NBA legend Michael Jordan hasn’t played for over two decades, but he remains a hot topic in basketball talks. Analysts often discuss his impact and greatness long after he decided to hang up his jersey.
On Sunday, veteran analyst Colin Cowherd and co-host Jason Timpf talked about Jordan’s legacy. Because the six-time champ’s days with the Chicago Bulls have been glorified, Cowherd wants to shine the limelight on Jordan’s Washington Wizards career. “The Herd” podcaster said:
“I’ve always said, there’s one great 30 for 30 sports documentary left, and it’s Michael Jordan with the Wizards. His teammates hated him, and the coaches hated him. … I watched them play twice live with the Wizards and the body language of his teammates. Everybody hated him.”
Jordan retired after completing his dynasty with the Chicago Bulls with a sixth championship in 1998. He returned three years later to play for the Washington Wizards under his first NBA coach, Doug Collins.
Michael Jordan was the biggest star in a team that had a mix of young players and veterans. According to some former teammates, the five-time MVP ran the team.
Jordan’s abrasive style of leadership and approach rubbed people the wrong way. “His Airness” reportedly made then-rookie Kwame Brown cry in front of the team. Years after that story came out, Brown denied the incident had happened.
Jerry Stackhouse, a two-time All-Star in Detroit, regretted playing with Jordan in Washington. In 2004, after leaving the Wizards, Stackhouse said that he lost some of the “reverence I had for him.”
Colin Cowherd isn’t the only sports analyst who made the same comment about Michael Jordan’s relationship with his Wizards teammates. Chris Broussard, who said in 2020 that he covered the Wizards, claimed on “The Odd Couple” podcast that Jordan’s teammates “were sick of him.”
“The Last Dance” highlighted Jordan’s career with the Bulls. Only time will tell if Cowherd will get his wish if a sports documentary about Jordan’s Wizards days comes out.
Colin Cowherd Claims Wizards Michael Jordan Would Be “Crushed” on Social Media
Colin Cowherd’s co-host Jason Timpf started the discussion when he said that Twitter would have feasted on every mistake Michael Jordan made with the Washington Wizards.
Cowherd emphatically responded:
“He’d get crushed!”
The two agreed that social media would have reviewed every error, lack of defense and other imperfections in Jordan’s game. Because X didn’t exist then, the podcasters claimed that Jordan’s play hasn’t been dissected as much as people have been scrutinizing LeBron James’ game.
Cowherd added that without social media, Michael Jordan has more “aura” than James.
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