“Michael Jordan told me he’s going for 40 at 40 years old and broke it down”: When Jared Jeffries got told by the Wizards star that he’s going off against Atlanta

Michael Jordan told Jared Jeffries that he would be scoring 40 points against Atlanta and broke down just how he would get it. 

Michael Jordan was notorious at keeping his word with his opponents when telling them that he would go off against them that night. Whether it was going into the opposition’s locker room to telling them they’re in for a long night or smoking a cigar on his car and telling them the same, MJ knew how to strike fear into his opponents. 

When on the Washington Wizards however, Jordan wasn’t the same player that he was on the Chicago Bulls but that doesn’t mean he was a ‘scrub’ by any means. He held the 10th highest ppg in the entire league in his first season with the Wizards and even dropped a whopping 51 piece in the process.

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The following season however, ‘His Airness’ would turn 40 years old and was looking to retire from the game for a 3rd and final time. In pure MJ fashion, just as everybody was forgetting about how good he once was, he reminded them of just that. 

Jared Jeffries on Michael Jordan in his final season. 

The Wizards didn’t have championship aspirations in the slightest when Michael Jordan was in his final season. So, it’s safe to say that that 2003 NBA season was solely for the purpose of giving the 6x champ a proper send-off into retirement. 

While his body wasn’t capable of doing what it once used to, his mind was certainly the same. His killer instinct never died out until his very last game and Jared Jeffries, his Wizards teammate, once broke down just how he would listen to Jordan talk about getting 40 points on any given night.

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“I remember we were playing Atlanta at Verizon Center. We played here and walking out on the court he goes, ‘I’m gonna get 40 tonight.’” 

“He would break down getting 40 points. It would be like 10 free throws, a couple lay-ups in transition, curl screen; little things where he knew how to break the game down to get 40 points. It’s like, ‘Dang man, it’s that easy for you to get 40.’” 

For what it’s worth, Michael Jordan never scored 40 points against Atlanta as a part of the Washington Wizards. His highest scoring game against them was a 31 point game.