Michael Jordan, Who Failed To Make the Playoffs with the Wizards, Didn’t Perceive His Time in Washington as a Failure: “All of That Was Predicated on How We Took Control…”

Published 09/15/2022, 3:30 PM EDT

Michael Jordan made his third comeback from retirement in 2001 with the Washington Wizards at the age of 38. And his time with the Wizards did not have great success. But according to Jordan, he doesn’t feel that his time was a failure, even though they didn’t make the playoffs.

When Jordan retired for the second time, he said that there is a 99.99% chance that he will never return. But then after seeing a fellow NHL player return at an advanced age, Jordan started training again. He prepared for his return in the summer of 2001 and expressed interest in making another comeback.

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And he decided to return in September and announced that he will be donating his entire salary to the victims of the tragic 9/11 terror attacks.

Michael Jordan says he doesn’t see his time at the Wizards as a failure

Jordan came back to the Wizards for a few reasons. Firstly, he came back to show that he can still play in the NBA. And he wanted to learn the ways of owning a team. He came back to the NBA and showed that he can still play at an advanced age.

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Jordan put up all-star level numbers, but he wasn’t as good as before. He wasn’t the Jordan of the golden days and his production and efficiency weren’t up to par. In addition, he had to deal with injuries as well. Therefore, many consider his time at the Wizards was a total bust.

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However, Jordan doesn’t think so. In an interview, he said, “A lot of people look at as a failure, yeah. I don’t.” After that, he emphasized that most of the criticism regarding his stint at Washington was concerning Kwame Brown. However, Jordan refuses to look at the situation in a negative light.

Brown was the number one pick in the 2001 NBA draft and is considered one of the biggest bust in NBA history. But Jordan said if they didn’t take him at one, somebody else would have taken him at two.

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He also added that during his time, the Wizards were able to clear cap space and unload bad contracts. And they were able to sign Gilbert Arenas and other stars and made the playoffs subsequently. So the world may think Jordan’s time might have been a failure, but the Bulls legend definitely doesn’t think that.

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Written by:

Vishwesha Kumar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Holder of a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Vishwesha has been writing content for about 3 years now. He has been following the NBA for nearly 10 years, since first starting off in the year 2012.

Michael Jordan, Who Failed To Make the Playoffs with the Wizards, Didn’t Perceive His Time in Washington as a Failure: “All of That Was Predicated on How We Took Control…”

Michael Jordan says he doesn’t see his time at the Wizards as a failure

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