“When He Was Old He Was A**”: Andre Iguodala Defends Michael Jordan’s Potential 2004 NBA Comeback From Streamer Ray

Michael Jordan’s baffling decision to take a 3-year break in the prime of his basketball career shocked a lot of people, but somehow, today it’s an argument that works in favor of his illustrious career and legacy.

It presents a ‘what if’ angle, a favorite in the NBA community, and allows for more online arguments on the GOAT debate. Much like the fans, former and current players are also often involved in this debate, often hypothesizing about Jordan continuing his career even after the forced exit from Washington.

Andre Iguodala, while on the Kai Cenat livestream, ended up bringing up this conversation and laid down his take on what if Jordan had continued his career.

Iguodala was telling the assembled crowd how Jordan never actually fulfilled his potential. He brought up how he only played 13 seasons and revealed a little-known secret about the 6x Champ.

Recalling how he faced Jordan in a practice practice in his rookie season with the 76ers, Iguodala claimed that His Airness was attempting to make a sensational third comeback to the league in 2004.

“MJ only played 13 years, people don’t say that. And he took 2 years off in his prime. He only played 13 years! That ain’t that long! I did play against MJ! When I was coming into (my) rookie (year), MJ was trying to come back again. We just sat him down. He was hooping with us, he was trying to figure out if he could hoop again. MJ just love hooping.”

One of the streamers in the room, Ray, quipped that Jordan wasn’t that good in his old age. He used LeBron James’ current season (his 22nd in the league) as a benchmark and said Jordan wasn’t doing what James is.

“When he was old, he was a**. LeBron right now, he average more.”

Iguodala wouldn’t stand for this disrespect and immediately pointed out that, even at nearly 40 years of age, Jordan was averaging 20 points per game. He didn’t have the athleticism anymore, but he was still causing problems for defenders.

Unfortunately for viewers, the debate couldn’t go any further after a food delivery put an abrupt end to the debate.

But it does allow us to think about Iggy’s words. If MJ was, indeed, planning a third comeback to the NBA, would he have been as successful in it? Would he have averaged 20 like he was before his retirement, or would his aging body’s inability to keep up with younger players have affected his legacy?

His final stint with the Washington Wizards was nothing like his time in Chicago. His body was breaking down, with repeated injuries to his knees. He was pushing 40 years of age, and most importantly, the Wizards were not a challenging team. If we take the turbulent Wizards Dynamic and the lowest season average of his career into consideration, Jordan’s decision to retire in 2003 was sound.

The NBA was still made up of players who watched him growing up, and with his deteriorating numbers, he likely didn’t want to damage the god-like image that everyone had of him. Without the marvels of modern medicine and recovery methods available to him, Jordan would have had to accept a diminished role.

Iggy’s point of “MJ just love hooping,” does reflect Jordan’s spirit as a competitor, but that same spirit would also have kept him from settling with anything but the leading man role.

This isn’t the first time Iggy has defended MJ

In an old episode of JJ Redick’s ‘Old Man and the Three’ podcast, Iggy was adamant that despite the hero-worship that MJ gets to this day, fans still couldn’t fathom how truly great he was during his heyday.

“MJ should be in his different world; that’s how good MJ was. If Kobe was that good, if LeBron is this good, if Kareem was that good, if Tim Duncan was that good, Larry Bird is white, and he was this good, imagine how good Michael Jordan is or was that it’s not even close,” he said.

“I don’t think we understand what we were watching when we saw what MJ was doing. He was the most competitive player out there. He had a Heat culture before the Heat culture like he was ready for his flaws that we saw was that everything turned into a competition,” he added.

Of course, Jordan’s competitive nature is well known. Clips from the NBA’s 75th anniversary provided fans with a few fun insights into his spirit. One that stood out was when he and the other honorees were standing backstage, and he challenged Magic Johnson to a 1v1.

Whether he could have averaged 20+ points per game if he had returned for the 3rd time can never be answered but it definitely would have been incredibly entertaining for the entire NBA community.