Wizards’ Jordan Was Better Than You Think
Two NBA stars tell the story of how an old Michael Jordan educated them.
When Micahel Jordan unretired from the NBA in 2001, I genuinely thought he would dominate the league again.
I mean, I was a 90s kid who witnessed Jordan in his prime. He was, as Larry Bird described him, “Jesus masquerading as a basketball player.”
But the truth of the matter is that Jordan is just a man. And Father Time always catches us.
So, Jordan returns after 3 years away as a 38-year-old wing and doesn’t destroy his opponents.
He had big games and was good, but he wasn’t 90’s Jordan good.
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Now, back to the story…
Early on, fans were criticizing him for not being athletic anymore.
Some of his peers were saying he shouldn’t have come back and that this move was going to hurt his legacy because he wasn’t him (Air Jordan) anymore.
It was like MJ still had the drive, determination and competitiveness but he just couldn’t do some of the things he wanted to do anymore.
However, this wasn’t a bad thing. Because he couldn’t do some of the things he once excelled at, it forced him to make a new game plan.
And this new game plan is what helped him average over 20 points a game and something that DeMar DeRozan and Carmelo Anthony stole.
On 7PM in Brooklyn, Anthony said that Wizards’ Jordan had super basic but effective moves and he used them to kill his opponents.
“I just remember watching him just, as you know, a basketball player, ‘Damn, he just looked different.’ He not MJ of old. Like, he not MJ flying through the air but the game look so easy to him. He just catching it, two dribble, right, shot fake, boom, get to the rack. One dribble, hezi pull, boom, tween, tween. I’m like, ‘Damn.’ It’s like MJ was just picking his spots and they can’t do sh-t about it.”
DeRozan viewed this simplicity as a necessary skill.
In 2013, DeRozan suffered a groin injury that took a long time to recover.
His athleticism was limited -like Jordan’s- and because his game relied on his explosiveness, he couldn’t contribute much to his team.
So, wanting to help the Toronto Raptors win, he studied old man Jordan.
“In 2013, I had tore my groin, like off the bone. I watched Jordan play every game in a Wizards’ jersey. I’m like, ‘They say both his knees f—ked up, he couldn’t move, blah, blah, blah.’ So, I’m watching him from the standpoint of like, ‘How is he doing what he doing? He still averaging 20 plus. Still getting 40. But he not youth. He not athletic no more. He not old Jordan. So, I watched so much of him. So, when I came back to playing, I tried playing more that way.”
DeRozan also said Wizards’ Jordan didn’t play a flashy game. He just knew how to pick his spots and use his body and footwork.
“If you just sit and watch Wizards’ Jordan and see how incredible he was from 38 to 40 years old, the way he scored the ball, the way he was able to create his shots from the post, from the elbow off one dribble, two dribbles, stop pull-ups, how physical he was in the post, how he was able to create contact and get to the basket. He wasn’t athletic like he was, but still being able to finish over guys. It was so incredible because it was such a master of art how simple he just made the game, just playing off jab steps, pump fakes.”
In those two seasons in Washington, Jordan averaged 21.2 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting.
But during those 142 games, he scored 40 points multiple times and even dropped 51 points one time.
And it was mainly from mid-range jumpers and occasional layups.
If that’s not impressive, you gotta go back and study the archives and up your knowledge.
Which you can do here:
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