Jerry Stackhouse did not enjoy his time playing alongside Michael Jordan. The former NBA superstar spent two seasons on the Washington Wizards and just recently revealed to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that he disliked his time in Washington because of Michael Jordan.
“Honestly, I wish I never played in Washington and for a number of reasons,” Stackhouse told Wojnarowski. “I felt we were on our way in Detroit before I got traded there. It was really challenging to be able to be in a situation with an idol who at this particular point, I felt like I was a better player. Things were still being run through Michael Jordan, and Doug Collins, I love Doug, but I think that was an opportunity for him to make up for some ill moments that they may have had back in Chicago.
“So, pretty much everything that Michael wanted to do… We got off to a pretty good start and he didn’t like the way the offense was running because it was running a little bit more through me. He wanted to get a little more isolations on the post, of course, so we had more isolations for him on the post. And it just kind of spiraled in a way that I didn’t enjoy that season at all. Kind of the picture I had in my mind of Michael Jordan and the reverence I had for him, I lost a little bit of it during the course of that year.”
At that time, Stackhouse was in the prime of his career and coming off two NBA All-Star Game appearances, while former Bulls legend Michael Jordan was 39-years-old, and while he could still put up numbers on the court, he was a shell of his former self.
That 2002-03 Wizards team finished the season 37-45, with Stackhouse leading the team in scoring at 21.5 per game. That was despite Jordan averaging more shot attempts.
Stackhouse stuck around for one more year before heading to the Dallas Mavs for five years.
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Jordan retired for good following the 2002-03 campaign.
