Returning in the early 2000s to finish his career with a last freelance at the Wizards, Michael Jordan was anything but ridiculous during his two seasons in Washington. But the adventure ended in a fishtail for His Majesty, as evidenced by a particularly violent decision by his teammates…
Surely there is a perfect world in which Michael Jordan retires permanently on his legendary shot in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals against Jazz. Yes, but here it is: “His Airness” had ants in his legs, and he chose to offer himself a last lap as he approached his forties on the Washington side, where he had become a leader in the meantime.
On the floor, the results of this experience are mixed for MJ. Individually, number 23 displayed a crazy level for a player aged 38 to 40, never seen before. But collectively, the mayonnaise never really caught on in DC’s locker room. The game had changed, mentalities too, and the new generation simply hated Jordan. The proof.
The icy goodbye of Michael Jordan’s teammates at the Wizards
Mike Wise, renowned Washington Post journalist, told a striking anecdote on the subject. And that would almost hurt MJ:
One of the craziest things I remember hearing? It came from Wes Unseld (GM of the Wizards from 1996 to 2003, editor’s note), God rest his soul. He is now deceased, so I can reveal that. He said to me, “Michael has been great for the franchise on so many levels. It increased the value of the organization, and made us much more respectable. And yet, he poisoned the locker room.
I asked Wes Unseld how he could be sure. He replied: “When Michael retired, I went around to each player to ask them if they wanted to participate in a retirement gift, something nice. They all turned their backs on me. I asked again: “All the players, without exception? Unseld replied: “Unanimously”.
This anecdote corroborates the words of Jerry Stackhouse, who nevertheless idolized Jordan when he was young, but who have very bad memories of their time together in Washington. So how to explain this disenchantment? Probably by an omnipresent Jordan, leader and player, through whom everything passed, that coach Doug Collins listened to more than reason, and whose leadership “the hard way” rejected a new generation. Gilbert Arenas, who arrived the following year, summed it up as follows:
When he was on the field it was not Michael Jordan the manager, but Michael Jordan the player. He was ready to push his teammates and be competitive, and a bunch of 19 or 20 year old kids, they don’t understand that. That’s why they were crying, like, “Oh no, if he talks to us like that when we’re teammates, what’s it going to be like when he’s our boss?” »
Not one. Not a player has deigned to participate in the retirement gift of Michael Jordan, who has visibly tired all of his teammates during his two years in Washington. Whose fault is it? Everyone will be the judge, but it can only be regretted that the adventure ended like this for the GOAT…
2023-05-05 15:10:00
#terrible #behavior #Michael #Jordans #teammates #Wizards
