Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. of the NBA. People remember his tongue wagging and dunking on people while wearing the iconic red Chicago Bulls jersey.
- Story Time With Jalen Rose
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Most people think Jordan’s career ended with the game-clinching shot in Utah to win his sixth title, yet, of course, that’s not true. Jordan would come back and play two more seasons in 2001-02 and 2002-03 with the Washington Wizards.
The fans that do remember Jordan’s second comeback often believe Jordan was washed up as a member of the Wizards. This is not the case, as Jordan still had flashes of dominance, even at the ages of 38, 39, and 40.
This misconception of Jordan being washed up as a Wizard isn’t the only story about Jordan’s Washington years that is fabricated. Back in 2013, former NBA player, Jalen Rose, told a story about the time he dunked on an old Washington Wizards Michael Jordan and immediately was ejected.
This story has recently been buzzing around the internet once again. Stay tuned as we will dive deep into Jalen Rose’s famous story.
Story Time With Jalen Rose
The segment was called Story Time With Jalen Rose, and Rose hilariously recounted a game against Jordan’s Wizards where he was on fire, having the best game of his life. Then, after a dunk and some trash talk to MJ, he was kicked out of the game.
Jalen’s story was made into a great Grantland animation video, and he tells the story of how he was “cooking MJ”. He starts off by stating the difference between Bulls’ Jordan and Wizards’ Jordan:
“Now, it’s a distinct difference playing against Michael Jordan as he was leading the Bulls versus Michael Jordan, he’s playing for the Washington Wizards…
“I remember playing against the ‘sometimes I dream, that he is me’, Mike in Chicago. And then, I’m playing against the guy from Washington, and I’m like he became more of the ‘I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky’. It wasn’t every time. So, I’m like, I can actually make some moves against this guy that he can’t stop.”
The animation on the video then hilariously showed Michael Jordan in a wheelchair, once again stating how he was old and washed up as a member of the Washington Wizards. Again, this wasn’t actually the case.
At one point in the 2001-02 season, Jordan, alongside Kobe Bryant, were the only two players in the entire league that was averaging 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. That’s a prime Kobe and an old Jordan putting up numbers like that in the slow-paced early 2000s NBA.
Of course, Jordan would, unfortunately, tear his meniscus in his right knee. This would cause him to miss the remaining games of the 2001-02 season, and after he returned the following season, Jordan was never quite the same.
As you can tell, Wizards MJ was pretty good before his knee injury. But let’s get back to Jalen Rose’s story and see what occurred in his matchup with Jordan.
“We go to Washington; I’m in his face,” Rose explained. “I’m taking him on the post, jump hooking over him, scoring buckets. I had like 30 that game. I did a play, and I actually dunked, not on him, but around him. And I was hanging on the rim, and I start talking trash, I came down off the rim — I said something that can’t be repeated on our airways; it was very volatile, it was very rude, disrespectful, and I get ejected. I had 30 points late in the third quarter against Michael Jordan and the Wizards, I get ejected on national TV. That could have been the game of my life.”
Rose was asked what he was thinking when he had 30 points in the third quarter against Jordan, and Rose replied by saying: “I’m about to get 50.”
This is where the story is, sort of, a fabrication. Now, I’m not calling Jalen Rose a liar; I’m just saying his memory is a little off.
For one, Rose only scored 27 points in the game that he was referring to, not 30. Also, Rose was ejected with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, not the third. Also, the trash talking didn’t occur after a Rose dunk “on” Jordan.
Jordan made a putback bucket, and as he turned around, Rose threw a forearm into Jordan’s chest. This led to the trash talking and Rose’s ejection.
The reason Rose hit Jordan was because during the play, before Jordan made the putback, MJ shoved Rose twice to get free. Now, for the big dunk Rose made in the game, Jordan appeared to be on the bench when Rose dunked the ball and started talking trash to the players around him.
Rose’s Pacers would lose 109-89 to Jordan’s Wizards. As stated earlier, Rose scored 27 points on 12-18 shooting. Jordan scored 23 points on 11-19 shooting.
So, now the question is, who do you believe? Jalen Rose’s story or the story I’m telling you?
You don’t have to believe me. Check out the highlights of the game, and you’ll discover the truth yourself.
