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Scorecard Posted: Wednesday May 07, 2003 9:52 AMTransition Game At 40, Michael Jordan is job hunting. Is he a good hire? By L. Jon Wertheim
Whichever front office hires Jordan -- if Charlotte does bring him on or the Wizards restore him to his position as president of basketball operations -- questions have been raised by his most recent stint on the court. The most important: Has Jordan's reputation as a team player been severely damaged? At 40, with his playing days finally behind him, Jordan cuts a much rougher figure than the manicured Mike who announced his second "unretirement" in the fall of 2001. Before his return there was fear that "MJ Part III" would flop. Nattering nabobs had images of Jordan dribbling the ball off his foot, flubbing dunks or, in a karmic role reversal, getting taken to school by a new generation of airborne stars. Turned out Jordan gave a fine accounting of himself on the floor. He scored more than 20 points a game in each of his final two seasons and held his own against players half his age. And yet while it won't show up in the video tributes and career statlines, Jordan did plenty to scuff his mystique. The various roles he held with Washington -- he was, at once, the star player, the de facto general manager, the man who handpicked the coach and a former minority owner -- added up to more than his image could bear. As with another larger-than-life Wizard, when the curtain was pulled back on Jordan, we glimpsed a mere mortal. Early in the 2002-03 season SI learned that Jordan, then a sixth man, told coach Doug Collins that he would no longer come off the bench. (He started the rest of the year.) According to the Times, Jordan made it clear to teammates that their willingness to pass to him would bear on their playing time. Point guard Larry Hughes, who shot early and often, was replaced by the more submissive Tyronn Lue. That Jordan was expected to return to the executive suite after the season heightened the climate of trepidation. Reportedly, it was guard Richard Hamilton's willingness to stand up to Jordan that precipitated his being traded to the Pistons last summer. As a leader Jordan proved more tormentor than mentor. Many Washington players got the business end of a Jordan harangue, but he designated second-year forward Kwame Brown as the whipping boy, referring to him, as reported by The Washington Post, as a "flaming faggot." A source told SI that Jordan ritually reduced Brown to tears in front of the team. Brown, whom Jordan took with the first pick in the 2001 draft, showed flashes of brilliance, but his confidence was lacerated by a player who was once his idol. "Michael was tough," Wizards assistant John Bach tells SI. "But that's just who he is, attempting to make [his teammates] better." The schisms that divided the Wizards players reverberated through the organization, and Jordan was to meet this week with team chairman and majority owner Abe Pollin to discuss what happens next. The Times said Pollin and other executives have expressed concern over Jordan's work ethic as an executive. (On Monday, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis declined comment to SI.) As for a position with Charlotte (or any other franchise), one wonders what capacity would suit Jordan. He hasn't distinguished himself as a talent evaluator, and it seems doubtful he would sublimate his ego and accept a "consultant" role bereft of power. After Jordan's final game last month, Jerry Stackhouse, one of the few Washington players publicly critical of His Majesty, announced that a "new era" was at hand. He may not have known how right he was. Issue date: May 12, 2003 For more Scorecard see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, May 7. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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