Michael Jordan is considered as the the best of all time by most basketball fans solely because of what he was able to do with the The Chicago Bulls. Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan, however, has a different view. on his favorite Jordan.
Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA, almost all of them with the Chicago Bulls. He was drafted in 1984 and played his first nine seasons with the Bulls before retiring. He then returned and played four more seasons with the Bulls until 1998, when he retired for a second time. He came out of retirement one last time in 2001, joining the Washington Wizards at the age of 38, where he played for two more seasons before retiring again, this time for good.
Wizards’ DeMar DeRozan and Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan played the final two seasons of his career in Washington, at ages 38 and 39. He averaged 21.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 43.1 percent from the field.
Sacramento Kings star DeMar DeRozan says the Wizards’ Jordan is his favorite Jordan because that’s when he got to show how talented he really was.
DeRozan recently joined the P Podcast with Paul George, where the two stars discussed a wide range of topics, from DeRozan and Kobe Bryant’s new memoir to his time with the Chicago Bulls and what it’s like to change teams. One of the topics discussed was DeRozan’s admiration for Michael Jordan during his time playing for the Washington Wizards.
“If you sit down and just look at Michael Jordan of the Wizards, and see how incredible he was from age 38 to 40…” DeMar DeRozan told Paul George on his podcast. “The way he scored, the way he was able to create his shots from the post, from the elbow, off the dribble, off the dribble, off the dribble, stop and get up, how physical he was, in the post, how he was able to create contact and get to the basket. He wasn’t athletic like he was, but he was still able to finish in front of guys.”
Jordan’s 21 points per game average as a Wizards player was a far cry from his Chicago Bulls years, when he averaged 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game on 50.5 percent shooting. DeRozan was impressed with how Jordan was able to get to his spots despite losing his athleticism.
“It was amazing because there was such a master of the art, how simple he made the game,” DeRozan added. “He was playing jab steps, pump fakes, and I used to watch every moment of Jordan from the Wizards because it was like he’s doing that at that age, let me figure out how to master these things that he does because you don’t see everybody doing that.
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“Everybody wants to dribble, dribble, dribble, double step back, all that stuff. And you’re like, ‘No, I’m going to simplify the play and kill those spots and those angles and use my body on the fadeaways, with each shoulder.’ That’s one thing I took away from Wizards Mike. Because he was incredible. If you really watch him, he was incredible.”
He didn’t win any accolades and his teams weren’t particularly good, but Michael Jordan as a member of the Wizards was still better than almost the entire league.
His legacy might be even greater than it is today, if that is even possible, if he had not sat for four years in his thirties, when he was still extremely productive.
