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Abe's axe Pollin should have handled Jordan firing with more carePosted: Thursday May 08, 2003 12:21 PMUpdated: Friday May 09, 2003 12:48 PM
We already had substantial evidence that superstar athletes are not invulnerable to failure in other endeavors, Magic Johnson's disastrous talk show provided proof of that. Michael Jordan's failure to lead the Washington Wizards out of the darkness as a team executive is not exactly the same thing, but it's in the same ballpark: Jordan may have eventually become a competent suit, but that would not have been mandated by his greatness on the court. But whatever the Washington Wizards' axing of Jordan says about His Airness' abilities as a general manager/personnel man, it says a lot more about Wizards owner Abe Pollin's way-way-way-over-the-hill guidance of his team. At the very least, Pollin should've had the guts to step to the microphone on Wednesday and say some version of the following: Pollin cut ties with Jordan primarily because the Wizards owner doesn't like internecine squabbles, or, more to the point, doesn't like them to become public. Pollin is a gentleman and a generous benefactor, but that doesn't excuse his naivete. He presumably enjoyed the boost in bottom line and buzz that came with Jordan's participation, but fell apart when it became clear that those benefits came along with the scrutiny that inevitably trails one of the planet's best-known personalities. One thing about Jordan had been clear throughout his career: He is not a good loser. When the Wizards failed to meet his standards, it was guaranteed that, behind the scenes, he would be a royal pain in the butt to his teammates -- sarcastic, overly critical, demanding. That's who he is. But -- and this is to Jordan's credit -- he was a pain, by and large, behind the scenes. Jordan conducted himself honorably as a player, no matter what his personal feelings about his teammates might've been. The truth is, fire and brimstone were exactly what the Wizards needed, exactly what they never had under the ineffective leadership of Unseld. One could argue, further, that Jordan was a reasonably effective executive, far more effective than Unseld. At the very least Jordan got rid of some big salaries (Juwan Howard and Mitch Richmond) and made some changes to a team that has qualified for the playoffs once in the past 15 years and hasn't made it past the first round since -- are you ready for this? -- the 1981-82 season. I'm not suggesting that Jordan will ever be the man to run a team. He simply likes golf too much and being a team president is not the right job for an avid golfer, not these days, any way. But I can see him having an important personnel role with the new team in Charlotte, as long as owner Robert Johnson's business guy, Ed Tapscott, is around. There's a learning curve associated with a personnel job -- with any job, for that matter -- and Jordan certainly wasn't given adequate time to learn the trade in Washington. Whether Jordan goes to Charlotte -- and I think he will -- next season will find Abe Pollin sitting in a half-empty MCI Center content, I suppose, with the return of peace and tranquility ... and a franchise going nowhere. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.
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