2002–03 Washington Wizards season

2023–24 [[{{{team}}}]] season
Head coach	Doug Collins
Owners	Abe Pollin
Arena	Verizon Center

Michael Jordan played his final season in pro basketball.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Postition	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)

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 only has two holdovers from the Michael Jordan era: Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood. 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.

Season 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; SPG= Steals per Game; RPG = Rebounds per Game; APG. = Assists per Game; BPG = Blocks per Game; PPG = Points per Game

Player	GP	MPG	SPG	RPG	APG	BPG	PPG
Michael Jordan

References

• Washington Wizards on Database Basketball
• Washington Wizards on Basketball Reference