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Gilbert Arenas on Why Michael Jordan Didn’t Re-Sign With Wizards: “The Players Didn’t Want Him Back”

Published 12/26/2021, 9:00 AM EST

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Many remember Michael Jordan for his role in winning two three-peats with Chicago Bulls. He was an influential figure in the Bulls team that dominated the NBA for the majority of the 1990s. However, Jordan had a 2nd shot at basketball after he went past his prime at Washington Wizards.

Jordan was already an executive at the Wizards and also a part-owner of the franchise. However, he later expressed his desire to play and signed a two-season deal with the team. After that, he was supposed to take up the basketball operations role at the franchise.

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However, things didn’t turn out well for Jordan, and the Wizards’ boss fired him. Jordan couldn’t help the Wizards both on and off the court much and was fired from his post of president of basketball operations. Wizards legend Gilbert Arenas recently revealed that it was the players that didn’t want Jordan back.

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Gilbert Arenas reveals why Michael Jordan didn’t re-sign with Washington Wizards

The Wizards signed Gilbert Arenas in the summer of 2003. They had fired Jordan in the same summer. He never got the opportunity to play alongside Jordan but witnessed his departure from the team. He recently revealed in an interview that it was the decision of the players to not have Jordan as a part of the team.

“When I went there that was one of my questions. My dad’s question like ‘hey, what’s up with the Jordan thing? Why didn’t you sign him back?’,” Arenas said.

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“And (Abe) Pollin was like ‘I love basketball, I love the players. So, I asked the players what did they want. The players said they didn’t want Jordan back’.”

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Not just this, Gilbert went on to reveal that Pollin even offered Jordan a check of $10 million, which he threw away in anger upon his firing.

Jordan then kept himself busy for a few years before returning to management in 2006. He bought a minority stake in Charlotte Hornets and became the majority owner after a few years. He also has a NASCAR team, 2XI Racing, that fields Bubba Wallace.

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Written by:

Abhishek Singh

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Abhishek is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of journalistic experience with Chase Your Sport and Dribl. A Football Management graduate, he has previously interned in the Indian Super League, I-League and the AFC Champions League. In addition to being a Michael Jordan fan, Abhishek is an ardent Steph Curry and Warriors guy, and believes they have a few more championships in store before the former retires.
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