The plan was to get a director of basketball operations in place and then get a coach. But the plan was flipped upside-down for the Wizards because of Eddie Jordan.

"I was not going to take a chance on losing this great guy as my coach," said Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who introduced Jordan, the Nets' top assistant for the past 4 1/2 seasons, as the Wizards' seventh coach since 1999.

"I can speak from my heart that this is one of the happiest days of my life to coach a team I've admired and followed since I was a kid," said Jordan, a D.C. native who received a four-year, $8-million deal to replace the fired Doug Collins.

Jordan leaves a situation in New Jersey that had become very "strained" with head coach Byron Scott, according to one source. Scott felt Jordan "undermined" him in Game 2 of the Finals when he called out a couple plays from the bench.