Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards

Michael Jordan is now about to get to the HOF where he belongs. Not surprisingly, no one is mentioning his time when he was the GM and played for DC.



So let me recap some of the good and bad things Jordan was here

Good as a player
1. Was a two time All Star, once voted in as a starter (2003 he gave in to the public's demand for him to start in his last game)
2. Averaged 20 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4 apg over his 2 years in DC, remarkable for a 40 year old.
3. Made the Wizards a playoff contender with a roster that was capable of doing that. They sold out every game, and everyone wanted to see the Wizards. If Marv Albert announces many Wizards games in that era, that has to say something.

Good as a GM
1. Bought out or traded away deadweight contracts from previous lopsided deals (from hindsight) in the Unseld era, including Rod Strickland, Mitch Richmond, and Juwan Howard.
2. He did draft Brendan Haywood, the only current Wizard who is their physical banger down low and their starting center.
3. Again, his presence helpd make DC a relevant team.

Bad as a player
1. Teammates thought he was a diva.
2. They didn't make the playoffs with a roster that was MJ influenced.

Bad as a GM
1. We really only can hit him from hindsight, but I never thought MJ should have traded Rip for Stackhouse, though this move on paper put the Wizards toward a win now mode.
2. The Kwame pick was a move that from hindsight looks bad and is bad, but then again, Jordan would have been harshly criticized for drafting anyone else, including Pau Gasol. Brown also did and still has a great big banger's body that could be a 20 and 10 any night. His ethic was exposed down the line with the Wizards post MJ era and the Lakers.
3. Of every player Jordan drafted or traded, only one player remains today on the Wizards, Brendan Haywood.

What do I think of Jordan in DC
This isn't the brightest spot of his career, but at the same time, Jordan brought excitement back to one of the worst teams in the NBA at the time just by being a guy in the front office, and even more when he played again. After Jordan was replaced with Ernie Grunfeld, and Doug Collins was replaced with Eddie Jordan, the team did go on to make the playoffs four straight years and we got three all stars plus a first team All NBA Defensive player. I guess the moves all started with Gilbert's arrival to Washington. Do you think Arenas would have wanted to be here if Jordan wasn't? While Arenas may not say so, I think that perhaps he wanted to be the successor to MJ as the franchise player of DC and he did, not to mention that we are now a relevant team in the league now, and Jordan was a boost, and for that I say thanks. I hope we could have been more civil with him in terms of his firing, etc.

I think MJ is in the HOF already so he's in the place where he has to be.He wasn't in the best shape in the Wizards because he was much older but still 20 PPG/5 RPG/4 APG for 40 years old player is great perfomance,to not forgot he did have more then 50%FG from field which was one of his highest

He did make them a contender,he make them richer,more popular and team that every wanted to watch with him around which was great time for making money for the Wizards.How many 40 years old players can do that?Few of them,but MJ had wonderful career in teh Bulls as well,he's simply the Greatest Of All Time

I think what he did with the Wizards was actually amazing

at ages 39 and 40 he still average 20 PPG. To average that many PPG and still be a superstar caliber player at that age was incredible.

He wasn't the dominant force he was in Chicago but was still Michael Jordan and still was one of the most skilled players in the league and he showed he could still put up 30 or 40 points on some nights

Well, the main reason why he is being inducted to the HOF I think is because of his tenure with the Bulls. Yes, he had a pretty darn good career as a Wizard (his stats at his age were phenomenal to say the least) but had a better career as a Bull.

His accomplishments while he played in Chicago made Micheal Jordan a household name. He won six of his championships, broke franchise records, won regular season as well as finals MVP honours among other things - all with the Chicago Bulls.

Therefore, I am not really surprised that his tenure with the Wizards would be overshadowed considering the crapload of things he accomplished while in a Bulls uniform.

He only played 2 seasons in Washington and didn't make the playoffs because of the injuries to the team.

What he did in Chicago was absoultely to me the greatest feat in sports.

In Washington it was still impressive for him to average 20 PPG at age 39 and 40 and still be able to put up 30 and 40 points on some nights

I wish our team would congratulate MJ beyond a simple sentence typed by Pollin's secretary. We don't need a whole section of our website to say what he did, the Bulls are his team of course, but at least one little page to acknowledge it openly. If MJ didn't come here, I wouldn't be surprised that our team will still be a moribund franchise this entire decade. In essence we'd be the Eastern Conference's Clippers.

To be in his late 30's and early 40's, and to be able to keep up with guys who are mostly about half his age, I say that's pretty impressive. And to be able to average 20 ppg, 5 rpg, and 4 apg, that's as good as Vince Carter during the 2008-09 season.

People should give more credit to that, since not many are able to achieve what MJ has. He really does deserve a spot in the HOF.

thewiz06 wrote:

I wish our team would congratulate MJ beyond a simple sentence typed by Pollin's secretary. We don't need a whole section of our website to say what he did, the Bulls are his team of course, but at least one little page to acknowledge it openly. If MJ didn't come here, I wouldn't be surprised that our team will still be a moribund franchise this entire decade. In essence we'd be the Eastern Conference's Clippers.

If mj would have stayed the hell away from washington we'd be alot better

no...i take that back

Michael sucked when he played for the wizards

No he did not. ...

How the hell is 20 PPG, 5 RPG, and 4 APG sucking? specially when you're 40 also.

Khai (The Real JM) wrote:

How the hell is 20 PPG, 5 RPG, and 4 APG sucking? specially when you're 40 also.

when you can put up those numbers at age 40 you know you're special

King Of NJ wrote:

Khai (The Real JM) wrote:

How the hell is 20 PPG, 5 RPG, and 4 APG sucking? specially when you're 40 also.

when you can put up those numbers at age 40 you know you're special

Don't forget the 40/50 perfomance he had in those ages

yup..

VISA wrote:

thewiz06 wrote:

I wish our team would congratulate MJ beyond a simple sentence typed by Pollin's secretary. We don't need a whole section of our website to say what he did, the Bulls are his team of course, but at least one little page to acknowledge it openly. If MJ didn't come here, I wouldn't be surprised that our team will still be a moribund franchise this entire decade. In essence we'd be the Eastern Conference's Clippers.

If mj would have stayed the hell away from washington we'd be alot better

Was that a joke? The wizards were shit before MJ got there.. he rejuvenated the franchise... not to mention all the ticket sales since he played there.