Michael Jordan's Years in Washington Still Art, Just a Different Type

In 2001, the greatest player the NBA had ever seen un-retired for the second time, subsequently embarking on a two-year comeback in the league he had dominated for the majority of 13 seasons from 1984-1998.

This time though, it was going to be different. Jordan, who had dabbled in the front office and team ownership - in 2000, he was named President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards and was also a part owner of the team - would be coming back in the nation's capital to play for the Wizards.

Trading in the red, white, and black of the Chicago Bulls for the Wizards' blue, bronze, and white combination that was never easy on the eyes, Jordan was no longer competing for championships but really with himself, wanting to prove that he could still play the game and challenge himself against the younger stars of the game.

While people have had largely negative reactions to his tenure in Washington - dismissing it as something that doesn't count or something that tarnished his legacy - I do not believe, for what it's worth, that the years that Jordan spent in Washington should be viewed in a negative light.

He officially announced his return on October 1, 2001, citing an opportunity to help the young Wizards - Kwame Brown (Jordan's first ever draft choice), Brendan Haywood, Etan Thomas, and Bobby Simmons were rookies that first year - as a major factor in his decision.

In his first game back, on October 30 at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks, Jordan, playing 36 minutes, had 19 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals, struggling from the field (7 of 21) in a two-point loss. Down 91-88 with 34.7 seconds remaining, Jordan turned the ball over looking for teammate Popeye Jones on the inside. Teammate Christian Laettner stole the ball back off of a deflection though, and passed to Jordan, who then gave it up to point guard Chris Whitney at the top of the circle. Jordan then retreated to the right wing, where Whitney found him open. Jordan fired, but the ball came up short hitting front rim. Whitney would hit a three with 1.3 seconds left after the Knicks' Mark Jackson hit free throws, but the Wizards would end up on the losing end, 93-91.

Jordan's first game back in 2001 was very similar to his first game back in 1995, when he shot 7 of 28 against the Pacers and finished with 19 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Both seasons were ironically similar shooting wise, as he shot 41% in '95 and 42% in 2001-02. Both were also examples of the mind willing, but the body sometimes struggling to muster the energy to be consistent and the legs failing to deliver proper elevation on jump shots.

He would finish the 2001-2002 season averaging 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.4 steals on 42% from the field, and play in 60 games (53 starts) in 34.9 minutes per contest.

In 2002-2003, he would play in all 82 games (starting 67), and averaged 20 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals on 45% shooting in 37 minutes per game. Both years, he would be an All-Star. Both seasons, the Wizards would finish with identical 37-45 records.

The beauty of Wizards Jordan though, and why I don't think it should be viewed negatively as he was clearly not the same player, was that he was still able to pull off incredible performances every now and then. He accepted the challenge of coming back at an advanced age to prove that he still had it, and did prove that every now again he could put forth a vintage effort. That season, he scored 30 or more sixteen times, and had his most remarkable performances in back-to-back games on December 29 and December 31. On the 29th, he poured in 51 against the Charlotte Hornets, on 21 of 38 and 9 of 10 from the line, to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. On New Year's Eve, he scored 45 points, and had 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals, on 16 of 32 and 12 of 13 from the line. On January 12, he played 40 minutes and went for 35 points on 14 of 30, guarded in the game for periods by Kevin Garnett, one of the NBA's all-time defenders and 25 years old at the time. From January 22nd to January 26th, he had 30, 40 and 41 points, with an average over the three games of 57% shooting, 37.0 points 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists. In the 16 games where he scored over 30 points, he shot an average of 50% from the field. He also had seven games of double digit rebounds, and one game where he had 11 assists.

The following year, his final in the NBA, he would score 30 or more eight times. In those eight games, he shot an average of 57%. He first went over 40 points that season on January 4 against the Indiana Pacers, and was guarded for the most part by all-league defender Ron Artest. Jordan scored 41 in the game, and grabbed 12 rebounds with 4 assists and 3 steals. In 53 minutes, he was 14 of 26 from the field, 10 of 12 from the line and 3 of 4 from three in a three-point win. He then eclipsed 40 points next by going for 45 points against the Hornets, in 44 minutes going 18 of 33 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line. Six games later, he went for 43 points and added 10 rebounds in a three-point win in 43 minutes, going 18 of 30 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line. That game, he was guarded largely by the Nets' Kenyon Martin, one of the NBA's most athletic forwards who was College Basketball's Defensive Player of the Year just three years earlier when he was a senior at Cincinnati. In his final game at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2003, Jordan scored 39 with 8 rebounds in 43 minutes on 13 of 22 from the field and 13 of 15 from the line.

What made, to me, Jordan's scoring feats in a Wizards' uniform so impressive was not just that he had been dealing with knee tendinitis and back issues at times, but that his scoring was mostly done below the rim. No longer able to dunk on the regular or fly through the air for acrobatic finishes, Jordan executed flawless fundamentals - jab steps, pump fakes, footwork - to get his points, which to me displayed a level of mastery of the game of basketball. Older, wiser, and with limited athletic ability, he was still able to get to his spots on the floor, knowing where he needed to get to, and still put on performances that were reminiscent of vintage Michael Jordan.

To some people, his coming back not being the same player, and not providing the consistency of the Jordan everyone had come to know (and in a different and ugly uniform no less) might be seen like a smudge on a perfect painting. To me, though, it was the opposite.

Still a piece of artwork, just using different tools.