Under Collins, the Wizards struggled with a 2–9 start to the season posting an 8-game losing streak in November, but then posted a nine-game winning streak in December, holding a 26–21 record before the All-Star break.[23] However, they lost 14 of their next 17 games, as Jordan suffered a knee injury and was out for the remainder of the season after 60 games.[24][25][26][27] The Wizards finished the season fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 37–45 record, which was an 18-game improvement.[28]
However, they still missed the playoffs even with the help of Jordan, who averaged 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and was selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[29][30][31][32][33] In addition, Richard Hamilton finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game, but only played 63 games due to a groin injury,[34][35][36][37] while three-point specialist Chris Whitney provided the team with 10.2 points and 3.8 assists per game, second-year guard Courtney Alexander contributed 9.8 points per game, and Popeye Jones led the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. Brown failed to live up to expectations, only averaging just 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game off the bench.[38]
On September 25, the Wizards signed Michael Jordan. At 38 years old, Jordan would be the team's points-per-game leader during the season. He also led the team in assists per game.
On October 8, the Wizards waived small forward Mike Smith.
After retiring from the Chicago Bulls in early 1999, Michael Jordan became the Washington Wizards' president of basketball operations as well as a minority owner in January 2000. In September 2001, after divesting himself of any ownership of the team due to NBA rules, Jordan came out of retirement at age 38 to play basketball for the Washington Wizards. Jordan stated that he was returning for the love of the game, indicating his intention to donate his salary as a player to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11 attacks.[50][51] Jordan was heading into his return dealing with tendinitis in his wrist and both of his knees, from which he would have fluid drained multiple times throughout the season. In addition, during a pickup game before the season, Ron Artest broke two of Jordan's ribs.[52] The Wizards finished with the third worst record at 19–63 the previous season, their worst season in franchise history, and started the new season with a 2–9 record. However, they would then go on to have a nine-game winning streak and improve their record to 14–12.[1]
On December 27, in a blowout 81–108 loss to the Indiana Pacers, Jordan scored only 6 points on 20% shooting in 25 minutes,[53] ending his 866-game streak with at least 10 points.[54] This poor performance and reduced minutes led Jordan to question his coach Doug Collins' faith in his abilities, asking him whether he could still play. In the next two games, Jordan scored 51 and 45 points, respectively, to start a four-win streak.[55][56][57] In the first game against the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan scored 51 points on 55% shooting and added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals in a 107–90 win.[58] The second game was against the New Jersey Nets, who would go on to be in the 2002 NBA Finals, and Jordan added 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals to 45 points on 50% shooting in a 98–76 win.[59] With these performances, Jordan became the only player in NBA history to score 50 points in three different decades, and at the time he was also the oldest player to score 50 points at 38 years, 315 days.[60]
After a four-win streak, the Wizards entered a four-loss streak and continued to have a 50% winning pace. At the end of January 2002, Jordan recorded two back-to-back 40-points game, including a game-winning buzzer beater over the Cleveland Cavaliers, resulting in two wins and a 21–20 record.[55] Before the All-Star break, Jordan was only one of two players, along with Kobe Bryant, to average more than 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, as he led the Wizards to a 26–21 record, and the only player and oldest to average more than 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists (Tracy McGrady would become the only player to average at least 25–6–5 by the end of the 2001–02 season). In total, Jordan was averaging per game 25.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks on 42.1% shooting.[54] In addition, the Wizards had a winning record of 26–21 and were in playoff contention, as they were seeded 5th on a 5-game win streak and had won 7 out of the latest 8 games.[1]
In the last game before the All-Star break, Jordan suffered a knee injury in a collision with Etan Thomas on February 7 against the Sacramento Kings.[61] In the 46 games that Jordan played before the injury, he averaged per game 25.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks on 42% shooting. Jordan's numbers were also improving as the season went on, as in his last 20 games up to the injury he averaged per game 27.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks on 44% shooting, and in his last 10 games up to the injury he averaged per game 29.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks on 47% shooting.[54] Before the injury, Jordan was considered an MVP contender at the age of 38 for what could have been a record-tying 6th MVP award;[62][63] he would eventually finish 13th in the MVP ballot won by Tim Duncan.[64]
The Wizards would lose 9 of their next 10 games following Jordan's knee injury. In the Wizards' 26–21 stretch, Richard Hamilton, the best scorer after Jordan, missed 5 weeks of playing time due to a groin injury.[65] Starting with a November 28 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Wizards were 15–1 in the last 16 games that Jordan and Hamilton played together prior to Jordan's injury on February 7; no team had gone from less than 20 wins to 50 wins or a winning record the following season. At the time, the Wizards were on a 45-win pace (46–47 wins if considering the 26–20 record when Jordan played) and could have reached 50 wins had both Jordan and Hamilton stayed healthy throughout the season, even with a slow 2–9 start.[66] In addition, the Wizards had the second worst defense in the league in terms of opponents' points allowed per game but with Jordan, the only significant addition to the roster, the Wizard became the sixth best defense, allowing only 92.2 points per game and only 90.0 points per game in the last 35 games before Jordan's injury, further improving to become the third best defense. With both Jordan and Hamilton in the 26–21 stretch, the Wizards had the best defense with 86.3 points allowed per game, 2.4 points less than the best defense throughout the season, the Miami Heat. After Jordan's injury, the Wizards allowed 96.8 points per game, falling to 19th place.[1]
After the All-Star break, Jordan's knee could not handle the workload of a full-season, as he ended the season on the injured list due to knee soreness.[67] Although Jordan tried to play through the pain and on reduced minutes in the next 4 games and then the next 3, he was not the same and the Wizards went 1–7. Jordan's torn cartilage right knee injury and its aftermath knee soreness and losing streak moved the Wizards away from playoff contention. After 14 more games, Jordan had arthroscopic knee surgery and his season ended after only 60 games, the fewest he had played in a regular season since playing 17 games after returning from his first retirement during the 1994–95 season.[54] Jordan started 53 of his 60 games for the season, averaging 24.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and shooting 41.9% from the field in his 53 starts, achieving a 30–30 record and 8 double-doubles. His last seven appearances were in a reserve role, in which he averaged just over 20 minutes per game.[54] After going 26–20 (0.565 win%) in the 46 games that Jordan played pre-injury, the Wizards went 11–25 (0.306 win%) in the games that he missed and played after injury, finishing the season with a 37–45 record for 10th place in the East.[1] Still, Jordan had led the Wizards to an 18-win improvement from the previous season.[64]
The immediate impact of Jordan's presence was seen on the Wizards' popularity and media presence. The team that ranked 18th in NBA home attendance and 26th in road one rose to third and second respectively, selling out every game at the MCI Center and only failing to do so in the three away games following Jordan's injury. Ratings rose on NBC, TNT and foreign cable.[68][69]Chris Whitney was the only Wizard player to play all 82 games while Popeye Jones, Jordan, and Brendan Haywood had the best average for rebounds, assists, and blocks at 7.3, 5.2, and 1.5, respectively. Jordan also led the team in steals at 1.4 and points at 22.9, with only Hamilton also scoring at least 20 points. Kwame Brown, the number-one draft pick in the 2001 NBA draft, averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.[1] His subpar performance as a first-overall draft pick has led many analysts to label Brown as one of the "biggest busts" in NBA history.[70][71]
^"The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on February 2, 2002 · Page A12". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 18, 2021. But the race for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award has a late 1980s-early 1990s feel about it, with Michael Jordan competing against a point guard. [...] But Jordan, who has returned from retirement to breathe life into the left-for-dead Washington Wizards, and Kidd, who has quarterbacked the Nets out of the mire of the Meadowlands swamps, are the odds-on favorites. [...] Jordan's return from three years of retirement has been remarkable, with five 40-point performances already. He is also rebounding and handing out assists on par with his career averages. Most importantly, his indomitable will and thirst for winning have lifted Washington into playoff contention with more wins by Jan. 24 than they had all of last season. [...] But if the Nets slip and the Wizards make the playoffs, Jordan will have earned what would be a record-tying sixth MVP.
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