Man, when I heard Michael Jordan was coming back to the NBA, the second time, with the Wizards, I gotta tell ya, I had some mixed feelings. It wasn’t like the first comeback, you know? That was legendary. This one felt… different.
My Own Grind Back Then
I remember I was hustling pretty hard myself around that time. Trying to get a small side business off the ground, working late nights, feeling like I was pushing a boulder uphill. So, the news about MJ, it kinda hit me in a weird way. Here’s this guy, achieved everything, why go back into the grind? But then again, who was I to question it, right?
The office, or rather the little shared space I was using, was buzzing. Some folks were ecstatic. “MJ’s back! The GOAT!” All that jazz. Others were like me, a bit more on the fence. Could he still do it? Would it tarnish his legacy? You heard all sorts of hot takes.
- One guy, Dave, super optimistic, was already planning to buy season tickets.
- My buddy, Mark, was convinced it was a bad idea. “He’s just gonna hurt himself or look old,” he kept saying.
Watching Him Play Again
So, I made it a point to watch some of those early Wizards games. It was… interesting. You’d see flashes, absolute flashes of the old MJ. That fadeaway, the competitiveness. It was still there. But then you’d also see him look, well, human. He wasn’t flying like he used to. The game had changed, and he was older. It’s just facts.
I remember one game specifically. He dropped a decent number of points, but they still lost. And he looked gassed. I was sitting there, after a long day of my own struggles, thinking, “Man, this is tough to watch, but also kinda inspiring?” It’s that drive, you know? Even when you’re not at your peak, you still push.
But here’s the thing, for me, it didn’t really change his legacy. Nothing could, really. He was still MJ. But it did make me think about knowing when to hang it up. Or maybe, it made me think about how some people just can’t quit the game, whatever their game is. For him, it was basketball, plain and simple. He just loved to compete.
It wasn’t the championship MJ of the 90s. Of course not. But it was still Michael Jordan playing basketball. And for a lot of people, myself included, even a diminished MJ was something you tuned in for. It was a strange chapter, for sure. Made for a lot of debates, a lot of “what ifs.” But that’s sports, I guess. That’s life. You take your shots.
