How Good Was Wizards Michael Jordan? 

imagine being the gm of a team that sucks so hard that you decide to sign yourself.

Washed Jordan is what many players consider their peak

I saw Jordan play for the Wizards. I’ll never forget that game. He played beautifully.

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

You know you're amazing when people call a season where you averaged less than 30 points a "stain on your legacy".

He set the bar too high. Dropping 50 at 39 years old is incredible, let alone averaging near 20 a game.

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

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.

The fact that he averaged 20 points at the age of 40 is just absurd!!!!

Imagine if Jordan had only retired once. He woulda reached 40,000+ points

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.

imagine being a high schooler that michael jordan believes in

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.

Wizards Michael Jordan was underrated and scored 20 points per game . And shot. 40 percent for mid range. 2pt.

His washed years with the Wizards was most players peak🤷

That iconic shot in his last all-star game will always be in memories of basketball fans.

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.

No one but Michael can play in the NBA for “fun”

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…

Imagine if him and scottie Pippen joined Allen Iverson & sixers after they left the bulls

awesome content right there

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

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!

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.

As a Wizards fan I wish I couldve seen Arenas, Jordan, Butler and Jamison on the same squad.

Imagine if old mj played with a young Kobe

For me, Wizards MJ increased his image, aura and how I view him. I love that he came back.

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.

If Micheal Jordan wished to be “the greatest basketball of all time” nothing would happen.

It got him in the 30,000 point club so it was worth it

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.

After almost 4years rest without basketball, came back and still can play like NBA superstar, that's great

"There's nothing harder than coaching a superstar when they're not a superstar anymore." - Doug Collins

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

MJ looked big and heavy during his time with the Wariors. Yet the scoring was still insane considering his age and lifestyle.

Mj is the greatest of all time Imo

You forgot to highlight his defense during his Wizards years.

Im not even a fan of the NBA. Not sure how I came across this channel. But I'm glad I did. Some quality content here! Good stuff!

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

Someone: Comments something about Jordan being great at something LeBron fans: Lemme stop you right there.

Nice vid bro 👍👍

Great video, thank you brother

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!

Excellent Video 🔥🔥🔥

Love the last dance and enjoyed this video on his days in Washington. Great job!

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 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 💪🏾💯

Summary: Wizards team was old Jordan's school playground

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

Jordan’s Wizards run was impressive as hell. The dude was 40

Bruh Jordan on the wizards, that wizards jersey still one of my fav of all time cause of him

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.

We need a Wizards Jordan documentary

Dude played 82 games at the age of 40 a rare feat these days even for players in their prime.

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.

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.

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

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

This show you a great player cant win alone

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).

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.

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

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.

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

this is some quality content right there

Is it just me or does Micheal Jordan looks good in an wizards jersey?

If Jordan stayed healthy those years he retired. Nothing would have changed about him

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.

Saw him play in the pyramid in Memphis against the grizzles as a wizard, was so amazing to see him and just to see him on a basketball court was awesomeeeeeee

Hey Nonstop! I'm from South Korea and been with you since the first video with Ronaldo Jr. Keep up the good work!

I wonder if Jordan will take it personally, after watching this.

I was 10 as a kid in Southern MD,and MJ coming to Washington in 2001 was the biggest thing ever

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

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

The West scored again, the only thing i remember about Jermaine O'Neal

I was 14 when he joined the wizards, and as a fan, it was still jordan..just older, but still exciting..ITS JORDAN!!

Video request How good was Eric Dickerson? Dude deserves more love!

If LeBron was 1 year older or MJ played 1 more year we woulda got to see Bron vs MJ

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.”

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.

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.

Better than the entire NBA today

G.O.A.T. content

That fadeaway is art

"Ohh... So you uh, double-retired?" --Reg Mackworthy in the legendary sports comedy "Eastbound & Down."

Boa noite MJ ex-NBA Chicago Bulls vai amém bom 👍💪😷

If 38-40 year old Jordan decided to do a Lebron and teamed up with other superstars during that time, he could have won more chips.

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😟

how is it possible i just found this channel?

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

i thought MJ added to his legend. There were a lotta good moments that came from his Wizard days

IIRC, that last buzzer beater in his career was at Phoenix in 2002. I watched that game live on tv.

With those stats he would no doubt be a starter today.

Proved he was the 🐐