Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan23Forever
Jordan was, at the very least, top 20-25 in the NBA in '02 and '03. So I guess it depends on how you define "elite." That's still top 7% or so in the league.
25.1 pts/6.3 reb/5.2 ast/1.5 stl/.5 blk/43.2% FG through 45 games before getting injured at age 39.
23.2 pts/7.2 reb/3.8 ast/1.5 stl/.5 blk/46.2% FG in the final 30 games of the 2003 season after turning age 40.
Washington was in the 6th playoff spot through the ASG and made an 18 game improvement (would have been 23+ games had he not hurt his knee and sat out a month) despite losing 2 of their top 3 scorers (Richmond/Howard), their starting PG (Strickland), and their only post scoring threat (Howard).
So what was so bad about his Wizards stint again? I honestly don't think enough people realize what he did there, if they're honest with themselves and don't have an agenda.
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Well, your name makes me think you're not entirely impartial. And as for agendas, what agenda would I have? I'm a basketball fan posting on a board, not some guy starting a secret anti-Jordan society.
What hurt Washington, I thought, was Jordan stunted the development of other players. The things I talked about above: you had guys watching, waiting for the old Jordan to do something, but they got the
old Jordan. Obviously he could still do a lot, and did (statistically). But he has so much baggage, he has to be a superstar. And he couldn't be one anymore if he came back now.
As for top 20-25 players in the league, I'm not so sure. But he wasn't far enough from it for me to want to argue that anyway, because he was still quite good. I don't know if it's representative of his time there to pull those stats, though, them being from especially good streaks. What did Kobe average during his best consecutive streak of 30 games, for example?