WASHINGTON – One year ago, Michael Jordan wore a suit and racked his brain, trying to figure out how to turn the Wizards into a respectable team as the team president.
One year ago, Jason Kidd wore the colors of the Suns and was seemingly content and set in Phoenix, trying to determine how stay in the playoffs for at least an extra round.
One year later, Jordan is back in uniform on the court, Kidd is in the East as a Net, and the two are leading revivals that none could have foreseen.
“I was not thinking about of playing again by no means. I was just hoping the team could adapt to a winning mentality, a winning attitude. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen with me upstairs,” said Jordan, who closed out 2001 against the Nets here last night. “Now that I’m downstairs, I’m trying to change the attitude and I think the attitude has changed. I’m very proud of the way the guys have come in and kind of rekindled their whole motivation.
“It’s great for the organization,” Jordan continued, “in terms of making a big turn from things happening so negatively around here to positive things [that] are starting to happen.”
Jordan, of course, has been the underlying force that has made the Wizards one of the most improved teams in the East, a plus-.500 (15-14) bunch entering last night. Kidd has been at the core of the Nets’ rise as the NBA’s most surprising team, a team atop the East at 19-9.
“There are a lot of similarities between the two,” appraised Net coach Byron Scott. “Jordan is very demanding as a player, pushes guys to the limit, expects the best from them. And he can get his wrath [up] if you don’t perform.
“Jason’s approach is different. He just comes in and does everything at 110 percent. Guys see that and see Jason diving on loose balls, it’s contagious. They see him passing to guys, it’s contagious. Different methods, same results.”
Jordan has been whatever the Wizards have needed. Early on, that was virtually everything. Then he stepped back as Richard Hamilton emerged. When Hamilton tore a groin muscle, Jordan again moved out in front. How far in front? Last night, he was coming off a 51-point game against Charlotte.
“He’s given the Wizards a lot of confidence and understanding [of how] to compete. That’s the one thing a lot of teams are missing. If you compete, most of the times you can come out with the ‘W,'” Kidd assessed. “That’s what he’s got these guys believing and he’s trusting them. Once you gain the trust of Jordan, good things happen.
“I’m looking at my situation a little bit different. I’ve got some talented guys in here who know how to play, so my job is just to get them the ball,” concluded Kidd, who admitted he “never thought I’d be on the East Coast” and who called the past 12 months – a year complete with the trade and his much publicized arrest and subsequent counseling for domestic violence – “probably at the top” of the most eventful years of his life.
Some said Jordan’s comeback would tarnish his legacy as the game’s greatest ever. But No. 23 insisted this always has been about the plight of the Wizards, who like the Nets wallowed for years in that special purgatory for teams craving respectability.
“If I was worried about my individual accolades, I’m sure each and every day I could come out and be more aggressive offensively and shoot it enough to meet those needs,” said Jordan. “But that wouldn’t help the franchise in the long term. I’m trying to help this franchise long-term.”
And he’s doing it in uniform on the court, a scenario that one year ago he deemed impossible.
