Floor Jordan 2002 39 Years Old - Pre Knee Injury

[SamuraiSWISH]

I'm watching highlights, and it reminds me of how great he was playing prior to that knee injury. Crafty, savy, intelligent, and extremely skilled. With no athleticism, or lift left. Well besides the few glimpses like when he pinned a dude's shot on the backboard w/ both hands.

No wonder he improved Washington's record so dramatically compared to the previous year. Even with a weak roster, and his next best player being rookie RIP Hamilton. I think he was putting up something like 26/5/5 before he messed up his knee.

Then I think about how Artest derailed his come back with the broken ribs in the summer of 2001 ... and it makes it all seem even more impressive. After 3 years away from the game, getting out of shape then coming back at such an advanced age.

The only thing escaping "Floor Jordan" was athleticism, and wind. I'm watching the game v.s. Chicago after his consecutive 51, and 45 point outbursts. He's being guarded by either Ron Artest or Ron Mercer and he's torching them.

In the first half he had 25 points. But he just didn't have the gas at that age to keep it going for the rest of the game at that pace.

It's odd but it seemed like MJ was more edgy, and personally determined to prove himself against players near half his age when he was in Washington compared to his more calm demeanor in letting the game come to him during the 2nd three peat in Chicago.

[Cocaine80s]

i think he could still play right now at 51 if he wanted

[RoundMoundOfReb]

i think he could still play right now at 51 if he wanted
Hell no

[UK2K]

i think he could still play right now at 51 if he wanted
Id take MJ coming off the bench for 15-20 mins per night.

[KOBE143]

Its not really surprising tho.. Wizard Jordan was really smart.. He knew he can no longer rely on his athleticism alone so he copied the game of the current best perimeter player in the league that time.. No wonder Jordan reminds me of 3peat Kobe.. A Wizards Jordan was a very very poor mans Kobe.. Not actually bad coz a poor mans Kobe would be enough to be top 5 player in the league today..

[Milbuck]

i think he could still play right now at 51 if he wanted
Give him like 5-6 months of serious training and he could definitely give some team 15-18 productive minutes a night. He'd be a liability on defense, but his skills alone would carry him offensively.

[Lebron23]

I actually though the Wizard were a playoffs team back in 2002. They upgraded their roster, and just acquired Hughes and Stackhouse in the off season.

[Iceman#44]

Wizards MJ was Mvp candidate before his knee went down

[3ball]

.
6 FOR 6:


1991 - 33ppg.. 8 rebs.. 11 assists per game.. 3 to 1 Assist-TO.. 125 Ortg.. Switch-Hands Shot

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/Jordan_over_Perkins_5e9173876f441a2f4792c5b13bc081 2b.gif



1992 - 36ppg.. 4.8 rebs.. 6.5 assists.. 1 Shoulder Shrug

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/Jordan_embarrass_drexler_410b837b0c35d9433a65ba753 b222833.gif



1993 - Finals Record 41ppg, As Required To Limit Momentum of Opponent's Great Offense (Suns 113.3 Ortg)

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/Jordan_goat_93_Finals_31ae617362c141a817e06295ffac 1c45.gif



1996 - 32ppg on 47% Thru 3 Games to Get 3-0 Lead and End Series

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/Jordan_96_Finals_9ce0aab8edd7754f5668f71233f47847. gif



1997 - Walk-Off Game Winner in Game 1.. Flu Game in Game 5.. GW Assist to Kerr in Game 6

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/72819e470fc9442abdd482a771cfabf7.gif

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/1997_Finals_Flu_Game_Jordan_a8995f3cc9cacb412fdb53 7af22c1245.gif



1998 - Rodman (8.3 rebs) & Pippen (15ppg, 41 fg%) MIA.. Jordan Goat Clutch, 27 shot att pg

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/20f039ca695b7bad970941bf61829fd7.gif

http://gifsforum.com/images_new/gif/other/grand/Jordan_GOAT_Final_Shot_1d27acc3354a339adacd2c511bc 0ed72.gif

[moe94]

Give him like 5-6 months of serious training and he could definitely give some team 15-18 productive minutes a night. He'd be a liability on defense, but his skills alone would carry him offensively.
:biggums:

[ArbitraryWater]

Id take MJ coming off the bench for 15-20 mins per night.


Give him like 5-6 months of serious training and he could definitely give some team 15-18 productive minutes a night. He'd be a liability on defense, but his skills alone would carry him offensively.

:lol :facepalm

He shot in the low 40's 13 years ago... He'd be in the 30's now.

On defense players would blow by him every trip. Stop it.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Holy shit people actually think he could play today at 50 ****ing years old? He was SEVERELY declined in 02-03 and as you get older the rate of decline only gets steeper..

[Iceman#44]

Holy shit people actually think he could play today at 50 ****ing years old? He was SEVERELY declined in 02-03 and as you get older the rate of decline only gets steeper..
In 2002-03 he was comin back from a Main knee surgery. .not easy for a 40 y.o....and he still averaged 20 ppg with multiple 40+ games

[RoundMoundOfReb]

In 2002-03 he was comin back from a Main knee surgery. .not easy for a 40 y.o....and he still averaged 20 ppg with multiple 40+ games
For his standards he was terrible. Clearly on a steep decline. To say that he could come back 11 years later at 51, not having played competitively at all, and earn minutes is just absurd..

[jstern]

I remember watching a game, and while shooting free throws they showed a graph in which he was averaging 25ppg through 48 games.

On another graph they showed his numbers after a day or two rest, and his numbers in back to back. The difference was dramatic.

So I feel that the biggest issue for an older player is recovery.

[OldSchoolBBall]

Holy shit people actually think he could play today at 50 ****ing years old? He was SEVERELY declined in 02-03 and as you get older the rate of decline only gets steeper..

I don't think he could play at 50 (maybe 6-8 minutes/game), but his final year at age 40, he was actually getting BETTER as the season progressed, since he was still coming back from the knee injury the previous season and I think perhaps surgery that offseason (I forget). After turning age 40 in mid-February, he averaged 23/7/3.5/47% FG for the final 30 games of the season. That's like prime RJeff or JRich numbers, except he was 40.

[Soundwave]

Basketball just isn't a sport that's possible to play at a high level for much longer past 40.

It destroys your knees, if the running doesn't get you the jumping up and down on a hard surface pretty much will do it.

Maybe if you use PEDs/testoreone replacement, but even still I don't it addresses the damage done to the knees/legs.

Still impressive for MJ to perform at a decent level though.

I still think he and Phil should've gone for one season to New York and maybe won an another title there in 98-99 rather than the Wizards stint, but oh well.

[Soundwave]

I don't think he could play at 50 (maybe 6-8 minutes/game), but his final year at age 40, he was actually getting BETTER as the season progressed, since he was still coming back from the knee injury the previous season and I think perhaps surgery that offseason (I forget). After turning age 40 in mid-February, he averaged 23/7/3.5/47% FG for the final 30 games of the season. That's like prime RJeff or JRich numbers, except he was 40.

Pretty crazy to be honest. It's harder to play that age at a guard spot too IMO, at least as a big man you still have your size and can clog up the lane and grab some gimme rebounds and perhaps alter shots just based on height.

[Milbuck]

I remember watching a game, and while shooting free throws they showed a graph in which he was averaging 25ppg through 48 games.

On another graph they showed his numbers after a day or two rest, and his numbers in back to back. The difference was dramatic.

So I feel that the biggest issue for an older player is recovery.

So don't play him on back to backs. Just 10 minutes a game, he could handle it. Obviously not in his current condition..give him like half a year of intense conditioning and training to sharpen his skills. Even at 51, MJ with 6 months of work on his body could be more athletic than guys like Andre Miller and Steve Nash..

[SamuraiSWISH]

So don't play him on back to backs.
MJ was playing all games possible at 39, and 40 years old. Yet Wade sits out every other game in his very early 30s. Isn't that something for a basic comparison of their internal drive, and heart?

[OldSchoolBBall]

Pretty crazy to be honest. It's harder to play that age at a guard spot too IMO, at least as a big man you still have your size and can clog up the lane and grab some gimme rebounds and perhaps alter shots just based on height.

And this was in a more physical and better defensive era than '06-present, too. He would have probably been at 24/7/4/47% FG minimum if he played at age 40 in the '06-present era.

[guy]

Its a shame. Not only was Jordan getting better as this season went on, the Wizards themselves were getting better. They were 26-20 before All-Star break with Jordan, then that's when injuries for him seem to pile on. On top of that, Rip Hamilton who was their second best player missed a bunch of games too. Both Jordan and Rip only got to play 30 games together, and were 17-13 in those games. And like I said, as normally would be the case, the team was getting better as the season went on and they got used to each other.

Call me crazy, but considering how terrible the East was at the time, and it literally might've been the worst its ever been in the modern era, if Jordan and Rip were healthy for a good chunk of the season, they would've most likely been a playoff team, and even had a chance to get out of the East IMO (only to be slaughtered by the Lakers anyway). The East was so bad, but the teams were so close together as well. Only 10 wins separated the 1st and 8th seed. The Wizards were 5 games away from getting the 8th seed, and they were only 7 games away from getting the 4th or 5th seed. Its a lot of "ifs" and considering age and injuries are part of the game, it doesn't really mean the Wizards were actually that close. Just saying who knows what would've happened if there was a little more luck on their side.

[mehyaM24]

Holy shit people actually think he could play today at 50 ****ing years old? He was SEVERELY declined in 02-03 and as you get older the rate of decline only gets steeper..

pretty much.

yea, jordan's comeback was pretty neat. i remember watching him consistently beat up on the original charlotte hornets and knicks. his last game @ MSG was great.

but, wizards jordan just wasn't the same. watching a 40 year old play in the best defensive era (guy had the second least efficient 20+ ppg season post merger, shooting 47%TS) got stale pretty quick.

[Im so nba'd out]

I don't believe anyone can play in the nba after 50 even jordan your body is so different when you get that old.

[dubeta]

Scoring 20 on 43% ain't saying much

That's like Aaron afflalo numbers


Now if he could get 27 ppg on 57% shooting I would be impressed but again I can't hold Jordon to those high standards

[Soundwave]

pretty much.

yea, jordan's comeback was pretty neat. i remember watching him consistently beat up on the original charlotte hornets and knicks. his last game @ MSG was great.

but, wizards jordan just wasn't the same. watching a 40 year old play in the best defensive era (guy had the second least efficient 20+ ppg season post merger, shooting 47%TS) got stale pretty quick.

When he was playing on healthier knees his shooting percentage was higher it would seem, more in the range of 47% or so. Knee problems are going to cause your shooting percentage to drop if you're a guard, there's no way around that.

There's no player at age 40 in the NBA that's put up these numbers or even close. Kareem was down to a 10-14 ppg player by age 40 and that was on a much higher scoring team.

I tend to think every 2 years you go up in your 30s is going to be a noticeable drop in athleticism/recovery for your legs. Basketball just is not a sport that is kind to the human body after a certain age.