Michael Jordan on his last legs wasn’t exactly a player this Pistons All-Star wanted to play along with during the 2003 season.
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Michael Jordan entered the NBA for a third team back during the 2001-02 season but this time with a completely different. After spearheading the Washington Wizards’ basketball operations as their president, the 6x champ decided to take matters into his own hands and suit up for the DMV squad for two straight seasons.
Of course, this wasn’t Chicago’s Michael Jordan as the decline in athleticism was quite noticeable. Despite him nearing his 40s, MJ still suited up for a total of 142 games for the Wizards in those two seasons with the 2002-03 season being his final one in the NBA.
When you have an aging all-timer like Jordan, a few players can get caught in the crosshairs of their retirement. Players looking for contracts, guys trying to prove themselves, and younger All-Stars in their prime all have their touches reduced to accommodate for the one of the league’s greatest players who isn’t all too great any longer.
This is what happened to former Detroit Pistons star, Jerry Stackhouse, who was traded from the Pistons to the Wizards after leading them to 50 wins in the 2002 season.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal describes the moment he found out Michael Jordan was a human
Jerry Stackhouse on playing with the Wizards.
“I’m just disappointed because I have to leave my home. I have to leave a fan base that has grown with me since I’ve been here and has been unbelievably great to me,” said Stack about his trade to the Wizards after the 2002 season. There were clear indications of his disapproval of this trade from the get-go yet the Wizards were blind to it all.
When talking about the 2002-03 season with ‘ForgottenSeasons’, Jerry didn’t hold back, saying on multiple occasions that he wasn’t enthused about being paired alongside an older Michael Jordan. While he did say he revered him, it was tough to get shots up when a 40 y/o MJ was shooting as though it was 1991.
This season was also the last season that Jerry Stackhouse would play at an All-Star caliber level and also the last time he would average 20+ points per game. The next year, following MJ’s retirement, he would play merely 26 games after trying to recover from an arthroscopic right knee surgery. Despite the injuries however, Stackhouse has amassed an impressive $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
