Michael Jordan is in most people’s eyes the greatest NBA player of all time.
Over the course of his time with the Chicago Bulls he won six championships, six Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs and earned 10 All-NBA First-Team nods.
Jordan’s two-year stint with the Washington Wizards, unfortunately, was far less impressive.
In the aftermath, Jordan would eventually admit that he made some mistakes with that Wizards run.
“I think it exposed me to a lot of decision making,” he told Cigar Aficionado at one point. “One of the bad decisions I made was to go back and play.
“Even though I was soothing an itch that I had, I also thought I was being innovative in my job by going down and evaluating the talent firsthand. I thought it would be a good idea to play against them, see what their tendencies were and what we were paying for.
“But at the same time, I became more critical of them because of the way I played the game and the way I’d approached the game, and the players didn’t respond to that,” Jordan continued.
“They didn’t respond to the desire that I had when I was playing. I may just have gotten too close to see or maybe too critical of certain actions of the players. That was one of the biggest mistakes that I feel I made in Washington.”
Last year it was revealed why Jordan never re-signed with the Wizards after that initial run.
This along with Jordan’s relationship with then-teammate Kwame Brown adds further context to why things ultimately went the way they did.
Coach O is living the life. https://t.co/BLVyNRopGH
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 27, 2022
Jordan’s time in D.C. obviously wasn’t ideal. But it is still a fascinating part of his lore.
Few could have done what he did with the Wizards at his age.
Hopefully as the years pass and everyone becomes more removed from the situation, more fun stories about that particular period of time will emerge.
Related: Jordan Poole Gets Brutally Honest About New Warriors Contract
Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
