Michael Jordan‘s basketball legacy is frequently limited to his time with the Bulls. On June 14, 1998, after capturing his sixth and last championship, the greatest player of all time hung his boots. The man who played as a Wizard on October 30, 2001, was not even close to the same player. Or that’s what most people think.
Jordan had lost most, if not all, of his athleticism by the time he was 38. All he had left were the footwork and sheer skill that he had developed and perfected during his second three-peat.
The iconic pivot, the relentless fadeaway, and the distinctive shimmy. They weren’t as fast as they once were, but they were still there. Jordan was still the best at mid-range, despite the fact that many didn’t think he was the player who had formerly dominated the game.
Even when the mid-range game was at its height and Michael was a thing of the past, we will try to demonstrate in this piece exactly how far ahead of the competition he was.
Kobe Bryant, Allan Houston, and Chris Webber were the only players that were close to MJ. Houston and Bryant each made 4.6 mid-range field goals per game, while Webber made 4.7 shots. Furthermore, only Houston was able to outperform Jordan in terms of efficiency (48%). Bryant’s and Webber’s respective success rates were merely 41% and 41.6%.
The following season, Jordan’s third and final farewell to the NBA court, he was forced to retire by the Wizards management. Naturally, the abrupt departure left MJ with a bad taste in his mouth. Even so, he was able to demonstrate why he was among the best players of all time.
