Prior to the 2002-03 season Michael Jordan and Doug Collins decided that Jordan would come off the bench for the betterment of both the team and himself. The Wizards now had scoring phenom Jerry Stackhouse at their disposal, someone who could get the Wizards going offensively, allowing Jordan to come in and take advantage of fatigued players and teams in foul trouble.
As everyone knows Jordan was not 100% coming into this season. He had played little during the summer and through training camp, the effects of a knee surgery. Coming off the bench meant that he could still be effective without the heavy minutes taking a toll on his body. But now he wants to start.
David Aldridge for one thinks Michael is making a mistake, incidently for all the same reasons as Jordan mentioned during the preseason.
The Wizards this season are nothing like the team last season, a team which needed Jordan to babysit the players both on and off the court in order to be successful. This year they have the likes of Jerry Stackhouse, Byron Russell, Charles Oakley and Larry Hughes to help carry the load, players who have been around the league and know what it takes. There is no reason for Jordan to risk his body by playing 37 or 38 minutes a night, yet he claims he is ready.
"Physically, I feel confident about myself," Jordan said Monday. "Early on in the season, I still had doubts in terms of 'Am I feeling OK today? Am I going to feel better tomorrow? Should I go left, should I go right? Can I land on this knee?' -- blah, blah, blah. That's over and done with. Which is one of the reasons why me starting would have been disastrous for me. 'Cause I wasn't ready to start. Now, I'm ready to start. And been waiting, waiting for the time when Doug felt it was appropriate, or whenever he wanted me to step into that lineup."
With the Wizards slipping at the time of the decision, Aldridge cannot help but question exactly who's decision it was.
"I've just been trying to get him built up," Collins told reporters on Monday. "I think (the minute watch) will be up to you guys. You guys keep bringing it up ... if he wants to play more minutes, there is no guarantee that isn't going to cause a (physical) problem. So we'll just have to see how it goes."
"I can play 37, 38 minutes if I have to," Jordan said. "And it's a different 37, 38 minutes than it was last year. Last year I was asked to carry a lot of the load on the offensive end and the defensive end, and all of that. Now I can divert some of that energy to Stack and to other players."
'I still think it's wrong,' writes Aldridge. 'Not because Jordan can't help the Wizards. But because he can't help himself. The more he's on the floor, the more he'll feel obligated to expend every drop of energy he has, regardless of who's out there with him. Ultimately, that catches up with 39-year-old knees, whether they play hard or easy minutes. And if he empties his bucket in a playoff push now, what good will Jordan be in April and May, when his presence would be most valuable?'
It would be a sad sight to see Jordan go out by missing the playoffs for the second straight season, an ending quite different to his epic departure with the championship-winning jumper over his teammate in 1998 But if Jordan has shown us one thing in the last 13 months it is that his legacy is not the thing that drives him... winning does.