The Greatest Michael Jordan WHAT IF... To Me

[Music] as all of you know Michael Jordan is the most iconic basketball player of all time and most people agree that he's the greatest player of all time so naturally there's going to be a lot of speculation and what ifs tied to his career and the list of those go on and on and I've talked about those for hours on this channel but if you ask me the greatest Michael Jordan wh if is one that is very rarely talked about it wasn't about Jordan's first retirement it wasn't about his second retirement and their chance at winning a seventh Championship but for me it was actually about his return in his Wizard's ears listen I'm fully aware that most people are not going to agree with me about this being his greatest what if but for me this one is just the most fascinating so here's the deal this is an article from 2005 and from an interview Jordan was quoted to say that he felt used by the Washington Wizards organization you see MJ was the team's general manager before he stepped down to play with the team and Jordan assumed that as soon as his two years were done playing with the Wizards he would then assume his position as an executive for Washington unfortunately a Poland who was the owner of the organization decided to cut ties with Michael Jordan almost immediately after he was done playing this led MJ to say that if he knew that he was going to be used this way by a Poland and that he wasn't going to be resuming his general manager position after his playing days were done then he wouldn't have come back to play for the Washington Wizards in the first place that's where the wh if comes in because if MJ didn't come back to play for the Wizards who would he have played for instead now some might theorize that Michael Jordan would have just remained retired and although that is certainly a possibility I think that is extremely unlikely MJ has been vocal about the fact that one of the motivating factors for him coming back to play was to prove that he could still compete against some of the best players in the game and he described it many many times as having an itch he just had that itch that he had to scratch he had to come back to play the game of basketball professionally because he still believed he had something left in the tank personally I think that itch would have been too strong for MJ to ignore to know that answer for sure you'd have to ask MJ and honestly if I could ever confront him that would be the question that I would ask him if you didn't come back and play for Washington would you have come back to play at all and if you did what team would you have played for today that's what that video is about as I'm theorizing which team Michael Jordan would have returned to play for if he didn't come back to play for the Wizards now first off let me address the teams that Michael Jordan definitely would not have gone to first off is the Washington Wizards naturally because that's what this video premise is about the second team is the Chicago Bulls and this might seem surprising to some but not really once you understand the context at the time Jerry Krauss was still the general manager of the Chicago Bulls and him and MJ famously had a very tumultuous relationship there is absolutely no way that Michael Jordan comes back to play for Jerry once again the Bulls also still had Tim Floyd as their head coach which is the guy who was being groomed to replace Phil Jackson and Krauss pushed out Jackson for that replacement this entire situation would be repulsive to MJ no matter how strong his itch was I think Jordan would rather remain retired than come back and play for this organization at that point the third team the MJ definitely would not have came back to play Four is the Indiana Pacers Michael Jordan did have a friend on that Squad which was reie Miller and maybe that would have been a nice merger for the two veteran stars but the ultimate deal breaker was the fact that Isaiah Thomas was the head coach of the Pacers at that point everyone knows that Isaiah and Michael had a bitter rivalry on the court and still hold harsh feelings towards one another even to this day there's absolutely no way that Jordan would have embraced a situation where Isaiah Thomas is an authority figure above him the fourth and final team that I can say with certainty that Jordan wouldn't have come back to play for was the New York Knicks yes at some point there was some connections and some rumors between Jordan and the Knicks but that was before the situation happened with Jeff F Gundy Fang Gundy was still New York's coach at that time and Michael was really known to hold grudges and after van gundy's famous con man comments about Michael Jordan several years earlier I would really have a hard time seeing MJ trusting Van Gundy again in any kind of coworker relationship as we all know Michael is a guy who will cut all ties completely if you say something against him personally look at his relationship with Charles Barkley as an example so now that I've addressed all the teams that Michael Jordan would not have come back to play for who were the most likely teams that he would have come back to play for first off the Los Angeles Lakers at the time the Lakers had just wenton backto back NBA championships and were looking to complete a threee obviously there would have been some pre-existing chemistry considering the fact that Phil Jackson was the Lakers head coach he also could have embraced a mentorship roll over a young Kobe Bryant and I'm sure Kobe would have embraced that as well obviously he'd be immediately competing for a seventh NBA championship ring but it's tough to say whether Jordan would have wanted to join a team that had already done everything that was needed to win championships yes he could reconnect with Phil he could be teammates with Shaq and he could Mentor Kobe but would he accept a role as a third option on a team that was already a champion it's tough to say the second team that he may have gone to is the Portland Trailblazers he has some familiar faces on that Squad as Scotti Pippen and Steve Kerr were on the Blazers at this point and yes Portland was a championship contender in the early 2000s but heading into the 01 to 02 season Portland was kind of on the downswing as our V sabonis was no longer on the roster and much of the team was really getting up there in their basketball years there was also a lot of negative media attention around the Blazers at this point and they had even been nicknamed the jail Blazers for some time due to all the issues that they were having off the court it's tough to say whether Michael Jordan would have been okay getting a squeaky clean image involved with that organization plus it's also tough to say what his relationship was exactly like with Scotti Pippen at this time would Pippen have even embraced MJ at that point regardless I think there's enough evidence to say that he would at least have to consider it the third team that Michael Jordan could have joined is actually the New Jersey Nets this would have been a really interesting situation as they were a contender in the Eastern Conference Rod Thorne was the general manager of the Nets at that time and he was actually the man who drafted Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls in 1984 Rod famously has had a close relationship with Michael Jordan and there is even the rumor that MJ once told Rod that he wouldn't be on the Dream Team if Isaiah Thomas was on it that may or may not be true but one thing that is true is that Michael Jordan has a very exclusive circle of trust and Rod was one of those guys who were in it he would have been playing alongside of the best point guard in the game at that point Jason kid and they also had a strong power forward in Kenyan Martin Jordan likely would have started ahead of the 610 small forward ke vanan horn if MJ decided to go back to Rod Thorne and play for the New Jersey Nets I think they still end up making it to the NBA finals but they probably still end up losing to the Los Angeles Lakers but this time instead of being swept they probably win a game or two regardless the acquisition of MJ would do nothing about the Net's inability to contain sha the fourth and final team that I believe Michael Jordan could have returned turn to play Four is actually the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2001 the magic signed Patrick Ying on July 18th which was well before MJ made his official decision on where he was going to play and Patrick was one of Jordan's best friends so it's possible that MJ could have followed him there and have that be their final swan song Together MJ also could have embraced a mentorship role with the Orlando Magic Superstar Tracy McGrady also consider the fact that Horus Grant returned to the magic That season which gives MJ yet another familiar face figuring out the starting lineup for that group would have been difficult since the team had teamac Grant Hill and potentially Michael Jordan who are all shooting guards SL small forwards eventually the situation would have resolved itself since Grant Hill only played in 14 games that season due to an injury my guess is that they probably make get as far as the Eastern Conference semis before they were eliminated by Jason Kidd and a deeper New Jersey Nets team so ultimately to get a real definitive answer you'd have to ask MJ himself but if you ask me one of the four teams he would have returned to play for are the Los Angeles Lakers the Portland Trailblazers the New Jersey Nets or the Orlando Magic in this situation I believe the only scenario where MJ ends up winning a seventh champion championship ring is if he joined the Los Angeles Lakers completing the threee from 2000 to 2002 would it have meant much to his legacy probably not considering that Shaq and Kobe were the clear engines of that Squad still it's cool to think about so now I'll leave the question up to you guys if Michael Jordan did not return to come back to play for the Wizards due to a soured relationship with the organization which team would you have liked to see him come back to play for instead and what do you think would have been the outcome I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comment section below thanks for watching as always make sure to like And subscribe for more basketball content and I'll see you guys in the next video