards, the last dance, michael jordan highlights, michael jordan wizards, documentary, michael jordan best plays, michael jordan game winner, the shot, nba history

Id: R5LuRAYoBvI

Length: 11min 50sec (710 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 08 2020