The Bronx Journal/March/April 2002
GREG VAN VOORHIS
SPORTS EDITOR
S P O RT S
A15
Michael Jordan’s
‘Knee-dful Things’
The Michael Jordan Chronicles: Month 3
ryptonite has
crept its way
into the
“Man of Steel,’
sending the Wiz-kids
reeling and pushing
them further and
further away from a
possible playoff berth.
It seems that the weight of carrying a team
has proven to be too much for the 39-year
old Michael Jordan’s knees to bear, as he
has been placed on the injured list after having arthroscopic knee surgery to repair torn
lateral meniscus cartilage in his right knee.
This is the same knee that has given Mike
problems since before the start of training
camp this off-season, when he was contemplating his return to the game.
Although the length of time that Michael
will actually be away from the hardwood
will be much less than first feared by team
doctors and Wizards fans, it may be just
enough to cause Michael to not attain the
goal that he set out to achieve at the start of
the season: taking his team to the playoffs
this year.
When it was announced that Michael
would have to face the ‘knife’ for the first
time in his illustrious career, the Wizards
were playing steady basketball, holding
down the 7th seed in the Eastern
Conference, but since his departure to the
dreaded injured list for only the second time
since joining the league in 1985, and first
since his second season in the NBA, the
Wizards have slowly begun to fall out of
playoff contention.
At two games under .500, the Wiz are
currently 9th in the East, of which only the
top eight teams in the conference make the
playoffs. If it were not for Toronto’s losing
12 straight games, the Wiz would be two
teams behind the final spot for the post-season. Be it as it may, they still have to beat
out Indiana, whose mid-season trade will
only make them stronger after some time to
gel; Charlotte, which has seen the return of
injured players Jamal Mashburn and David
Wesley; or Philadelphia, which earlier in
the season everyone had counted out of a
playoff berth, but has come on strong in the
past months and is now playing some of the
most inspired ball of the season.
The Wizards will not only have to hope
that Toronto, which has seen its losing
streak stretch so far mainly due to the injury
to Vince Carter’s knee, will keep up its
lousy play, but they also must pass one of
the other aforementioned teams to land a
playoff spot this season. Not to mention that
Miami is only a mere 2 games behind
Washington, and is playing its best basketball of the season. It seems that the Wiz are
closer to a trip to the draft lottery than they
are a trip to the playoffs, a once very possible fete, that now seems quite unlikely.
But as I’ve said before, if there’s a Mike,
there’s always a chance, though it will take
more than a quick return to the court for MJ
to salvage the season for the Wiz. First of
all, with only 20 or so games remaining,
and Washington trailing Charlotte and
Indiana by just mere percentage points for
the final spot in the East, every game that
Michael does not play will prove to be huge
for their chances to make it. The burden to
succeed will fall mainly on the shoulders of
Richard Hamilton, Washington’s most
skilled player this season.
With Hamilton as their main scoring
But as I’ve said
before, if there’s
a Mike, there’s
always a chance,
though it will
take more than a
quick return to
the court for MJ
to salvage the
season for the
Wiz
threat, and savvy veterans such as Chris
Whitney, Christian Laettner, Popeye Jones,
Jahidi White, and Hubert Davis knowing
that they must be on top of their games until
MJ’s return, and even after, young players
like second-year man Courtney Alexander,
who will take over Jordan’s role in his
absence, and rookies Kwame Brown and
Brendan Haywood must step up their
games as well, and answer the call of the
challenges set before them.
With 24.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 and a
FILE
half assists per
game sitting
on the bench in
street clothes
for a minimum
of five games,
it is imperative
that the Wizkids do what
Michael has
demanded of
them all season:
“grow
up.” Even if
Michael were
to come back
after the minimum of only
five
missed
games, which
seems almost
an impossibili ty, it would
still not guarantee the Wiz a spot in the playoffs, only
hope. But it seems that Mike will be out for
at least 2 weeks, and it could be as long as
6 weeks, so if the Wiz, who last year only
FILE
managed to win 18 games all season, are
going to get into the playoffs, they are
going to have to do it, for the most part,
without Michael Jordan.