@verbadum22 nah Stackhouse avg 20+ his first year with washington which was the same as in Detriot. then got hurt the 2nd. then went to dallas. Cant railroad a guy on the IR
you forgot to mention how the wizards and MJ himself kept improving. They even had a 12 game winning streak and Jordan was averaging 27-6-6 his last 10 games before his injury. Wizards were 6th seed going to the playoffs, and MJ was the only one with Kobe averaging 25-5-5 !! His shooting also improved to about 45%. During the all star break he was even considered the mvp by some people. His injury really ended his career for good
@@Kingdoscuatro I'm curious, what did he lie about? everything I can find says everything he said is true except he rounded his FG% from 44 to 45 over his last ten games. And overstating a subjective statement about peoples MVP opinions...every stat he listed besides that is correct? EDIT turns out he was wrong, Jordan averaged 29.7 ppg 6.6 rb 6.1 ast on 47% shooting over the last 10 games before his injury so you're right he lied. jordan was better than he suggested
@@Kingdoscuatro I guess I shoulda looked into that, I mean I didn't because I don't see how the streak is relevant but yes it was 8 games not 12...pretty sure the Statlinenis the relevant part tho. But the main point is pretending Jordan wasn't an incredible player still at 39 is sort of silly. Many NBA players won't ever pull that stat line at their peak. And he was legitimately in articles about the mvp race pre injury (he was never going to win, but still impressive at that age)
@@garybutler1975 why you cherry picking his last 10 games and not his full healthy 46 games where he averaged 25 points on 24 attempts 👌👌👌👌 on 42% shooting …
I never remember Jordan on the bulls, I was born in 1994. The earliest I remember is Jordan playing for the wizards and my dad going "look at that guy, you see him? That's the best basketball player to ever live." And I remember watching him in awe at 5 years old. For that memory I'm glad he played for the wizards
This is RUclips man, there are lots of games here with Jordan on the Bulls. Start by watching him win those 6 Championships, with winning 6 Finals MVP awards. Then compare him to a few individuals walking around the NBA today thinking that they are GOAT status.
@Jesus Saldana - I shouldn't have to waste my time laying down facts on you when you obviously can't see a player who was out the game for 3 yrs and came back at age 38-40 and scored over 20 ppg as being impressive, but want to call someone a "stan". The ironic thing is that he played a full 82 game schedule playing 37 mpg at age 40, and improving on the injury plagued season the year before. So yeah, pretty fucking impressive.
I liked seeing him playing for Wizards. I wasn't expecting much, just to see him play, and I was satisfied. It didn't tarnish his legacy in my eyes. I remember headlines that said "Wizards won't win championship with MJ" and was thinking who was expecting that.
Lmfao there are still people to this day that swear up and down the Wizards could of won the finals if not for the Knee Injury to Jordan..... MJ fans are absolutely delusional. He's the GOAT for his Bulls years, but most MJ fanboys act like he was still close to MJ GOAT level and thats just not true in anyway shape or form. If that is true than MJ had us all fooled and he ain't the GOAT, he just lucky he had Pippen and Phil, no way MJ is the GOAT if Wizards MJ is "Close" to Bulls MJ like many claim, just say team was worse.
Tarnished his legacy? Takes a lesser salary than anyone else on his team and donates it to families who lost loved ones on 9/11. MJ is the goat. Legendary gets thrown about easily, but this man should be next to the definition in the dictionary. He did it for his love of the game and helped people while at it. Didn’t have to. How many others would or could?
What’s most amazing about his success in Washington is that he was retired for 3 full years before coming back. It’s insane that he did as well as he did with that massive layoff.
You can say whatever you want about MJ’s performance, but most could probably agree that due to the meniscus tear, we didn’t exactly see all that he was capable of that year.
Not even gonna mention how the Wizards were 26-20 and near the top in the East before he hurt his knee? Not gonna mention how the team defense took a massive leap with Jordan being the only notable addition? Come on now.
@@Slapped It always makes me laugh when LeBron fans will call his Washington years a failure only because he didn't win a title in either. It makes me laugh because it contradicts their efforts to eliminate titles from the GOAT debate and actually proves that they do indeed value them despite their claims to the contrary.
I grew up in the DC area. I was lucky enough to go to a game and see MJ play. They played Minnesota or Denver, I can’t remember which one, but I do remember he had around 40 points that day. He was still really good for an old player. I feel so lucky I got to watch him play live that one time before he retired…
He was an unreal player in the bulls and set the bar mighty high. In the Wizards he played like a normal superstar in today’s terms. Averaging above 20 points. He ended off good and that 50 points was a huge plus!
@@mikepantongreat, so after being an efficient scorer for 13 seasons and continuing to be consistently good to great on defense he had 2 seasons where he was as efficient as an iverson or Kobe in some years. Cool.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say MJ knew he wasn't going to win Championships with the WIZARDS before he stepped back on the court. He said he had a itch to scratch and he definitely scratched it and left it all out there. But with Jordan back on the court again, the Wizards became a threat in any game. My friend and I went to his last game against the Knicks at MSG back in 2003, and it was amazing.
He was averaging 25.1 PPG before the knee injury. Averaging 25 PPG in the early 2000s is like averaging 30 PPG now. He was even getting better as the season progressed. Last 20 games until injury 27.5 - 6.4 - 5.2 - 44% Last 10 games until injury 29.7 - 6.6 - 6.1 - 47% And it’s not just the stats. The Wizards were a playoff team and with how weak the East was they could definitely make a Finals run.
True. People talk about Wizards Jordan like he was done?! We all know Jordan was in the air most of the time when he was fresh, but his prime was years later when he didn't have to dunk and could kill anywhere on the court. Hand checking and still averaging 30. 80+ games at the age of 40?! I was not disappointed by Wizards Jordan, everything he did was intentional... Jordan was ALWAYS Jordan.
@@Terror832 Plus brought the Wizards Defense to the top of the League with just Mj as the sole addition. Shot 43FG% from midrange beating Kobe, TMac, etc etc in that department. Was in the MVP convo as well. Did with harder rules and more physical play then today.
Don't see how that would work positional-wise considering small-ball ain't a big thing yet in late 90s to early 00s. If they want to play the triangle then one of them would have to be a sixth man.
That’s a shiny, almost blinding spotlight for sure. I like to think had Brown not been drafted by Jordan, He would’ve had a better career not having to live up to that. Or he really does stink
@@RoscoMontana21 He said that coach Doug Collins and him got along really well during the offseason after the draft. He was developing and doing the drills as asked, but when Jordan came back late into the offseason the whole dynamic changed. Mj singled out Brown time and time again and the coach didn’t get along with Kwame as much. That doesn’t explain him never developing later In his career, but he had a bad start relatively speaking.
We went to MCI Center on Nov 20th 2001 (just checked my e-mail) to see MJ & the Wizards play against the Charlotte Hornets. MJ played great. He scored like 30 points & shot better than 50%, & he had his tongue out most of the time. That was a real treat.
@@hankadams203 Imagine giving a shit about grammar on a RUclips comment. I really wish I remembered what Lego Yoda said because he deleted his comment and I went on to completely forget about this because it doesn't matter. But if we want to argue about something that doesn't matter then I guess we can. Considering your only argument is about my choice to not use proper grammar and to tell me to watch basketball i'm gonna have to ask you to take the L for being a grammar Nazi.
a post i saw on reddit a few years ago. Really put MJ's time with the wizards in perspective. MJ's Wizards tenure is seen by many as somewhat of a blemish on his unparalleled legacy. On september 25th 2001, at the age of 38 and 7 months, the GOAT announced his second comeback as a member of the Washington Wizards - just a few months after he broke a couple ribs during a pickup game in Chicago. After winning just 19 games the previous season, the Wizards were off to a lousy start, being 5-12 and going on a terrible 8 game losing streak before hitting their stride and winning 9 in a row. Unfortunately, 8 games into the streak Rip Hamilton - the Wizards 2nd best player at this point - would suffer a groin injury and would miss about 5 weeks and the Wizards would end up going 8-9 without him. Immediately following Hamilton's return on January 31st, the 21-21 Wizards would go on a 5 game winning streak - things were looking up. The Wizards had won their last 13 games that had both MJ and Hamilton on the court. Unfortunately the 38 year old Jordan was battling a chronic knee injury 1 2 3 that was aggravated in a collision with Etan Thomas in his 46th game which effectively ended his season - though he tried to play through it for several games. Immediately after the injury the 26-21 (.553 winning % .565 with Jordan) Wizards would go 1-9 in their next 10 games and 11-24 (a .314 winning %) for the remainder of the season and would finish with a 37-45 record and MJ would only end up playing a total of 60 games. Now, out of curiosity I decided to take a look at MJ's game logs for the season, specifically pre and post-injury and as the season advanced, and what I found out was quite interesting. For the whole 2001-02 season, Jordan averaged : 22.9 PPG 5.7 RPG 5.2 APG .416 FG% .790 FT% However, for his first 46 (pre-injury) games, he averaged: 25.1 PPG 6.2 RPG 5.3 APG .420 FG% .790 FT% in 36.8 MPG And his last 14 (post-injury) games, he averaged: 15.7 PPG 3.8 RPG 4.8 APG .391 FG% .787 FT% in 28.4 MPG What I found most interesting though is that as the season progressed and MJ played himself into shape and shook off the 3 year retirement rust - he was playing better and better. For his last 20 games pre-injury he averaged : 27.5 PPG 6.4 RPG 5.2 APG .440 FG% And for his last 10 games pre-injury he averaged a blistering : 29.7 PPG 6.6 RPG 6.1 APG .470 FG% Those are some crazy, crazy numbers for a dude who at this point was a month or two away from being 39 years old. Had Jordan and Hamilton both stayed healthy I honestly believe the Wizards might've won 48-50 games and made some noise in the playoffs on the back of a fucking 39 year old. Amazing. The Wizards went from having won 19 games the year before to a potential Playoff contender that was derailed by injuries with their offseason additions being: 38,5 year old Michael Jordan - ended up only playing 60 games and starting 53 due to injury Tyronn Lue - 20 mpg, 8 PPG 3.5 APG Rookie Kwame Brown - 14 mpg, 4.5 PPG 3.5 RPG Rookie Brendan Haywood - 14 mpg, 5 PPG 5 RPG Rookie Etan Thomas - 13 mpg, 4 PPG 4 RPG Rookie Bobby Simmons - 11 mpg, 4PPG 2RPG
Yeah but that’s why Father Time is unbeaten. It’s hard to be available and in peak condition because you’ll eventually injure yourself being that old let alone playing against the best competition
This is what this video failed to show. Despite mj not having the best efficiency, he still had a huge winning impact. If he stayed healthy he would've carried a shitty team that only won 19 games the year prior to 45+ wins.
Jordan averaged 26 in the last 16 games before his injury and his PPG went higher each game. Jordan and Rip Hamilton went on a 15-1 run. They were playoff bound with Jordan, but then his knee went out. Would have been very interesting to see how far they would have gone if MJ stayed healthy.
His knee went out because of steroids. his natural body was in the '80s he was extremely fast, then he bulked artificially using roids in the '90s to beat Detroit...god didn't give MJ that Karl Malone like frame he roided himself to get there and ended up slowing down significantly. His knees can't handle the strain of huge muscles since his muscles boomed but his ligaments and tendons were not strengthened by lifting or resistance training....he had tiny tendons connected to juiced muscles. Injury coming.
@@fszron lol absolute bullshit. Jordan didn't have any of the other symptoms of roids like changes in his bone structure in the face, etc. He didn't have a Karl Malone like physique, he was still lean and athletic he just packed on some muscle. And at that age, with that training the amount of muscle he packed in is completely realistic without roids. If he had that problem then why did he not get injured until ten years later? His knees went out because he was old and because he wasn't in perfect basketball shape, he should've shed 20 pounds before coming back
@@fszron I think he took steroids for recovery, just like every other NBA player. It is too good of a recovery tool for pro athletes to not use. I don't think he did it for muscle growth specifically and I don't think his knee went out cause of your explanation. If anything steroids would have prolonged the injury from occurring sooner.
Jordan’s wizards years were amazing. No one remembers exactly how and the wizards were, well they were so bad that the organization itself couldn’t offload free tickets. Jordan probably wasn’t the answer for that team but he did come in and do amazing things with a team that had no hunger. If you look at Karl Malone or any of the other mid to late 30s players they were all on decent teams with great coaches. The wizards didn’t have any of that.
Jordan built the team though. Everybody knocks LeBron for being "LeGM" and failing. Jordan was actually paid to be the decision maker for that Wizards team, he traded away Rip thinking he could win more with more experience. He made moves and draft picks that he felt fit his playstyle, then he played for two seasons and they missed the playoffs in an extremely bad East. Hornets were #5 Seed with a Mashburn and David Wesley 1/2 Punch and old PJ Brown as the best big. Baron Davis missed half the season... Mashburn carried a bad team to a 5 Seed in his 82 Games played. Jordan played 82 and was a 10 seed with an equally bad or maybe slightly better roster. Compare to other teams of THOSE years, Hornets, Celtics, Bucks (Dumpster Fire in 03), and Magic were all very bad teams that had a good player carry them to playoffs. Again Jordan played 82 games that year
@@Michael-vn2jj Yep. He even brought on board his former Bulls coach (and biggest admirer) Doug Collins, as well as All-Star Jerry Stackhouse to replace Rip, and the Wizards still ended up with the exact same record as the previous season.
2002 Finals would’ve been really interesting. Wizards with Jordan were honestly better than the Nets who were one of the worst teams to ever make the Finals.
He retired twice, last retirement was almost 4 yrs rest, enjoying his retirement without basketball and now he came back with a lots of injuries, ageing and not in basketball shape, but still can play like and dominates , he's truly the GOAT
his seasons there were better than the commentator is saying...like he said after 3 years playing golf smoking and drinking....still the GOAT and played for FREE!
@@Michael-vn2jj those stats were on par with the 'superstars' of that time. second, regardless, it was so bad that it erased his previous years, so like i stated, STILL the GOAT.
@@maxipayne981 The year Michael Jordan played 82 Games: He was 11th in FGA per game(18.6), 25th in PPG (20.0), and his team was 37-45 with MJ as the highest usage rate player. You are living in a fantasy land if you think that is on par with 32.1 PPG, 45.7%, 5.5APG or 30 on 45% with 5.9 APG, both those guys were in the playoffs. Dirk had exactly the same FGA per game as MJ(18.6) but Dirk was 25.1PPG with 10 RPG 3APG and 46/38/88. The stars were doing much better thats why they were winning more games. The best player on the playoff teams played considerably better than best player on Wizards... Shocker. Who wouldve thunk. Jamal Mashburn had a considerably better statistical season than MJ and he aint a star but led his team to the #5 seed as best player on team when MJ was the 10 seed in same conference. Or Starbury who had a better season. Steve Francis at age 25 led Houston to playoffs in tougher conference and had 21PPG, 6.2 RPG, 6.2 APG and 46.8% EFG... Jordan wasnt anywhere near that... Put Steve on Wizards with Jerry and they probably make playoffs because Francis at age 25 was clearly better than MJ at 40. Only fanboys cant see this stuff Jordan was closer to guys like Jalen Rose (22PPG on a bad team with high FGA) Ricky Davis in CLE (20.6PPG on the same exact 18.6 FGA per game. on a very bad team) Paul Pierce was on a bad team and drug them to playoffs with 26PPG, 7RPG, 4APG and was young and dumb taking terrible shots all the time like Walker who had 20.1 PPG on 19FGA.) Lets stop this pretending like Michael was on par with the best. Nobody is calling Antoine Walker, Ricky Davis, Jalen Rose, Jamal Mashburn, Glenn Robinson, Allan Houston, Jerry Stackhouse (SAME TEAM) the best in league... He was on par with those dudes. Sam Cassel and Rip Hamilton both had better seasons than MJ for christ sake. The guys leading their teams to playoffs were significantly better statistically and eye test. Jordan had multiple games were he shot 15+ times and didnt hit 15 Points lol half the Wizards games from those two years he just gave 0 effort defensively, he had 0RBD and 0 AST games as a guy who played 35+ MPG This was a long comment but Im high as fck and tired of MJ fanboys so just had to spit some actual facts, Jordan on Wizards was a high usage guy that was very on and off. Iverson was lower efficiency but AI consistently gave you 25+ every night and impacted winning with a bad cast. ORL was trash and T Mac got them into playoffs. If LeBron had an MJ on Wizardesque season, fans would go crazy they do over missing playoffs when he actually compares to the current superstars not the good stats on bad teams guys.
Random Fact: 1.) When Rip and MJ were both healthy, they've gone 15-1 2.) When all of them were healthy, Wizards were actually one of the best defensive team that season with Jordan the only significant addition to the team that was in the bottom in defense the year prior.
They were 30-30 with Jordan on the floor. The 8th seed in the east was above .500. Bucks went 41-41 that year and missed playoffs. So if MJ kept playing and stayed .500, they still miss playoffs. So even when "he played so great before injury" they were a .500 team in a bad conference.
@@wgnd1614 nobody cares if a below .500 team was good before an injury. Facts are Jordan played terrible down the stretch and cost them a playoff berth.
@@wgnd1614 if they were so good with Rip healthy, why did they trade him that off-season? This whole argument is ridiculous because Jordan decided to trade Rip, so obviously at the time MJ did not believe they were a top team with him and Rip.... Jordan was terrible defensively both seasons.... That's a verifiable fact... He wasn't a good defender in WAS
He created new moves that never basketball player did it before.....he's the Bruce lee of basketball and a teacher of new way to play the game. Greatest ever.
I saw Jordan play when he was in DC. It was a bit like watching the last few seasons of Kobe, an all-time great obviously dulled by time and embarrassingly off on some nights but still with a ferocious fire and a special ability to be magical on any given night, even if he couldn't jump as high or move as fast and was quite a bit heavier.
He may as well have just kept till 03. 3 extra seasons on his career averaging +20 plus, he’d be the all time leading scorer imo and would be so much higher on other all time stats
Really wish he signed with another team after the 98 season, rather than retire. If it was for the love of the game, and not for the money, he could have signed with any NBA team he wished for the minimum, or max money and donate it all for charitable purposes just as he did with the Wizards.
he was looking at it from a playing gm perspective... he was doing the business side, and thought that him playing as a "star player" would make a good team (from both a playing perspective, and a money perspective).. kinda like what lebron is doing now, except that lebron has no ownership stake at LA
i think after 98 he was so done with the media attention that it ruined his love for the game. If only the media weren't so crazy on him he probably would have signed with another team.
He had invested way too much with the Bulls. Even if he could've signed to any contender, it wouldn't be the same with the pieces, and most importantly, the coach he had gone to war with for several years. He was willing to ride it out with Chicago until they lost.
I mean, Michael chose to continue playing basketball because that's what brought him meaning in life, it's what he loved doing. I think him purusing that instead of trying to preserve his legacy was the right choice. As at the end of the day, if he can still do what he loves doing, even if he went from the best to a decent player, he will always have my respect and won't detract from his greatness just because his mean average basket ball stats ended up dipping a little!
I only ever got to watch Jordan play for the wizards in tv and he has always been my favourite player it also helps my uncle had the bulls finals taped on vhs
Look at Jimmy Butler. He’s putting up hella numbers and he’s not even 5% of the athlete nor does he have 5% of the skill level that prime Mike had. Jimmy is a dog tho. Mentally he’s tougher than 99% of today’s stars but prime Mike is in a class of his own.
a) the most prolific 3pt shooters of the 90s were averaging about 300-350 3p shots a year. a max 3pt total shooting year being 510 from reggie miller. today average shooters go for that volume and great shooters try about 800 which tells you a lot. and b) MJ would definitely work on his 3point if he was playing in this era.
I remember reading an excellent book called "When nothing else matters" which is far from a hagiography of Jordan's years with the Wizards. There it mentioned that Jordan had been troubled by his knee all year long and didn't just "need a surgery" at the and of the year (or was it a deep arthroscopy). There were often times in mid-season where his knee had swollen double its size and the pain was excruciating, yet he would still play. The story goes that Jordan (already a GM of the team) had selected Kwame Whoever as #1 in the draft and wanted to try out his new signing, so he would challenge him hard during preseason. One of these pick up games somehow caused an abdomen injury to Jordan which delayed his conditioning and as he was trying to catch up with the rest (remember, he was 38) his knee kept stressing more and more and eventually ended up needing a surgery when the team could lose the playoffs race (or it was just that his knee couldn't take it anymore, can't remember). Next season with his knee in a much better condition, he did a more consistent year even if the rest of the team was still bad (which was his responsibility anyway, as he was the GM believing he'd be promoted to president or higher, nevermind that the owner eventually kicked him out). I highly recommend that book. Even if it presents some things in a very one-sided manner, it's still far more interesting from the worshiping stuff you mostly read about Jordan and shows a side of his personality that most people are unaware of (even those that were shocked by Last Dance documentary, without realizing that Last Dance was super biased pro Jordan).
You can literally say the same exact thing about LeBron though, not what he was in 2000s - 2010s but still better than most... Actually no, at year 19 LeBron is much closer to prime than MJ was lol MJ was a very inefficient and high usage player for a very bad team.
@@Hardcandydandydaddy1 no s*** Sherlock, when did I say LeBron was a better player than MJ? Lakers LeBron is far better than Wizards MJ, that's not even close You need to get out of MJ's ass if you really arguing Wizards MJ is better than Lakers LeBron who won a ring and is still putting up prime numbers. MJ's number one though goat, I actually have LeBron at 3, he has not passed Kareem yet in My book but I was talking end of career LeBron was better than end of career MJ that's all. Prime MJ is the goat of sports
@@itamar_da_god5651 No one compares LeBron to Jordan except old Jordan haters and young Lebron fans that don't know who Jordan is. They are not in the same category.
@@TubeWatcher Yeah I agree the second somebody says something bout LeBron someone gotta say Le3-6 or whatever. Cmon guys, most of us know Jordan is the GOAT, praising Bron doesn't mean disrespecting Jordan's legacy
@@TubeWatcher man your comment is perfect. it shows whats wrong with people when discussing basketball. "if you dont agree with me youre a hater" "you didnt see him live youo dont know what youre talking about" "youre a bronsexual" weirdly enough i hear more of these childish insults from old people who watched jordans career live, kinda sad tbh. you cant discuss whos the goat right now, because theres always the fact that people cant appreciate greatness when it happens, in 20-30 years it will be a discussion worth having. both are great.
@@TubeWatcher what's awesome about your comment is i never rocked with Jordan back then I was for barkley and KJ, but it is what is, Jordan was/is better than everybody. Lebron hasn't done anything on the court to make you marvel in the way jordan did, nothing. And I'm not even saying he not super good.
He was in the mvp discussion his first year in Washington before the season ending knee surgery. The Wizards were a playoff team before the injury. But the team went into free fall after Jordan got hurt. There 2nd best player Rip Hamilton also missed time with a knee injury. Without those injuries and a better supporting cast MJ could have won another title.Anyone saying he was washed up his first year in Washington doesn't know what they are talking about.
MJ thought Kwame was going to be like him and Kobe. Kwame crumbled under the pressure rather than rising to the challenge like Kobe. A player with so much talent can’t be taught the mentality of Jordan and Kobe .
if your teammates are willing to prove that they can't cope with your way of motivating them to win, I'd rather pick a teammate that motivates you to win via trash-talk than a teammate who would only teach you 50 different handshakes.
I guess so especially when u were retired became the GM and decided to come back and play for FUN... Washed jordan is most players PEAK... Smh jordan wasnt human.
The most impressive thing about Jordan's Wizarss years is him playing at an All-Star level at the age of 38-40. I'm 39, 6'8", and a former D2 college basketball player. 4 years ago when I was 35 I still felt like I could play the game at a high level. At 39, I've got aches and pains that have come out of nowhere. There's no way I could make a high school team now.
@@FLIP205 No. Lol. I'm still about 250 lb. I'm in the firewood and tree business. So I swing a chain saw and an axe all day. I get my workout in; believe that.
He was already the G.O.A.T. before he joined The Wizards but the fact he put the numbers up that he did & at 39 going on 4o years old he played all 82 games with no crybaby load management 💪🏾💯
I remember seeing him play when I was a little kid everytime he touched the ball the whole arena would light up with camera flashes since everyone back then was using the kodak wind ups. It was a sight to behold.
Yes I think that block on Ron Mercer was easily one of the greatest blocks of all time, followed up by the game winning shot. That is MJ the G O A T. NO DISPUTE Lebron...
Had season tickets. He was clearly the best player-even with weekly draining of fluid from his knees and advanced “athlete” age. (Mainly) a mid-range shooter, deadly FT shooter, solid defender, and coach on the floor.
38 years old. He could've easily had 5 more great years left in him. With the right teammates. I'm not knowledgeable enough to be able to say which teammates. Lakers, Spurs, Iverson, wonder what would've happened if he played with any of those guys
In the UK, having Jordan managed to score the Wizards a multi-year deal on Sky Sports. When I was young the only games I could see in their entirety on TV were Wizards games. Jordan had already re-re-retired by the time I came to watch basketball, but I got to grow up watching the big 3 of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison.
This is false in an interview Kwame Brown said himself, ”Jordan never crushed him.” He continued on to say ,”Jordan was the only person he felt he could talk to.”
He wasn't the best player in the league anymore obviously but when you consider his age, pretty damn good that first year he had the Wizards in playoff contention until he blew out his knee and had to miss the second half of the season, and yes the very last season he was an old guy who could put up good numbers for his age but legitimate All-Star numbers and the best forty-year-old I've seen on an NBA court in what was the most defensive era in NBA history
I remember when I was a 7 year old kid watching Jordan lose in the playoffs against the Magic in 1995 I think it was. I knew who he was but never watched a basketball game in my life because in my country people watch Rugby but after that playoff season I saw greatness unfold with another 3 championships! then watching him on the wizards we got to see glimpses of the Jordan of old I was just fortunate to witness that man in his prime! Youngsters forget that us older guys were raised watching Jordan, Kobe and Lebron so more than anyone we know who the goat is! Watching highlights isn’t the same as watching full games
Jordan was reggie miller in his prime on the wizards and a hof player on the wizards! And played more mins per game at 38 years old then kids today at 28 years old !
When you talk about Jordan not being able to sustain you're doing Jordan an injustice to not mention how his knee injury is what caused him to struggle. He scored 6 because he sat out since the third quarter.
MJ after taking a break from basketball for 3 years, came back at age 39 and averaged 25+6+5 across the first 46 games and led Wizards to a 26-20 record (19-63 prior season) after a 2-9 start. Then he got a knee injury and thats what slowed he and Wizards down. He had absolutely no help other than young Rip Hamiliton, who was also injured for sometime that season. Imagine what prime MJ will do
Wizards won the draft in probably one of the worst drafts. in the 1st round the top 3 picks were Kwame, Chandler and Pau Gasol. None of those were franchise players. Pau was probably the best, but he wasnt winning you a ring. Honestly no matter who Jordan took it was going to be a disappointment.
My middle school took a group of us to DC to see the Wizards. It was a tradition. We drive 3 hours from Richmond, VA. That day Jordan tore his ACL. We were shattered😟
An unathletic Jordan who dunked, blocked, hussled and run like younger ones was still an assett in any team you know. I mean today 20+ points players in a high scoring volume league are considered top notch what more do you need? People fail to see the bigger picture. Jordan proved he still got it. You forget the fadeaway. Pump fake is one thing, his fadeaway was almost unguardable at any stage of his career. Then, if he wouldn't be injured, they could make the playoffs in that first year of return. Before the injury last 7 or 10 games had a ppg of 27..at age 39. Yeah fuck the wizards years!!! Lebron wanted MVP with 27 points!!! Johhny arnett pretty much shits on this video with his.
Chris Wolf 27 points 20 years ago is different to 27 points nowadays, 27 points then with less calls, tougher play, handchecking and some of the greatest defensive players ever still playing appeared to 27 now in a fast paced era with some of the worse defence ever
imagine being the gm of a team that sucks so hard that you decide to sign yourself.
“Fine, I’ll do it myself”
@verbadum22 nah Stackhouse avg 20+ his first year with washington which was the same as in Detriot. then got hurt the 2nd. then went to dallas. Cant railroad a guy on the IR
if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. Lol
And they still sucked the same they did without him 🤣
@Richard Fisher rips his suit off like superman
Washed Jordan is what many players consider their peak
Exactly
And other times it most people’s rookie years
and his rookie season was comparable to mvp seasons...
Wizards Jordan was basically a prime Derozan
@@TheDesisgarf facts. except wizards jordan was more clutch but less athletic.
I saw Jordan play for the Wizards. I’ll never forget that game. He played beautifully.
Dude I swear I see you on like 95% of the vids I watch😂
@@rudyflores5540 fr
Same here.
I see you so much in these
Vids wtf 😂😂😂😂😂
NIGGA STFU WE DON'T CARE
you forgot to mention how the wizards and MJ himself kept improving. They even had a 12 game winning streak and Jordan was averaging 27-6-6 his last 10 games before his injury. Wizards were 6th seed going to the playoffs, and MJ was the only one with Kobe averaging 25-5-5 !!
His shooting also improved to about 45%.
During the all star break he was even considered the mvp by some people.
His injury really ended his career for good
Liars like you make Jordan fans look really desperate 😂😂😂😂
@@Kingdoscuatro I'm curious, what did he lie about? everything I can find says everything he said is true except he rounded his FG% from 44 to 45 over his last ten games. And overstating a subjective statement about peoples MVP opinions...every stat he listed besides that is correct? EDIT turns out he was wrong, Jordan averaged 29.7 ppg 6.6 rb 6.1 ast on 47% shooting over the last 10 games before his injury so you're right he lied. jordan was better than he suggested
@@garybutler1975 there was no 12 game winning streak …
@@Kingdoscuatro I guess I shoulda looked into that, I mean I didn't because I don't see how the streak is relevant but yes it was 8 games not 12...pretty sure the Statlinenis the relevant part tho. But the main point is pretending Jordan wasn't an incredible player still at 39 is sort of silly. Many NBA players won't ever pull that stat line at their peak. And he was legitimately in articles about the mvp race pre injury (he was never going to win, but still impressive at that age)
@@garybutler1975 why you cherry picking his last 10 games and not his full healthy 46 games where he averaged 25 points on 24 attempts 👌👌👌👌 on 42% shooting …
I never remember Jordan on the bulls, I was born in 1994. The earliest I remember is Jordan playing for the wizards and my dad going "look at that guy, you see him? That's the best basketball player to ever live." And I remember watching him in awe at 5 years old. For that memory I'm glad he played for the wizards
This is RUclips man, there are lots of games here with Jordan on the Bulls. Start by watching him win those 6 Championships, with winning 6 Finals MVP awards. Then compare him to a few individuals walking around the NBA today thinking that they are GOAT status.
Was born in 1990. I will forever keep the 1998 finals memory especially that flu shot that secured thr 6th chip for the bulls.
Dope
Same. Born in 1994 and saw him play in 2003 when the Heat retired his jersey.
@@MrAmenta2 You're completely missing the point of his post lol
He set the bar too high. Dropping 50 at 39 years old is incredible, let alone averaging near 20 a game.
He wasn't near 20, he averaged above 20.
i never knew jordan played till 40..i thought kobe's 60 point game at 37 was crazy, but jordan was dropping 50 at 39.
@Jesus Saldana - Not really impressive? Lmao
@Jesus Saldana - I shouldn't have to waste my time laying down facts on you when you obviously can't see a player who was out the game for 3 yrs and came back at age 38-40 and scored over 20 ppg as being impressive, but want to call someone a "stan". The ironic thing is that he played a full 82 game schedule playing 37 mpg at age 40, and improving on the injury plagued season the year before. So yeah, pretty fucking impressive.
@Jesus Saldana - Um, that was his first year back and he got injured. How about you look at his last year where improved in all areas.
You know you're amazing when people call a season where you averaged less than 30 points a "stain on your legacy".
hahahahahahahha..tks
it was more about his inefficiency
jordan played on high effeciency, he had a high advanced stat in his prime but in his wizards era it drops severely
Bigger they are the harder they fall. Its all good in the hood tho
At 39 years old
I liked seeing him playing for Wizards. I wasn't expecting much, just to see him play, and I was satisfied. It didn't tarnish his legacy in my eyes. I remember headlines that said "Wizards won't win championship with MJ" and was thinking who was expecting that.
Lmfao there are still people to this day that swear up and down the Wizards could of won the finals if not for the Knee Injury to Jordan..... MJ fans are absolutely delusional. He's the GOAT for his Bulls years, but most MJ fanboys act like he was still close to MJ GOAT level and thats just not true in anyway shape or form. If that is true than MJ had us all fooled and he ain't the GOAT, he just lucky he had Pippen and Phil, no way MJ is the GOAT if Wizards MJ is "Close" to Bulls MJ like many claim, just say team was worse.
Tarnished his legacy? Takes a lesser salary than anyone else on his team and donates it to families who lost loved ones on 9/11. MJ is the goat. Legendary gets thrown about easily, but this man should be next to the definition in the dictionary. He did it for his love of the game and helped people while at it. Didn’t have to. How many others would or could?
Everything he did after he retired did tarnish his legacy. He knows nothing about running a team
@@michaelcrabtree1647shut up kid
What’s most amazing about his success in Washington is that he was retired for 3 full years before coming back. It’s insane that he did as well as he did with that massive layoff.
You can say whatever you want about MJ’s performance, but most could probably agree that due to the meniscus tear, we didn’t exactly see all that he was capable of that year.
That iconic shot in his last all-star game will always be in memories of basketball fans.
And then Jermaine O’Neal had to fk it up by fouling kobe at 3pt line smh
@@Maly555 exactly
The fact that he averaged 20 points at the age of 40 is just absurd!!!!
@@daboiandre3983 lets wait and see ill be @ing you when he does
Pointyrhinonose prn ill be @ing you when he retires before 40
@@reidprbl8561 I was gonna say that lmaoo
@@daboiandre3983 lebron is going to average 20 points at 40
@@bakers4794 hes not gonna br playing at 40
Not even gonna mention how the Wizards were 26-20 and near the top in the East before he hurt his knee? Not gonna mention how the team defense took a massive leap with Jordan being the only notable addition? Come on now.
MJ played defense at that age? Jeez
@@superclonge8429 it’s MJ, man will die on the court if he not wins
the 16 games RIP and MJ both played together there were 15-1, 1st ranked offense and 2nd ranked defense during that stretch.
@@Slapped It always makes me laugh when LeBron fans will call his Washington years a failure only because he didn't win a title in either. It makes me laugh because it contradicts their efforts to eliminate titles from the GOAT debate and actually proves that they do indeed value them despite their claims to the contrary.
Lebron the goat
I grew up in the DC area. I was lucky enough to go to a game and see MJ play. They played Minnesota or Denver, I can’t remember which one, but I do remember he had around 40 points that day. He was still really good for an old player. I feel so lucky I got to watch him play live that one time before he retired…
He was an unreal player in the bulls and set the bar mighty high. In the Wizards he played like a normal superstar in today’s terms. Averaging above 20 points. He ended off good and that 50 points was a huge plus!
you got a loose definition for superstar if an inefficient 25ppg on a bad team gets you qualified
@@mikepantongreat, so after being an efficient scorer for 13 seasons and continuing to be consistently good to great on defense he had 2 seasons where he was as efficient as an iverson or Kobe in some years. Cool.
@@amostlyreasonableguy so Wizards MJ was as good as Kobe. Yeah, okay...
I'm going to go out on a limb and say MJ knew he wasn't going to win Championships with the WIZARDS before he stepped back on the court. He said he had a itch to scratch and he definitely scratched it and left it all out there. But with Jordan back on the court again, the Wizards became a threat in any game. My friend and I went to his last game against the Knicks at MSG back in 2003, and it was amazing.
Imagine if Jordan had only retired once. He woulda reached 40,000+ points
And most likely 8 ships 😏
I don't think so. I think he would've burned out and had another major injury. The intensity he played with was unsustainable!
He would be far less likely to be passed up in the all time scoring list by Malone, Bryant and James for sure.
Would've should've could've
Now LeBron is the goat
Wizards Michael Jordan was underrated and scored 20 points per game . And shot. 40 percent for mid range. 2pt.
He was averaging 25.1 PPG before the knee injury. Averaging 25 PPG in the early 2000s is like averaging 30 PPG now.
He was even getting better as the season progressed.
Last 20 games until injury
27.5 - 6.4 - 5.2 - 44%
Last 10 games until injury
29.7 - 6.6 - 6.1 - 47%
And it’s not just the stats. The Wizards were a playoff team and with how weak the East was they could definitely make a Finals run.
True. People talk about Wizards Jordan like he was done?! We all know Jordan was in the air most of the time when he was fresh, but his prime was years later when he didn't have to dunk and could kill anywhere on the court. Hand checking and still averaging 30. 80+ games at the age of 40?! I was not disappointed by Wizards Jordan, everything he did was intentional... Jordan was ALWAYS Jordan.
thelegendsqb1 no it was actually easier to score then. They just make it look easier now
@@Terror832 Plus brought the Wizards Defense to the top of the League with just Mj as the sole addition. Shot 43FG% from midrange beating Kobe, TMac, etc etc in that department. Was in the MVP convo as well.
Did with harder rules and more physical play then today.
@@anxiety1018 then was 2002
No one but Michael can play in the NBA for “fun”
😄👏🏽
that's what he said after being swept by the celtics 2x in the play-offs..it's fun being swept by them celtics..
@@victorquintana4018 Like Kobe swept in playoffs or LBJ 3x Round 0 losses etc.
Imagine if him and scottie Pippen joined Allen Iverson & sixers after they left the bulls
they would've been unstoppable
Don't see how that would work positional-wise considering small-ball ain't a big thing yet in late 90s to early 00s. If they want to play the triangle then one of them would have to be a sixth man.
They would but one of them would drop 2 overalls
@@kelvinsudirman4072 Allen Iverson pg mj sg scottie sf
@@svluis3114 how about mj and Scottie drop 1 overall each 😂😂😂
For me, Wizards MJ increased his image, aura and how I view him. I love that he came back.
awesome content right there
Your comment is very good you must be very proud
Ok
wizards mj better than prime bron
I can't stand that infomercial voice 😑
Brh really?
imagine being a high schooler that michael jordan believes in
That’s a shiny, almost blinding spotlight for sure. I like to think had Brown not been drafted by Jordan, He would’ve had a better career not having to live up to that. Or he really does stink
@@RoscoMontana21 He said that coach Doug Collins and him got along really well during the offseason after the draft. He was developing and doing the drills as asked, but when Jordan came back late into the offseason the whole dynamic changed. Mj singled out Brown time and time again and the coach didn’t get along with Kwame as much.
That doesn’t explain him never developing later In his career, but he had a bad start relatively speaking.
the imagine disappointing him & him shit talking you💀
Then treated him like shit
He didn’t want kwame
As a Wizards fan I wish I couldve seen Arenas, Jordan, Butler and Jamison on the same squad.
We went to MCI Center on Nov 20th 2001 (just checked my e-mail) to see MJ & the Wizards play against the Charlotte Hornets. MJ played great. He scored like 30 points & shot better than 50%, & he had his tongue out most of the time. That was a real treat.
After almost 4years rest without basketball, came back and still can play like NBA superstar, that's great
His Wizards stint only cemented the fact that MJ can play just as well in the 2000s era.
Probably could've won a ring if he had a good team.
@lego yoda You very obviously don't understand what this guy was saying
@@aaronfranklin8038 nice grammar, and anyone can win a ring if they have a good team. Get some English lessons and watch basketball once in a while.
@@hankadams203 Imagine giving a shit about grammar on a RUclips comment. I really wish I remembered what Lego Yoda said because he deleted his comment and I went on to completely forget about this because it doesn't matter. But if we want to argue about something that doesn't matter then I guess we can. Considering your only argument is about my choice to not use proper grammar and to tell me to watch basketball i'm gonna have to ask you to take the L for being a grammar Nazi.
@@aaronfranklin8038 Okay u can't read either? I said anyone can win a ring with a good team, especially someone who averages 20ppg.
@@aaronfranklin8038 lol 😂 I’m done u clearly don’t understand what I’m trying to say
a post i saw on reddit a few years ago. Really put MJ's time with the wizards in perspective.
MJ's Wizards tenure is seen by many as somewhat of a blemish on his unparalleled legacy. On september 25th 2001, at the age of 38 and 7 months, the GOAT announced his second comeback as a member of the Washington Wizards - just a few months after he broke a couple ribs during a pickup game in Chicago.
After winning just 19 games the previous season, the Wizards were off to a lousy start, being 5-12 and going on a terrible 8 game losing streak before hitting their stride and winning 9 in a row. Unfortunately, 8 games into the streak Rip Hamilton - the Wizards 2nd best player at this point - would suffer a groin injury and would miss about 5 weeks and the Wizards would end up going 8-9 without him. Immediately following Hamilton's return on January 31st, the 21-21 Wizards would go on a 5 game winning streak - things were looking up. The Wizards had won their last 13 games that had both MJ and Hamilton on the court. Unfortunately the 38 year old Jordan was battling a chronic knee injury 1 2 3 that was aggravated in a collision with Etan Thomas in his 46th game which effectively ended his season - though he tried to play through it for several games. Immediately after the injury the 26-21 (.553 winning % .565 with Jordan) Wizards would go 1-9 in their next 10 games and 11-24 (a .314 winning %) for the remainder of the season and would finish with a 37-45 record and MJ would only end up playing a total of 60 games.
Now, out of curiosity I decided to take a look at MJ's game logs for the season, specifically pre and post-injury and as the season advanced, and what I found out was quite interesting.
For the whole 2001-02 season, Jordan averaged :
22.9 PPG 5.7 RPG 5.2 APG .416 FG% .790 FT%
However, for his first 46 (pre-injury) games, he averaged:
25.1 PPG 6.2 RPG 5.3 APG .420 FG% .790 FT% in 36.8 MPG
And his last 14 (post-injury) games, he averaged:
15.7 PPG 3.8 RPG 4.8 APG .391 FG% .787 FT% in 28.4 MPG
What I found most interesting though is that as the season progressed and MJ played himself into shape and shook off the 3 year retirement rust - he was playing better and better.
For his last 20 games pre-injury he averaged :
27.5 PPG 6.4 RPG 5.2 APG .440 FG%
And for his last 10 games pre-injury he averaged a blistering :
29.7 PPG 6.6 RPG 6.1 APG .470 FG%
Those are some crazy, crazy numbers for a dude who at this point was a month or two away from being 39 years old. Had Jordan and Hamilton both stayed healthy I honestly believe the Wizards might've won 48-50 games and made some noise in the playoffs on the back of a fucking 39 year old. Amazing.
The Wizards went from having won 19 games the year before to a potential Playoff contender that was derailed by injuries with their offseason additions being:
38,5 year old Michael Jordan - ended up only playing 60 games and starting 53 due to injury
Tyronn Lue - 20 mpg, 8 PPG 3.5 APG
Rookie Kwame Brown - 14 mpg, 4.5 PPG 3.5 RPG
Rookie Brendan Haywood - 14 mpg, 5 PPG 5 RPG
Rookie Etan Thomas - 13 mpg, 4 PPG 4 RPG
Rookie Bobby Simmons - 11 mpg, 4PPG 2RPG
Great stats. I wonder if MJ would have dropped over 30 ppg and maybe even .50 FG% had he stayed healthy. Would have been insane being 39 years old.
Pre injury Michael Jordan was the 2nd best 2 guard in the league behind the great Kobe Bryant
Yeah but that’s why Father Time is unbeaten. It’s hard to be available and in peak condition because you’ll eventually injure yourself being that old let alone playing against the best competition
This is what this video failed to show. Despite mj not having the best efficiency, he still had a huge winning impact. If he stayed healthy he would've carried a shitty team that only won 19 games the year prior to 45+ wins.
Holy Sh*t! Great Job breaking down the stats. That is unreal.
His washed years with the Wizards was most players peak🤷
Not even close! Most players best games don't even equal his averages.
22.9 points on 22 attempts on 41% shooting is a joke…only dumb Jordan fans would think that was good 😂😂😂
@@Kingdoscuatro and a 🤡 like u could've easily kept scrolling on by!!!!
@@trell_money7789 nah I like exposing how dumb you Jordan fans are in thinking his wizard years were good 😂😂😂
@@Kingdoscuatro u really think u exposing somebody 😂😂U jus an internet 🤡🤡🤡 kick rocks bum
Jordan averaged 26 in the last 16 games before his injury and his PPG went higher each game.
Jordan and Rip Hamilton went on a 15-1 run. They were playoff bound with Jordan, but then his knee went out.
Would have been very interesting to see how far they would have gone if MJ stayed healthy.
His knee went out because of steroids. his natural body was in the '80s he was extremely fast, then he bulked artificially using roids in the '90s to beat Detroit...god didn't give MJ that Karl Malone like frame he roided himself to get there and ended up slowing down significantly. His knees can't handle the strain of huge muscles since his muscles boomed but his ligaments and tendons were not strengthened by lifting or resistance training....he had tiny tendons connected to juiced muscles. Injury coming.
@@fszron lol absolute bullshit. Jordan didn't have any of the other symptoms of roids like changes in his bone structure in the face, etc.
He didn't have a Karl Malone like physique, he was still lean and athletic he just packed on some muscle. And at that age, with that training the amount of muscle he packed in is completely realistic without roids.
If he had that problem then why did he not get injured until ten years later? His knees went out because he was old and because he wasn't in perfect basketball shape, he should've shed 20 pounds before coming back
lebron averaging more than 26 the whole season
@@andres2625_and getting swept by the joker 😂
@@fszron I think he took steroids for recovery, just like every other NBA player. It is too good of a recovery tool for pro athletes to not use. I don't think he did it for muscle growth specifically and I don't think his knee went out cause of your explanation. If anything steroids would have prolonged the injury from occurring sooner.
Jordan’s wizards years were amazing. No one remembers exactly how and the wizards were, well they were so bad that the organization itself couldn’t offload free tickets. Jordan probably wasn’t the answer for that team but he did come in and do amazing things with a team that had no hunger. If you look at Karl Malone or any of the other mid to late 30s players they were all on decent teams with great coaches. The wizards didn’t have any of that.
Jordan built the team though. Everybody knocks LeBron for being "LeGM" and failing. Jordan was actually paid to be the decision maker for that Wizards team, he traded away Rip thinking he could win more with more experience. He made moves and draft picks that he felt fit his playstyle, then he played for two seasons and they missed the playoffs in an extremely bad East.
Hornets were #5 Seed with a Mashburn and David Wesley 1/2 Punch and old PJ Brown as the best big. Baron Davis missed half the season...
Mashburn carried a bad team to a 5 Seed in his 82 Games played. Jordan played 82 and was a 10 seed with an equally bad or maybe slightly better roster.
Compare to other teams of THOSE years, Hornets, Celtics, Bucks (Dumpster Fire in 03), and Magic were all very bad teams that had a good player carry them to playoffs. Again Jordan played 82 games that year
Imagine if Michael Jordan went to the Lakers instead of the Wizards.
@@Michael-vn2jj Yep. He even brought on board his former Bulls coach (and biggest admirer) Doug Collins, as well as All-Star Jerry Stackhouse to replace Rip, and the Wizards still ended up with the exact same record as the previous season.
Imagine if old mj played with a young Kobe
they both ball hogs tho....
@@whynot1135 I mean as a mentor to kobe
Kobe but if it’s a rookie mj and a prime Kobe who knows
@@ericcartman627 that's a scoring team right there
2002 Finals would’ve been really interesting.
Wizards with Jordan were honestly better than the Nets who were one of the worst teams to ever make the Finals.
If Micheal Jordan wished to be “the greatest basketball of all time” nothing would happen.
Cuz he already the greatest
Something would happen! He would turn into a basketball 🏀
Didn’t know he’d wanna be a basketball
Cap
If he wished to be the uncontested, undisputed GOAT Lebron fans all over would be silenced for eternity
"There's nothing harder than coaching a superstar when they're not a superstar anymore." - Doug Collins
source?
U mean all of them are ego because they're already legends?
He retired twice, last retirement was almost 4 yrs rest, enjoying his retirement without basketball and now he came back with a lots of injuries, ageing and not in basketball shape, but still can play like and dominates , he's truly the GOAT
his seasons there were better than the commentator is saying...like he said after 3 years playing golf smoking and drinking....still the GOAT and played for FREE!
21 Points on 20 FGA and less than 2-1 AST to TO Ratio from one of the highest usage rate players in the league is not "still the goat" lmfao
@@Michael-vn2jj those stats were on par with the 'superstars' of that time. second, regardless, it was so bad that it erased his previous years, so like i stated, STILL the GOAT.
@@maxipayne981 The year Michael Jordan played 82 Games:
He was 11th in FGA per game(18.6), 25th in PPG (20.0), and his team was 37-45 with MJ as the highest usage rate player.
You are living in a fantasy land if you think that is on par with 32.1 PPG, 45.7%, 5.5APG or 30 on 45% with 5.9 APG, both those guys were in the playoffs. Dirk had exactly the same FGA per game as MJ(18.6) but Dirk was 25.1PPG with 10 RPG 3APG and 46/38/88. The stars were doing much better thats why they were winning more games. The best player on the playoff teams played considerably better than best player on Wizards... Shocker. Who wouldve thunk.
Jamal Mashburn had a considerably better statistical season than MJ and he aint a star but led his team to the #5 seed as best player on team when MJ was the 10 seed in same conference. Or Starbury who had a better season. Steve Francis at age 25 led Houston to playoffs in tougher conference and had 21PPG, 6.2 RPG, 6.2 APG and 46.8% EFG... Jordan wasnt anywhere near that... Put Steve on Wizards with Jerry and they probably make playoffs because Francis at age 25 was clearly better than MJ at 40. Only fanboys cant see this stuff
Jordan was closer to guys like Jalen Rose (22PPG on a bad team with high FGA)
Ricky Davis in CLE (20.6PPG on the same exact 18.6 FGA per game. on a very bad team) Paul Pierce was on a bad team and drug them to playoffs with 26PPG, 7RPG, 4APG and was young and dumb taking terrible shots all the time like Walker who had 20.1 PPG on 19FGA.)
Lets stop this pretending like Michael was on par with the best. Nobody is calling Antoine Walker, Ricky Davis, Jalen Rose, Jamal Mashburn, Glenn Robinson, Allan Houston, Jerry Stackhouse (SAME TEAM) the best in league... He was on par with those dudes. Sam Cassel and Rip Hamilton both had better seasons than MJ for christ sake.
The guys leading their teams to playoffs were significantly better statistically and eye test. Jordan had multiple games were he shot 15+ times and didnt hit 15 Points lol half the Wizards games from those two years he just gave 0 effort defensively, he had 0RBD and 0 AST games as a guy who played 35+ MPG
This was a long comment but Im high as fck and tired of MJ fanboys so just had to spit some actual facts, Jordan on Wizards was a high usage guy that was very on and off. Iverson was lower efficiency but AI consistently gave you 25+ every night and impacted winning with a bad cast. ORL was trash and T Mac got them into playoffs. If LeBron had an MJ on Wizardesque season, fans would go crazy they do over missing playoffs when he actually compares to the current superstars not the good stats on bad teams guys.
Random Fact:
1.) When Rip and MJ were both healthy, they've gone 15-1
2.) When all of them were healthy, Wizards were actually one of the best defensive team that season with Jordan the only significant addition to the team that was in the bottom in defense the year prior.
They were 30-30 with Jordan on the floor. The 8th seed in the east was above .500. Bucks went 41-41 that year and missed playoffs. So if MJ kept playing and stayed .500, they still miss playoffs. So even when "he played so great before injury" they were a .500 team in a bad conference.
@@Michael-vn2jj completely missed the fact that they went 15-1... looks like an average (dumb) hater
@@wgnd1614 nobody cares if a below .500 team was good before an injury.
Facts are Jordan played terrible down the stretch and cost them a playoff berth.
@@wgnd1614 if they were so good with Rip healthy, why did they trade him that off-season?
This whole argument is ridiculous because Jordan decided to trade Rip, so obviously at the time MJ did not believe they were a top team with him and Rip....
Jordan was terrible defensively both seasons.... That's a verifiable fact... He wasn't a good defender in WAS
He created new moves that never basketball player did it before.....he's the Bruce lee of basketball and a teacher of new way to play the game.
Greatest ever.
Mj is the greatest of all time Imo
Cap
@@juniorbeastyt Nigga you got YT in your name with a fortnite pfp sit yo ass down 🤦😂😂😂
@Careful! i'm a retard lol
JuniorbeastYT My guy, go watch Jordan Highlights.
@Careful! i'm a retard cuz I see it a lot
I saw Jordan play when he was in DC. It was a bit like watching the last few seasons of Kobe, an all-time great obviously dulled by time and embarrassingly off on some nights but still with a ferocious fire and a special ability to be magical on any given night, even if he couldn't jump as high or move as fast and was quite a bit heavier.
It got him in the 30,000 point club so it was worth it
Another reason he went back to play so he could hit dat 30000 club
He may as well have just kept till 03. 3 extra seasons on his career averaging +20 plus, he’d be the all time leading scorer imo and would be so much higher on other all time stats
@@ericclapton1908 hating ass boy😹
Lebron joined em 👏🏽
Really wish he signed with another team after the 98 season, rather than retire. If it was for the love of the game, and not for the money, he could have signed with any NBA team he wished for the minimum, or max money and donate it all for charitable purposes just as he did with the Wizards.
he was looking at it from a playing gm perspective... he was doing the business side, and thought that him playing as a "star player" would make a good team (from both a playing perspective, and a money perspective).. kinda like what lebron is doing now, except that lebron has no ownership stake at LA
i think after 98 he was so done with the media attention that it ruined his love for the game. If only the media weren't so crazy on him he probably would have signed with another team.
He had invested way too much with the Bulls. Even if he could've signed to any contender, it wouldn't be the same with the pieces, and most importantly, the coach he had gone to war with for several years. He was willing to ride it out with Chicago until they lost.
Getting a lil too carried Away. Also he wasn’t donating a portion of his salary to prove a point
I mean, Michael chose to continue playing basketball because that's what brought him meaning in life, it's what he loved doing. I think him purusing that instead of trying to preserve his legacy was the right choice. As at the end of the day, if he can still do what he loves doing, even if he went from the best to a decent player, he will always have my respect and won't detract from his greatness just because his mean average basket ball stats ended up dipping a little!
as a life long Bullets fan, I was thrilled. also believed that David Stern had a hand in it to help his good friend Abe Pollin
I only ever got to watch Jordan play for the wizards in tv and he has always been my favourite player it also helps my uncle had the bulls finals taped on vhs
It was nothing but positive to me. Why? He just proved he was the best 40 year old ever.
Just imagine if Michael Jordan decided to add a very reliable 3 point shot....
He would be averaging 45 in the 90's
@TTCompanion 17 It really does. Especially with his mentality...
Look at Jimmy Butler.
He’s putting up hella numbers and he’s not even 5% of the athlete nor does he have 5% of the skill level that prime Mike had.
Jimmy is a dog tho. Mentally he’s tougher than 99% of today’s stars but prime Mike is in a class of his own.
a) the most prolific 3pt shooters of the 90s were averaging about 300-350 3p shots a year. a max 3pt total shooting year being 510 from reggie miller.
today average shooters go for that volume and great shooters try about 800 which tells you a lot.
and b) MJ would definitely work on his 3point if he was playing in this era.
@@Terror832 I think that’s an exaggeration but I get your point. I wouldn’t say mj is a full 20x better but I understand what your point is
@@callum9098 if Jimmy Butler had his vertical, quickness, wingspan, handsize, mid range, footwork increased to 99 then he would be Michael Jordan
Excellent Video 🔥🔥🔥
Great video, thank you brother
Nice vid bro 👍👍
MJ looked big and heavy during his time with the Wariors. Yet the scoring was still insane considering his age and lifestyle.
Dude played 82 games at the age of 40 a rare feat these days even for players in their prime.
Bruh Jordan on the wizards, that wizards jersey still one of my fav of all time cause of him
I remember reading an excellent book called "When nothing else matters" which is far from a hagiography of Jordan's years with the Wizards. There it mentioned that Jordan had been troubled by his knee all year long and didn't just "need a surgery" at the and of the year (or was it a deep arthroscopy). There were often times in mid-season where his knee had swollen double its size and the pain was excruciating, yet he would still play.
The story goes that Jordan (already a GM of the team) had selected Kwame Whoever as #1 in the draft and wanted to try out his new signing, so he would challenge him hard during preseason. One of these pick up games somehow caused an abdomen injury to Jordan which delayed his conditioning and as he was trying to catch up with the rest (remember, he was 38) his knee kept stressing more and more and eventually ended up needing a surgery when the team could lose the playoffs race (or it was just that his knee couldn't take it anymore, can't remember). Next season with his knee in a much better condition, he did a more consistent year even if the rest of the team was still bad (which was his responsibility anyway, as he was the GM believing he'd be promoted to president or higher, nevermind that the owner eventually kicked him out).
I highly recommend that book. Even if it presents some things in a very one-sided manner, it's still far more interesting from the worshiping stuff you mostly read about Jordan and shows a side of his personality that most people are unaware of (even those that were shocked by Last Dance documentary, without realizing that Last Dance was super biased pro Jordan).
Playing through pain?
That’s a novel concept for players these days.
I miss the old days.
He may not have been what he was in the late 80s and 90s but he was still better than over half the league and that’s why he’s the GOAT
You can literally say the same exact thing about LeBron though, not what he was in 2000s - 2010s but still better than most... Actually no, at year 19 LeBron is much closer to prime than MJ was lol MJ was a very inefficient and high usage player for a very bad team.
@@Michael-vn2jj mj is better than LeBron
@@Hardcandydandydaddy1 no s*** Sherlock, when did I say LeBron was a better player than MJ?
Lakers LeBron is far better than Wizards MJ, that's not even close You need to get out of MJ's ass if you really arguing Wizards MJ is better than Lakers LeBron who won a ring and is still putting up prime numbers.
MJ's number one though goat, I actually have LeBron at 3, he has not passed Kareem yet in My book but I was talking end of career LeBron was better than end of career MJ that's all. Prime MJ is the goat of sports
Someone: Comments something about Jordan being great at something
LeBron fans: Lemme stop you right there.
Mostly it's the opposite
@@itamar_da_god5651 No one compares LeBron to Jordan except old Jordan haters and young Lebron fans that don't know who Jordan is. They are not in the same category.
@@TubeWatcher Yeah I agree the second somebody says something bout LeBron someone gotta say Le3-6 or whatever.
Cmon guys, most of us know Jordan is the GOAT, praising Bron doesn't mean disrespecting Jordan's legacy
@@TubeWatcher man your comment is perfect. it shows whats wrong with people when discussing basketball. "if you dont agree with me youre a hater" "you didnt see him live youo dont know what youre talking about" "youre a bronsexual"
weirdly enough i hear more of these childish insults from old people who watched jordans career live, kinda sad tbh.
you cant discuss whos the goat right now, because theres always the fact that people cant appreciate greatness when it happens, in 20-30 years it will be a discussion worth having. both are great.
@@TubeWatcher what's awesome about your comment is i never rocked with Jordan back then I was for barkley and KJ, but it is what is, Jordan was/is better than everybody.
Lebron hasn't done anything on the court to make you marvel in the way jordan did, nothing. And I'm not even saying he not super good.
Reminded me a lot of Gretzky's last season or two. Still had moments where you saw greatness but could no longer control the whole game whatsoever.
Up to his 40s he was still dominant.
I could see a late thirties, going into his mid 40s Jordan being the Robin in a championship team.
ジョーダンのシュートって…何でこんな綺麗なんやろ
惚れ惚れするわ
Jordan was still better than half the league pushing 40 years old, that's no tarnished legacy imo! always the GOAT
Jordan’s Wizards run was impressive as hell. The dude was 40
You forgot to highlight his defense during his Wizards years.
True. There are better videos on his wizard years
He was in the mvp discussion his first year in Washington before the season ending knee surgery. The Wizards were a playoff team before the injury. But the team went into free fall after Jordan got hurt. There 2nd best player Rip Hamilton also missed time with a knee injury. Without those injuries and a better supporting cast MJ could have won another title.Anyone saying he was washed up his first year in Washington doesn't know what they are talking about.
We need a Wizards Jordan documentary
MJ thought Kwame was going to be like him and Kobe. Kwame crumbled under the pressure rather than rising to the challenge like Kobe. A player with so much talent can’t be taught the mentality of Jordan and Kobe .
This show you a great player cant win alone
if your teammates are willing to prove that they can't cope with your way of motivating them to win, I'd rather pick a teammate that motivates you to win via trash-talk than a teammate who would only teach you 50 different handshakes.
I guess so especially when u were retired became the GM and decided to come back and play for FUN... Washed jordan is most players PEAK... Smh jordan wasnt human.
@@subzero308 yes but he doesn't win without pipen
The most impressive thing about Jordan's Wizarss years is him playing at an All-Star level at the age of 38-40. I'm 39, 6'8", and a former D2 college basketball player. 4 years ago when I was 35 I still felt like I could play the game at a high level. At 39, I've got aches and pains that have come out of nowhere. There's no way I could make a high school team now.
U stop hitting that gym my G?
@@FLIP205 No. Lol. I'm still about 250 lb. I'm in the firewood and tree business. So I swing a chain saw and an axe all day. I get my workout in; believe that.
He was already the G.O.A.T. before he joined The Wizards but the fact he put the numbers up that he did & at 39 going on 4o years old he played all 82 games with no crybaby load management 💪🏾💯
So true
The man truly loved the game. It was never about the money
@@vernonleewarren280 PREACH🙏🏾
I remember seeing him play when I was a little kid everytime he touched the ball the whole arena would light up with camera flashes since everyone back then was using the kodak wind ups. It was a sight to behold.
Yes I think that block on Ron Mercer was easily one of the greatest blocks of all time, followed up by the game winning shot. That is MJ the G O A T. NO DISPUTE Lebron...
Summary: Wizards team was old Jordan's school playground
Jerry Krause is an awesome and horrible GM. He assembled the Dream Team and ended the Dream Team prematurely.
Had season tickets. He was clearly the best player-even with weekly draining of fluid from his knees and advanced “athlete” age. (Mainly) a mid-range shooter, deadly FT shooter, solid defender, and coach on the floor.
38 years old. He could've easily had 5 more great years left in him. With the right teammates. I'm not knowledgeable enough to be able to say which teammates. Lakers, Spurs, Iverson, wonder what would've happened if he played with any of those guys
Love the last dance and enjoyed this video on his days in Washington. Great job!
In the UK, having Jordan managed to score the Wizards a multi-year deal on Sky Sports. When I was young the only games I could see in their entirety on TV were Wizards games. Jordan had already re-re-retired by the time I came to watch basketball, but I got to grow up watching the big 3 of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison.
Is it just me or does Micheal Jordan looks good in an wizards jersey?
He looks good in any jersey tbh
HERETIC !
It's just you.
He does indeed!
I agree
The West scored again, the only thing i remember about Jermaine O'Neal
This is false in an interview Kwame Brown said himself, ”Jordan never crushed him.” He continued on to say ,”Jordan was the only person he felt he could talk to.”
Link?
This didn’t age well👀
Lmao what
As a casual fan, I remember MJ looking way out-classed by Kobe in a game toward the end. I sensed he wasn't even competitive.
this is some quality content right there
I wonder if Jordan will take it personally, after watching this.
no, i doubt he will watch this
Better than the entire NBA today
He wasn't the best player in the league anymore obviously but when you consider his age, pretty damn good that first year he had the Wizards in playoff contention until he blew out his knee and had to miss the second half of the season, and yes the very last season he was an old guy who could put up good numbers for his age but legitimate All-Star numbers and the best forty-year-old I've seen on an NBA court in what was the most defensive era in NBA history
I remember when I was a 7 year old kid watching Jordan lose in the playoffs against the Magic in 1995 I think it was. I knew who he was but never watched a basketball game in my life because in my country people watch Rugby but after that playoff season I saw greatness unfold with another 3 championships! then watching him on the wizards we got to see glimpses of the Jordan of old I was just fortunate to witness that man in his prime! Youngsters forget that us older guys were raised watching Jordan, Kobe and Lebron so more than anyone we know who the goat is! Watching highlights isn’t the same as watching full games
Idc y'all know....but he still killing it.....
If Jordan stayed healthy those years he retired. Nothing would have changed about him
Jordan was reggie miller in his prime on the wizards and a hof player on the wizards! And played more mins per game at 38 years old then kids today at 28 years old !
If LeBron was 1 year older or MJ played 1 more year we woulda got to see Bron vs MJ
They actually played in a game together when Bron was a highschooler. Go look it up.
Saw him drop like 45 on New Years on the Wizards and it was epic
Image quit only once, and the bulls stayed together.
I honestly think 8 straight minimum.
Truly the greatest of all time.
FLY
Noti gang
When you talk about Jordan not being able to sustain you're doing Jordan an injustice to not mention how his knee injury is what caused him to struggle. He scored 6 because he sat out since the third quarter.
That fadeaway is art
For me? That and the 96-98 were the best years of michael. For real.
MJ after taking a break from basketball for 3 years, came back at age 39 and averaged 25+6+5 across the first 46 games and led Wizards to a 26-20 record (19-63 prior season) after a 2-9 start. Then he got a knee injury and thats what slowed he and Wizards down. He had absolutely no help other than young Rip Hamiliton, who was also injured for sometime that season. Imagine what prime MJ will do
Hed average 40
He is the G.O.A.T.!
Wizards won the draft in probably one of the worst drafts. in the 1st round the top 3 picks were Kwame, Chandler and Pau Gasol. None of those were franchise players. Pau was probably the best, but he wasnt winning you a ring. Honestly no matter who Jordan took it was going to be a disappointment.
My middle school took a group of us to DC to see the Wizards. It was a tradition. We drive 3 hours from Richmond, VA. That day Jordan tore his ACL. We were shattered😟
I was 14 when he joined the wizards, and as a fan, it was still jordan..just older, but still exciting..ITS JORDAN!!
Still no.1 player at his 39/40 years old ! Who can have that number at age of 40! 🐐🐐🐐
An unathletic Jordan who dunked, blocked, hussled and run like younger ones was still an assett in any team you know. I mean today 20+ points players in a high scoring volume league are considered top notch what more do you need?
People fail to see the bigger picture. Jordan proved he still got it. You forget the fadeaway. Pump fake is one thing, his fadeaway was almost unguardable at any stage of his career.
Then, if he wouldn't be injured, they could make the playoffs in that first year of return.
Before the injury last 7 or 10 games had a ppg of 27..at age 39. Yeah fuck the wizards years!!!
Lebron wanted MVP with 27 points!!!
Johhny arnett pretty much shits on this video with his.
true.
arnett the goat
no I think Lebron was upset cuz he averaged Idk 10 assists
Chris Wolf 27 points 20 years ago is different to 27 points nowadays, 27 points then with less calls, tougher play, handchecking and some of the greatest defensive players ever still playing appeared to 27 now in a fast paced era with some of the worse defence ever
Chris Wolf no way, teams on average scored like 90 points in the 90s appeared to now, when its at 120ish