Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. So, even despite being retired for three years, pretty much every single team in the NBA would’ve loved to sign him when he decided to make a comeback with the Washington Wizards in 2001.
Thing is, even if Jordan weren’t physically able to perform at the highest level at age 38, his mere presence would be a huge marketing boost for any market in the NBA, including the Dallas Mavericks, who were just acquired by Mark Cuban back in the day.
That’s why the venture capitalist tried to convince His Airness to shut down his deal with the Wizards and join the Mavericks instead, but obviously, that didn’t come into fruition:
“The day he signed with the Washington Wizards to come back, David Falk — that’s right when I was buying the Mavs — said ‘why don’t you go meet him?’. So I went to David Falk’s office and all the papers were right there. And I was trying to convince MJ to not sign them and to do something with the Mavs,” Cuban told 105.3 The Fan’s GBag Nation, as quoted by Yahoo Sports.
The Mavericks had a pretty decent core back then with Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Michael Finley, so Jordan would’ve instantly turned them into an even scarier squad in the Western Conference.
Dallas ended up winning 57 games that season and clinching the 4th spot in the West, but they fell to the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference Semifinals in 5 games. The Wizards, on the other hand, finished the season with a 37-45 record and way out of the playoff picture despite Jordan’s averages of 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 41% from the floor.
Jordan always wanted to stay in control of every step of his career and not even Mark Cuban himself could’ve convinced him of changing his mind if he was already set up to join the Wizards.
