NBA: Clueless Wizards Look to M.J. For Salvation

By Jason Hirthler

e-sports.com and Sports Central Columnist

The Washington Wizards are in free fall and their leader, the incomparable, unflappable Michael Jordan, is breaking into a cold sweat. For once, he can't slip on the famous shorts, lace up the Airs, take the court, and by virtue of his sheer physical and psychological talents, overwhelm his challengers. For the first time in his post-athletic career, the magical one is faced with a crisis of completely intellectual proportions. He has to think his way out of this one.

The Wizards are rapidly becoming the most abysmal team in the league. Consider their recent futility: Tuesday night, in a 106-72 loss to Sacramento, they turned in their lowest point total since 1994. They missed 13 free throws and during a particularly tepid second and third quarter shot 13 of 43 from the floor. They also handed the ball to the Kings unsolicited 24 times.

They recently blew a 19-point fourth quarter lead against the lowly Clippers, after which President of Basketball Operations Jordan called the performance "a disgrace" to the fans in Washington, many of whom pay $85 a ticket. But commiseration is not consolation: the Wizards have not won consecutive games since last April.

Jordan sycophants are quick to blame owner Abe Pollin and general manager Wes Unseld for the Wizard's incompetence. And, it is mostly their fault. But their bad decisions were also the product of unlucky circumstances.

The slide began when the Wizards traded Rasheed Wallace for Rod Strickland. They only made that suspect move because Juwan Howard had signed with the Miami Heat and the Wizards already had Chris Webber. So they traded for some backcourt balance.

Then David Stern stepped in, smiling condescendingly, and declared the Howard deal with Miami to be invalid. Juwan came back to the Beltway. It soon became apparent that Webber and Howard had trouble staying out of trouble and Webber was traded for Mitch Richmond. The Wizards had wanted to trade Howard, but GMs laughed off his $16 million dollar salary.

While there was some impetus for the Webber move, it was a bad trade. Webber is a bright guy. So is Howard. They could've figured out how to live within the law. In fact they have, only on separate teams.

Hence the current Wizards. Bereft of talent, with a quixotic owner and a president who's standards for his team are impossibly high. The only glint of light on the horizon is the availability of 7'6" Chinese national Yao Ling in next season's draft. Bill Walton, among others, has recently sung the praises of the lanky, lissome far-easterner. But Washington may be gun shy of large foreigners after their ill-fated experiment with the inelegant Gheorghe Muresan.

The sad fact that His Airness faces is that this might be the worst team in the franchise's 34 years. At least management is not entirely out of ideas. A couple weeks ago Pollin "strongly encouraged" his team to attend a motivational seminar at the MCI Center. Among the riveting list of guest speakers were American Caesar Norman Schwarzkopf, talk show legend Larry King and Tony Robbins, the guru of the infomercial. The players looked on stoically from Honest Abe's balcony suite.

Later, Robbins materialized at the Wizards practice, and delivered some wisdom on how to deal with "tough times." Coach Leonard Hamilton said Wizard players had "a very favorable reaction" to the guru's words.

As if to counterbalance the positive sentiments coming from Pollin's direction, Jordan publicly blasted his team, accusing them of having a loser's mentality. The players balked, reminding management that they had hand-picked the team themselves.

Jordan did make a small gesture at improving the team. He traded dead weight Cherokee Parks and Obinna Ekezie to the Clippers for Tyrone Nesby. Nesby is a young and modestly-talented forward, certainly a better impact player than Parks and Ekezie. The Clips thought so much of Ekezie that they promptly cut him. The wily Wizards were waiting in the wings, reclaiming the useless forward/center not moments after his release.

On the bench, Hamilton, the former Miami Hurricane coach, seems to be adjusting well to the NBA. In a recent game, Rod Strickland deliberately ignored plays called by Hamilton in order to ride a sizzling Juwan Howard. Hamilton was unruffled, saying later that he liked when his players took control. Still, Hamilton will only win if Jordan gives him better talent to work with.

Bigger things are in the wings. There is talk that Jordan will move Rod Strickland. Strickland is still an attractive quantity to teams with playoff hopes, namely the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. Both teams need help at the point. What they'd offer in return is unsure. Jordan has privately told Strickland that he is being shopped. Jordan might also unload Howard, but that will be a harder sell.

What Jordan does will either brighten or blighten the Wizard's near future. Lottery picks will help. And in two years ,Washington will be at least $10 million under the cap, room enough to land a good free agent. The opportunities are there. The moment of truth is arriving. The ball - just as Abe Pollin wanted - is now in M.J.'s hands.

Article courtesy of Sports Central