2002–03 Washington Wizards season

2002–03 Washington Wizards season
Michael Jordan retires
Head coach Doug Collins
Owner(s) Abe Pollin
Arena MCI Center
Results
Record 37–45 (.451)
Place Division: 5th (Atlantic)
Conference: 9th (Eastern)
Playoff finish Did not qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television CSN Mid-Atlantic, UPN Washington
Radio ESPN 980
Washington Wizards seasons
< 2001–02 2003–04 >

Michael Jordan played his final season in pro basketball.

Contents

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club Team
1 11 Jared Jeffries Forward  United States Indiana
1 17 Juan Dixon Guard  United States Maryland
2 38 Rod Grizzard Guard  United States Alabama
2 39 Juan Carlos Navarro Guard  Spain FC Barcelona (Spain)

Regular season

Michael Jordan

Jordan announced he would return for the 2002-03 season, and this time he was determined to be equipped with reinforcements, as he traded for All-Star Jerry Stackhouse and signed budding star Larry Hughes. Jordan even accepted a sixth-man role on the bench in order for his knee to survive the rigors of an 82-game season. However, a combination of numerous team injuries and uninspired play led to Jordan’s return to the starting lineup, where he tried to rebound the franchise from its early-season struggles. The move led to mixed results, as several of Jordan’s younger teammates complained about playing in Jordan’s shadow and his unfair expectations of them . By the end of the season, the Wizards finished with a 37-45 record once again. Jordan ended the season as the only Wizard to play in all 82 games, as he averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 37.0 minutes per game.

After the season, Wizards' majority owner Abe Pollin fired Jordan as team president, much to the shock of teammates, associates, and the public. Michael Jordan felt he was betrayed, thinking that he would get his ownership back after his playing days ended, but Pollin justified Jordan's dismissal by noting that Jordan had detrimental effects on the team, such as benching Larry Hughes for Tyronn Lue, making poor trades, and squandering the teams' 2001 1st round draft pick on high schooler Kwame Brown who never panned out. Without Michael in the fold the following year, the Washington Wizards were not expected to win, and they didn’t. Despite the signing of future All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas, the team stumbled to a 25-57 record in the 2003-04 season.

Jordan's stint with the Washington Wizards was closely watched by both fans and the media. While the team failed to qualify for the playoffs in either of Jordan’s two seasons as a player, the team was competitive and sold out arenas around the league.

The Wizards replaced Jordan's managerial role with coach Eddie Jordan and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld. The team's current roster no longer has any players from the Michael Jordan erra. The Grunfeld tenure has been widely lauded as successful. In particular, the trade of underachieving first round bust Kwame Brown for All-Star Caron Butler is considered to be one of the all time uneven trades in NBA history.

Standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-New Jersey Nets 49 33 .598 – 33–8 16–25 16–8
x-Philadelphia 76ers 48 34 .585 1 25–16 23–18 17–7
x-Boston Celtics 44 38 .537 5 25–16 19–22 13–12
x-Orlando Magic 42 40 .512 7 26–15 16–25 14–11
Washington Wizards 37 45 .451 12 23–18 14–27 11–13
New York Knicks 37 45 .451 12 24–17 13–28 9–15
Miami Heat 25 57 .305 24 16–25 9–32 5–19

Player stats

Note: GP= Games played; MPG= Minutes per Game; STL= Steals; RPG = Rebounds per Game; APG. = Assists per Game; BLK = Blocks; PPG = Points per Game

Player GP MPG STL RPG APG BLK PPG
Jerry Stackhouse 70 65 3.7 4.5 28 21.5
Michael Jordan 82 123 6.1 3.8 39 20.0
Larry Hughes 67 86 4.6 3.1 24 12.8
Tyronn Lue 75 47 2.0 3.5 1 8.6
Christian Laettner 76 82 6.6 3.1 40 8.3
Kwame Brown 80 50 5.3 0.7 80 7.4
Juan Dixon 42 26 1.7 1.0 3 6.4
Brendan Haywood 81 32 5.0 0.4 119 6.2
Etan Thomas 38 8 4.3 0.1 23 4.8
Bryon Russell 70 70 3.0 1.0 7 4.5
Jahidi White 16 1 4.6 0.1 12 4.2
Jared Jeffries 20 8 2.9 0.8 5 4.0
Bobby Simmons 36 10 2.1 0.6 3 3.3
Anthony Goldwire 5 0 0.6 0.2 0 2.6
Charles Oakley 42 13 2.5 1.0 6 1.8
Brian Cardinal 5 0 1.0 0.2 0 0.8

Roster

Washington Wizards roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From
F 5 Brown, Kwame 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 270 lb (122 kg) Glynn Academy
F 35 Cardinal, Brian 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Purdue
G 3 Dixon, Juan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 164 lb (74 kg) Maryland
G 15 Goldwire, Anthony 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Houston
C 00 Haywood, Brendan 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 268 lb (122 kg) North Carolina
G 20 Hughes, Larry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Saint Louis
F 1 Jeffries, Jared 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Indiana
G/F 23 Jordan, Michael 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) North Carolina
F/C 44 Laettner, Christian 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Duke
G 10 Lue, Tyronn 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Nebraska
F/C 34 Oakley, Charles 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Virginia Union
F 2 Russell, Bryon 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Long Beach*
G/F 21 Simmons, Bobby 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) DePaul
G/F 42 Stackhouse, Jerry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 218 lb (99 kg) North Carolina
F 36 Thomas, Etan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 256 lb (116 kg) Syracuse
F/C 55 White, Jahidi 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Georgetown
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Award winners

References

Formerly the Chicago Packers, the Chicago Zephyrs, the Baltimore Bullets, the Capital Bullets, and the Washington Bullets • Founded in 1961 • Based in Washington, D.C.
The Franchise
Arenas
Coaches
Pollard • McMahon • Leonard • Jeannette • Seymour • Farmer • Jeannette • Shue • Jones • Motta • Shue • Loughery • Unseld • Lynam • Staak • Bickerstaff • Brovelli • Heard • Walker • Hamilton • Collins • Jordan • Tapscott • Saunders
General Managers
Ferry • Nash • Unseld • Grunfeld
D-League Affiliate
Administration
Ted Leonsis (Owner) • Ernie Grunfeld (President & GM of Basketball Ops.) • Flip Saunders (Head Coach)
Retired Numbers
10 • 11 • 25 • 41
NBA Championships (1)
Rivals
Culture and lore
Media
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Bold indicates NBA Finals victory
Baseball



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