- Jerry Stackhouse didn’t like being a sidekick to Michael Jordan on the Wizards
- The Wizards and Pistons primarily swapped Jerry Stackhouse and Richard Hamilton in a six-player deal in 2002
- Stackhouse expected to be a leader for the Wizards instead of playing second fiddle to Jordan
Jerry Stackhouse was the second-best scorer in the league in the 2000-01 NBA season when he averaged 29.8 points per game, and just one year later, he was traded to the Wizards.
The Wizards acquired Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal, and Ratko Varda in exchange for Richard Hamilton, Bobby Simmons, and Hubert Davis. Speaking of Stackhouse, he was initially excited to play with the Wizards. But upon arrival, his experience of sharing the court with Michael Jordan was far from ideal.
“Nobody can win with Michael Jordan, he’s the greatest player in my mind to ever play the game,” Stackhouse said in a recent episode of ‘No Chill’ podcast. “But I just didn’t feel that was where I should be. I thought he was bringing me there to lead, but he was bringing me there to be a sidekick for him.
“We just kick y’all a** when I was in Detroit. So why would I wanna leave Detroit to come here and play second fiddle? It was nothing personal against Michael. We went to dinner we had a great time, away from basketball, but where I was in the prime of my career, again coming to a team that’s talking about trying to make the playoffs and him probably playing another year or so, just wasn’t what I cracked up to be.”
Stackhouse then explained the Wizards got off to a good start in the 2002-03 NBA season. But Jordan wanted to make some adjustments to the offense. Then-head coach of the Wizards, Doug Collins, complied with the Bulls legend’s request.
“We got off to a pretty good start,” Stackhouse added. “Michael didn’t like the way the ball was being distributed. Doug Collins, who I felt like was trying to make some amends for some things that didn’t go well with him and MJ when he was hired in Chicago. Whatever Michael wanted, that’s what he did, and I just got caught up in the middle of that.”
Jerry continued, “He was ready to win now. He wanted to win now. Rip [Hamilton] should have never left there. He was a young guy in Washington that they could have built around, but MJ was like I need an older guy to come in here and help me get this done now.”
(Starts at 53:35)
Jerry Stackhouse arrived in Washington as a 28-year-old during Jordan’s final season in the NBA. He averaged 21.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game in the 2002-03 season. But it wasn’t enough to help the Wizards reach the playoffs.
The Wizards finished the season with a 37-45 record and were the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference Finals. As for 39-year-old Jordan, he put up 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. Although Jordan played all 82 games of the season, he was understandably out of his prime.
Michael Jordan Retired From The NBA In 2003, And Jerry Stackhouse Was Traded By The Wizards A Year Later
Michael Jordan retired for the third and final time in 2003. He couldn’t lead the Wizards to the NBA playoffs during his two-year stint. Jordan averaged 21.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game over two seasons.
As for Stackhouse, he spent another season with the Wizards averaging 13.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. Stackhouse sustained a right knee injury after just 26 games in the 2003-04 season. The Wizards decided to trade him to the Mavericks in 2004 for Antawn Jamison.
Stackhouse played in the NBA for nine more seasons before retiring in 2013. But he was never the same player that he was during his stint with the Detroit Pistons and the first year with the Washington Wizards.
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