Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

During the finals, Jordan was spotted at MCI by a journalist, who noticed he looked very tense.

"If you could do it all over, would you trade Frye?" a reporter asked loudly.

Jordan responded coldly, "That's a stupid question!"

Jordan was no longer himself—at least not the person the fans were used to seeing, neither confident nor in control. When discussing his performance as the Wizards' executive and leader, he hesitated, on the one hand acknowledging the poor performance of the team under his management over the last three and a half years, while on the other hand defending his actions, claiming that the young players were "learning" and that trading Yu Fei had been "for systemic reasons."

He reiterated his intention to retake the position of club president. His wording seemed to try to convince people of a fact that did not exist in an objective world—once I'm back upstairs, I will do an outstanding job.

Everyone knew that was not possible.

Long before Jordan's comeback, he had been criticized and mocked for his reputation as a part-time president.

Jordan wanted control, but he staunchly refused to take full responsibility for the failures.

Then, Yu Fei won the championship.

The real world became Jordan's hell.

Jordan had to hide in a hollow tree, but if His Airness just flapped his wings inside the hollow tree, his existence would be in name only.

Therefore, he still needed to make public appearances.

Yet, his future remained uncertain.

The disrespectful remarks from his teammates were starting to increase, Pollin was indecisive about the future of the team, all of which made Jordan feel severely affronted.
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He was different; he belonged to a privileged class.

That privilege emerged in the early '90s and peaked in the summer of 1996. That was also when Jordan's conflict with his first owner, Reinsdorf, began. When faced with contract renewal, Reinsdorf agreed to significantly increase Jordan's salary. But what number did Jordan and Falk want? Thirty million dollars. No room for bargaining. It was not a trip from Earth to Mars; it was a direct leap to Pluto.

Reinsdorf paid the money and joked that he would regret it someday.

You know the outcome. Jordan felt insulted, and his relationship with Reinsdorf could never return to what it once was.

Jordan would never forgive the offense, and moreover, his definition of an offense was particularly broad.

On the first day after the season ended, Jordan announced his retirement once again, bidding farewell to basketball forever.

From that moment, he had no more ties to the Wizards; he was neither a player nor a member of the Wizards' management.

He called the owner, Abe Pollin, "When can we have a talk?"

"Okay, let's talk," Pollin agreed to start negotiations.

However, behind the scenes, Pollin leaked negative information about Jordan to the "New York Times" through personal channels—including criticisms of his tenure as club president and the deteriorating relationships with teammates during his comeback period.

Jordan's magic had completely vanished.

He would not bring profit to Pollin anymore, no one would pay to see him, yet such a person still wanted to be the God of D.C.? That was impossible.

Before the meeting with Pollin, Jordan's team still hadn't forgotten to apply maximum pressure.

They wanted to reveal to "The Washington Post" that if Pollin tried to diminish Jordan's power as president, or showed any lack of respect in other ways (they knew about Pollin's information leak to the Times), Jordan would leave.

This was Jordan's final ultimatum to Pollin made public.

But for Pollin, it was just another hysterical outburst in a three-year-long series of private barbs spread by Jordan. Such actions rarely hurt him, but this era would end today.

Now, all of Jordan's presumptuousness and his blasphemous remarks about Pollin were working against him: all the comments mentioning "Pollin is a troll" and "without Pollin, the future of the Wizards would be better," his public complaints about his marketing duties, the private disdain and insults towards Pollin from his camp, everything he gained from Pollin during the 2000 negotiations, all the concessions obtained over three years thanks to his god-like prestige, and his overly indulged behavior since 1984 were all coming home to roost.

Jordan would learn the only true lesson in the workplace today: those who don't respect the boss get the hell out.

In the negotiation conference room, Jordan had attended the meeting with his long-time advisor and lawyer, Curtis Polk. Pollin's lawyer, David Osnos, sat beside him, while Ted Leonsis, who was estranged from Pollin and played the role of a minority shareholder, also acted as an observer and a friend of Jordan.

Before Jordan could open his mouth, Pollin got straight to the point, "We have decided to go in a different direction."

What?

Jordan habitually curled his lips, "What did you say?"

"We have decided to move forward," said Pollin.

Jordan's anger was already uncontrollable, "You promised me, are you a man who doesn't keep his word?!!"

Pollin smiled, revealing his unsettling yellow teeth, "Michael, I will fulfill my obligations. I will give you ten million US dollars as a token of my appreciation." (indeed)

For Jordan, whose worth was close to ten digits, this money meant nothing. He roared in anger, "I came here to become a shareholder and president of the team once again, not for your damn ten million dollars!"

In just an instant, the smile on Pollin's face disappeared like an assassin who had just carried out a hit, "Michael, I swear to God, I never want to have you as my partner again, nor do I want you to continue managing my team!"

Jordan turned red, his eyes bloodshot. He turned to his good friend Ted Leonsis, "Thank you for dragging me into this goddamn mess!"

The Jordan era of the Washington Wizards had ended.

The court of public opinion quickly reacted, and most Wizards players, such as Byron Russell, only expressed surprise. Kwame Brown breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing of Jordan's departure but remained silent. A few former Wizards players made subtle public comments about Jordan's exit.

In Detroit, Richard Hamilton told reporters, "He is still considered the greatest basketball player of all time, and I don't think anyone can take that title from him. But as a team president, far from enough."

Then, the internal purge of the Wizards began.

Collins was fired, and Jordan's subordinates gradually resigned. Pollin cleared anything related to Jordan from the arena—jerseys, posters, merchandise, and murals. Even the ads for the Jordan-theme restaurant on the official Wizards website disappeared—less than a year later, the restaurant closed.

All traces that could prove Jordan had been to Washington were gone, as if he had never been there.

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"Pat Riley calls for all NBA teams to retire the number 23 jersey, unfortunately, there are zero respondents." — "Chicago Tribune"

"MJ's negotiations with Abe Pollin end in an insulting outcome." — "New York Times"

"Washington made the right decision, but unfortunately, Frye will never play for them again. This is the legacy Michael Jordan left in D.C., and he definitely should not be an executive for any club!" — "Seattle Times"

"Frye, what do you think about Pat Riley's call for all teams to retire the number 23 jersey?" — John Doogan, San Francisco

"I hope the teams respond to Coach Riley's call, because number 23 helped the Bucks win the championship with just one deal, and the championship flag must hang in the Bradley Center along with number 23."

"Yo, Frye, how much does Michael have to pay you to shut your mouth?" — Chen, Chicago

"I like this question, but next question."

"Hello Big Fei, if you had a gun, would you shoot Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan, or Kenyon Martin?" — Bryant Reed from Manchester

"Including Kenyon Martin in the same breath as those two is a bit extreme."

"Frye, how do you evaluate Abe Pollin taking less than five minutes to give MJ the boot?" — Chris Mazza, Washington

"I just want to congratulate Michael, congratulations on the most failed comeback in history."

— Yu Fei's exclusive radio show: "Conversations with The Chosen One"