People often forget about the two-year stint Michael Jordan had with the Washington Wizards. Of course, Jordan’s time with the Wizards wasn’t as successful as his stint with the Chicago Bulls. The 6-feet-6 Shooting Guard failed to advance to the postseason in both campaigns playing for the Washington side. However, it was pretty memorable considering the stats MJ was putting up on a nightly basis despite being in his late 30s. As mentioned by KJ Martin on Paul George’s podcast, Kenyon Martin once narrated a story of Jordan dropping 40+ points against the New Jersey Nets, when he was almost 40 years old.
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Michael Jordan was injury-riddled during his final campaign with the Washington Wizards. MJ thought he could lead the team to a title win had it not been for the complications in his knee. Kwame Brown once spoke about His Airness’ ambitious motives for the 2002-2003 season.
“You had a coach in Doug Collins who didn’t believe in playing young players, and Michael didn’t either. Michael’s last hoorah, he wanted to win a championship. He thought that if he could get to the playoffs, he could win a championship,” Brown said.
Of course, MJ wasn’t successful in doing so. But in those two years, Jordan humiliated some of the best young defenders in the league.
An aged Michael Jordan scored 40+ points against Kenyon Martin and co. on multiple occasions
On the recent episode of Podcast P, KJ Martin revealed a few stories that his father, Kenyon Martin, narrated to him as a kid. One of those stories was about an aged Michael Jordan dropping 40+ points on the Nets.
“He told me a story about Michael Jordan. I think he[MJ] was in his 40s, he[Kenyon] said he gave him 40, all jumpers,” KJ Martin said.
During the podcast, KJ Martin was asked by one of the co-host to name his dad’s toughest matchup during his NBA days. KJ named Jordan and Kobe, mentioning Jordan’s 40-point game.
We aren’t sure which matchup KJ is exactly referring to here. During MJ’s stint with the Wizards, he managed to drop 40+ points against Kenyon Martin’s Nets on two instances.
The first occasion occurred in January 2002. MJ, coming off a 51-point performance, played a team-high 39 minutes and went on to annihilate the Nets’ defense. Apart from grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing 7 assists, the 38-year-old scored 45 points.
The second occasion occurred in the next season. The 39-year-old combo guard was on the hardwood for 43 minutes. In those 43 minutes, Jordan torched New Jersey for 43 points, shooting a staggering 60% from the field.
Despite averaging 21.2 points, MJ believed playing for the Wizards was a mistake
Even though MJ wasn’t as dominant during his Chicago Bulls days, he lodged quite respectable numbers during his tenure with the Wizards. Suiting up for 142 out of 164 possible games, in his late 30s, MJ recorded 21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in those two years.
Despite dominating the league on a nightly basis, the Black Cat believed that he had made a mistake in playing for the Wizards.
“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 first-hand. 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.”
MJ could’ve walked away from the game when he won the last Championship with the Bulls in 1998. But, being the competitive athlete that he was, Jordan decided to suit up, returning for the second time.
