Dec 31, 2001 11:11 AM EST
It was frustrating, and it could have become downright discouraging.
Brendan Haywood's introduction to professional basketball was a rude one, one he had little reason to expect after ending his college career at North Carolina last spring.
First, Haywood fell far below projections in the draft before finally being taken with the 20th pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was traded that same night to Orlando. Then, he was traded again later in the summer, this time to the hapless Washington Wizards. And shortly into training camp, he tore ligaments in his left thumb and was sidelined for six weeks.
Some welcome to the NBA, indeed.
But instead of moaning and groaning and dwelling on his misfortune, Haywood chose to chuckle a little instead.
Now that ability to take things in stride is paying off, and he's starting to get the last laugh.
He is playing a significant role for the Wizards, the team that is the biggest surprise in the NBA, and he is establishing himself as one of the better young big men in the league.
"Things are going pretty well right now," Haywood said before the Wizards' 107-90 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night. "I have a ways to go to get where I want to be, and I want to continue to improve every day, but overall I'm pretty happy. A lot of things that went against me earlier are turning out to be a blessing in disguise."
Haywood's sense of humor has been a key element all along.
"Things didn't start out like I hoped they would," he said. "But I kept everything as lighthearted as I could. When I got here, some of the guys started calling me Don MacLean because I was being traded so many times, so we all just kinda laughed and joked about it.
"The fact is, I was happy to be traded from Cleveland. I wanted them to trade me, so that didn't bother me at all. I was surprised when I was traded from Orlando, but I came here and I had a good workout so I thought this would be a good fit for me. As it turns out, it is probably a better fit for me than Orlando would have been."
Haywood has averaged 7.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.13 blocked shots in 17 games since coming off the injured list, playing 26 minutes a game as the backup center to Jahidi White.
Haywood's numbers have been far-more impressive in the past few weeks, and he has been a significant reason why the Wizards have won 10 of their past 12.
He scored 19 recently in a win at Dallas and followed with 17 points and 15 rebounds in a victory at Memphis.
"He's made a big difference since he's come back," said Johnny Bach, the former Hornets' assistant coach now with the Wizards. "He and Tyronn Lue are probably the two biggest reasons we've turned things around. We thought he was the best young big man we had in training camp. Then he got hurt, but he's picked up right where he left off before his injury."
After Haywood had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Orlando earlier in the year, Doc Rivers admitted to Bach that the Magic was already regretting dealing Haywood.
"He said, 'We made a big mistake letting that guy go,' " Bach said. "And they did. He's going to have a long career in this league. He plays big. He's tall and lanky, and he reminds me a lot of Robert Parish with those long arms and everything. And he's got the fundamentals already, which not a lot of young big men have anymore. You put him next to Kwame (Brown), and it's just obvious how much he benefited from four years in a good college program."
Haywood's UNC ties are helping in another sense. It turns out that Haywood has become Michael Jordan's pet project this season.
And to have Jordan take a personal interest has to be a great motivating factor.
"That's been good for me," Haywood said. "He just tells me the little things I need to do to be a player. A lot of guys are good enough to play in this league, but they lack the little things, and those are the things he concentrates on because he wants me to have a long career.
"It's one of those things where when Michael Jordan says something to you, you know it's the truth. He's the greatest of all time, and when he speaks, you need to listen."
Haywood admits that he's a bit surprised to be playing as well as he has been.
"One of the reasons I never got down was that I knew I had a three-year contract and I had three years to prove myself," he said. "I just wanted to come in and work hard on my defense early and let everything else take care of itself. I'm getting more minutes here than I would have in Orlando, so I can't complain."
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For all of Vince Carter's aches and pains and bumps and bruises through the years, he has remained remarkably durable.
Carter has missed only eight games in his NBA career. No. 8 came last night and his Raptors sorely missed him as they were thumped 101-75 by the Seattle SuperSonics at the Key Arena.
With Carter nursing a strained left shoulder and the Raptors missing two other regulars in Hakeem Olajuwon and Chris Childs, the odds certainly were stacked against them. On top of that, they were playing the second of back-to-back games following their win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
Still, Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens obviously would have liked his team to offer a tad more resistance than it did. The Sonics never had to look in the rearview mirror in the second half after burying the Raptors with a big second quarter.
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Dec 30, 2001 10:33 AM EST
Coming off the worst game of his career, Michael Jordan felt he needed to make a statement. Boy, did he ever.
Embarrassing every defender who tried to guard him, Jordan scored 51 points and set franchise records with 24 first-quarter points and 34 points in a half Saturday night as the Wizards snapped a two-game losing streak with a 107-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
"Fifty-one is something I didn’t imagine," Charlotte forward P.J. Brown said. "He kind of went back in time tonight."
Jordan made 21 of 38 shots from the field, 9 of 10 free throws and had seven rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes. He had a shot at Earl Monroe’s franchise game record of 56 until the Wizards blew the game open in the third quarter, allowing coach Doug Collins to sit his star for good with 3:08 remaining in the game.
"You think the guy’s got a little pride?" Collins said.
"He had a tough night in Indiana, and I think he was going to come back and show who he is. ... I’ve seen this guy do some unbelievable things, but at age 38 to do this tonight is incredible."
Jordan scored a career-low six points in Thursday’s loss to the Pacers, ending his record 866-game streak of 10 points or more. He needed only 4:25 to start another double-digit streak, making five of his first six shots and scoring the Wizards’ first 13 points.
"I’m pretty sure you guys were saying how old I was," Jordan said. "And I wanted certainly to make a statement offensively."
Jordan’s 39th regular season 50-point game also set an MCI Center record and was the first 50-point game by a Wizards player since Tracy Murray scored 50 at Golden State on Feb. 10, 1998. It was the first 50-point game by a Wizards player at home since Bernard King’s 50 against Utah on March 6, 1991.
It was Jordan’s first 50-pointer since scoring 55 points for Chicago in a playoff game against Washington in 1997.
Hubert Davis added 21 points and Jahidi White had 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for the Wizards.
Jamaal Magloire scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Hornets, who beat the Wizards 99-93 on Wednesday. Baron Davis, who was listed as doubtful with a bruised right knee, started and scored 14 points in 42 minutes.
Realizing he was hot, Jordan wanted the ball and wanted it badly. Two familiar moves were on display early and often: the fadeaway off the screen and the pivot around a defender who left his feet falling for the fake.
Jordan’s best move: On the right wing, he moved to the right around Magloire, hung the air forever and kissed a 14-footer off the glass while drawing the foul. Jordan made the free throw to give the Wizards a 25-19 lead.
Jordan didn’t have his legs in the fourth quarter, shooting just 2-for-7, but he blew past Stacey Augmon for an easy layup with seven minutes left.
"It’s been a long time since someone said that I was hanging in the air," Jordan said. "I felt real good in the first half. My rhythm, my timing was perfect, and I had the defense guessing. It was one of those nights."
Jordan and Davis were Washington’s only offense in the first half, with the pair making 20 of 29 shots and accounting for 48 of the team’s 56 points. The result was a seesaw half that included 23 lead changes before Jordan’s 17-footer with four seconds left gave the Wizards a 56-51 lead at the break.
But Collins switched his defense at halftime and shut down the paint. Charlotte’s guards were unable to pick up the slack: Davis was 6-for-21, and David Wesley was 1-for-11. The front court tandem of Brown and Elden Campbell, which combined for 29 points in the first half, had just four points in the second.
The Wizards put the game away with a 13-0 run with no points from Jordan. Chris Whitney and Davis hit 3-pointers, and White had a 3-point play and made two more free throws in the spurt that put Washington ahead 75-56 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. The biggest lead was 21 at 80-59.
Hornets never got closer than 12 in the final quarter as the Wizards improved to 14-0 when leading after three.
Jordan said he’s felt this kind of rhythm only once before this season, when he scored 44 in a loss to Utah.
"I hate to see wasted energy like that," Jordan said. "And we won the game tonight."
Notes: The previous Wizards record for first-quarter points was 23, set by King exactly 11 years earlier — Dec. 29, 1990 — against Denver. The previous record for points in a half was held by Jeff Malone, who had 33 against Phoenix on Feb. 27, 1988. The franchise record for points in a quarter or half have only been kept since the team moved from Baltimore in 1973. ... Monroe scored 56, when the team was called the Baltimore Bullets, against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 13, 1968. ... The Wizards played without Courtney Alexander, whom Collins said "felt something pull" in his leg in the final minutes Thursday. Collins said Alexander, who has also been bothered by a sprained ankle, was too sore to play. ... The Hornets had won nine of the previous 11 against the Wizards.
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Wizards Dec 2001 Archive
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| Dec 30, 2001
The Charlotte Hornets found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time last night - in Michael Jordan's crosshairs on a night when he was on the prowl.
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| Dec 30, 2001
Santa Claus was good to Pat Williams, delivering a nine-game winning streak to the Orlando Magic's senior vice president.
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| Dec 29, 2001
CHARLOTTE (13-16) AT WASHINGTON (14-14)
Time: 7 p.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Michael Jordan drew a sellout crowd to Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday night, and fans hoping to see something memorable from the basketball legend got just that.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Michael Jordan did something tonight that he never did in his illustrious 14-season tenure in the NBA.
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| Dec 28, 2001
At 38 years of age there are bound to be nights where Michael Jordan will struggle in his third comeback, expecially in back-to-back games like last night's against Indiana.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Imagine Wednesday’s sellout Charlotte Coliseum crowd was more than a two- or three-time-a-year event.
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| Dec 27, 2001
It was like old times in a lot of ways Wednesday night at the Charlotte Coliseum.
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| Dec 27, 2001
It was almost like old times at the Charlotte Coliseum on Wednesday night.
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| Dec 27, 2001
CHARLOTTE
Michael Jordan brought the fans out to the Charlotte Coliseum last night.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Michael Jordan came back to play basketball in Charlotte for the first time in 31/2 years Wednesday night in the Charlotte Hornets' 99-93 win against the Washington Wizards.
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| Dec 27, 2001
Nisa Nolan of Rock Hill, with a glittering "23" painted on her right cheek, got her dad to bring her to her first pro basketball game as a 13th birthday present.
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| Dec 27, 2001
The Charlotte Hornets countered a 28-point barrage from Michael Jordan by getting double-figure scoring from six players and slipped away late for a 99-93 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at the Charlotte Coliseum.
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| Dec 27, 2001
TURNS OUT Michael Jordan had at least one more surprise in him.
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| Dec 26, 2001
Ask Charlotte Hornets players or coach Paul Silas about tonight’s 8 p.
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| Dec 26, 2001
The Hornets are assured of their first sellout of the season for tonight's game against Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards, with a crowd of more than 23,000 expected at the Charlotte Coliseum.
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| Dec 26, 2001
WASHINGTON (14-12) AT CHARLOTTE (12-15)
Time: 8 p.
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| Dec 26, 2001
Anybody who wanted to take a chance but backed away because he was afraid of what people would say should consider Michael Jordan.
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| Dec 26, 2001
Like old times.
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| Dec 25, 2001
Washington Wizards guard Richard Hamilton, the team's second-leading scorer, could be sidelined three to four weeks after an MRI exam yesterday revealed a partial tear in his right groin.
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| Dec 23, 2001
Some observers figured Michael Jordan acquired center Brendan Haywood last summer primarily because he went to North Carolina, Jordan's alma mater.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Help on the way?
Magic General Manager John Gabriel huddled Friday with player-personnel director Gary Brokaw and Coach Doc Rivers to go over the options for a team without Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.
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| Dec 22, 2001
HAPPY HAYWOOD
Between being acquired on the night of the NBA draft for Michael Doleac and then traded Aug.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Michael Jordan is more threat than thrill these days, more professor than prodigy.
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| Dec 22, 2001
To the guy who threw the beer bottle onto the floor at the end of the Magic game Friday:
Hey, idiot, what did you expect?
OK, if you were like a lot of people, you expected the basketball event of the season.
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| Dec 22, 2001
The Washington Wizards didn't need Michael Jordan to beat the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
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| Dec 22, 2001
The band N'SYNC was in the house and so too were Tampa Bay Buccaneers' linemen Warren Sapp and Kenyatta Walker.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Orlando Magic power forward Horace Grant said Friday that his mind is made up.
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| Dec 22, 2001
He's a little more grounded these days, but then aren't we all?
Michael Jordan was once the greatest show above earth, but now he flies at a little lower altitude.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Nobody could put the ball in the ocean for three quarters.
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| Dec 21, 2001
Everything is right in what many thought would be a wrong world for Michael Jordan.
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| Dec 21, 2001
Team This Season Last Season
NEW JERSEY NETS 16-7, 1st place 26-56, 6th place
The Buzz: Jason Kidd has arrived.
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| Dec 21, 2001
TONIGHT: Washington Wizards, 7:30
WHERE: TD Waterhouse Centre.
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| Dec 21, 2001
The Orlando Magic needed some rest and the Washington Wizards were a mess when the two teams met for the first time this season three weeks ago.
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| Dec 21, 2001
It was roughly an hour before the Washington Wizards were to take on the Orlando Magic three weeks ago, but Kwame Brown's mind was hundreds of miles away.
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| Dec 21, 2001
When last the Orlando Magic saw Michael Jordan, his Washington Wizards were in shambles, his balky knee was giving him fits and he was getting his patented fall-away jumper swatted by the younger, more athletic Tracy McGrady.
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| Dec 21, 2001
Who: Orlando Magic (13-14) vs.
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| Dec 21, 2001
When the Magic beat the Washington Wizards three weeks ago in NBC's season debut, it wasn't even a very good game.
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| Dec 20, 2001
The Hawks got a chance to see the Michael Jordan of old Wednesday.
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| Dec 19, 2001
In just three weeks, the Wizards have gone from the end of the world to the top of the world, according to Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post.
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| Dec 19, 2001
Washington Wizards majority owner Abe Pollin said the long-suffering franchise likely will turn a profit this season, largely based on a projected run of continued sellouts at the 20,674-seat MCI Center, according to the Washington Post.
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| Dec 18, 2001
According to the Washington Times, if 19-year-old Kwame Brown blossoms into the superstar the Washington Wizards think he can become, forward Popeye Jones thinks he'll be able to point to the exact time when that process received a jump-start.
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| Dec 17, 2001
It was what can only be called a veteran move.
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| Dec 17, 2001
MICHAEL JORDAN has won games in a lot of different ways in his long career ・in the air or on the ground, with the jumper or the drive or a free throw or two, and of course at the other end with starchy defence.
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| Dec 17, 2001
Although the Orlando Magic are trying to spin this story with a smiley face, no doubt there are a few in-house frowns because of the trade of Brendan Haywood.
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| Dec 17, 2001
The book on Williams
Orlando executive Pat Williams, a man who never met a networking opportunity he didn't like, joined the Magic on their West Coast swing to promote his new book, How to be Like Mike.
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| Dec 16, 2001
At one time, Jordan's brilliant game was deeply rooted in the psyche and flash of playground ball ・intense, in your face, at times a very personal one-on-one confrontation.
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| Dec 16, 2001
The joke around MCI Center recently suggested that a Washington Wizards promotion featuring a Kwame Brown bobblehead doll was getting more air time than the 19-year-old rookie was getting playing time, according to the Baltimore Sun's Don Markus.
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| Dec 15, 2001
Stuck backstage during the NBA Draft festivities last June in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Brendan Haywood waited patiently for his NBA career to begin.
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| Dec 15, 2001
THE WAY the Raptors are going these days, it is difficult to believe Michael Jordan wouldn't be itching to get out there and try them tomorrow.
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| Dec 15, 2001
The Washington Times reports that the Wizards' resurrection tour played MCI Center again last night, and the Wizards used their best game of the year — and the best half of Richard Hamilton's professional career — to extend their winning streak to five games with a 96-80 mauling of the Knicks.
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| Dec 14, 2001
Jordan and the Wizards have stuck to the business before them, hung in there, actually, and resolved some of their internal dynamics, according to the Washington Times.
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| Dec 13, 2001
Heat point guard Rod Strickland felt good
about returning to Washington for the first time since being released at midseason by the Wizards last year, but the home crowd did not feel likewise Wednesday night.
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| Dec 13, 2001
The formula to beating the Heat is no longer a mystery, nor is it complicated: Force Miami to make shots in the fourth quarter.
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| Dec 12, 2001
When: 8 p.
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| Dec 11, 2001
According to the Washington Post, Dallas Mavericks Coach Don Nelson, whose team had been dunked on for three quarters Saturday night by Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood, said the rookie big man was the difference in the outcome, not Michael Jordan's fourth-quarter heroics.
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| Dec 10, 2001
Glenn Rogers of the Express News writes that Spurs fans shouldn't feel cheated that Jordan sat out their game and no other.
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| Dec 10, 2001
DALLAS - If anyone doubts whether Michael Jordan had any more magic left, all they have to do is ask the 20,241 fans who jammed into American Airlines Center on Saturday.
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| Dec 8, 2001
By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.
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| Dec 8, 2001
Sure, Air Jordan is more like Fair Jordan these days.
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| Dec 7, 2001
After initially playing well coming off the bench, Juwan Howard has settled into a little slump just in time for his first game against his old team, the Washington Wizards, says Marc Stein of the Dallas Morning News.
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| Dec 7, 2001
Kevin Lyons of the Dallas Star-Telegram writes about the chemistry issues of the Washington Wizards.
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| Dec 7, 2001
Thursday night was different.
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| Dec 7, 2001
It's gotten so bad it's comical.
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| Dec 7, 2001
Kwame in the Windy City?
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| Dec 6, 2001
Oh my, do we even want to pass this along.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Jordan's world once more has sold-out arenas and rousing ovations and an array of opponents determined to prove themselves against one of the world's most accomplished men.
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| Dec 6, 2001
According to the Washington Times, Michael Jordan's ailing right knee didn't prevent him from shooting jumpers at the Houston Rockets' practice facility yesterday, but the inflamed joint might force Jordan out of his second game in a row when the Washington Wizards face the Rockets tonight.
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| Dec 5, 2001
"Charles!" Popovich yelled.
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| Dec 5, 2001
The Air isn't out of the Rockets' party yet.
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| Dec 5, 2001
SAN ANTONIO -- This is why he came back.
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| Dec 5, 2001
According to the Washington Post, Washington Wizards swingman Michael Jordan may have to occasionally sit out games because his problematic right knee will not heal without prolonged rest, Coach Doug Collins said today.
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| Dec 5, 2001
Greg Boeck of USA Today says that the supposed Karl Malone-to-Dallas trade talks are over.
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| Dec 4, 2001
Feeling old? Don't have that get up and dunk? Sick of young Wizzies named Kwame and Rip?
Don't drain your knee.
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| Dec 4, 2001
According to the Washington Post, Swingman Courtney Alexander, the Washington Wizards player whose performance has dropped off the most since the arrival of Coach Doug Collins and the return of Michael Jordan, said his recent benching and disappointing play have "torn me apart.
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| Dec 4, 2001
Michael Jordan visited former Chicago Bulls physician John Hefferon to examine his right knee.
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| Dec 3, 2001
But since Thomas offered his innocent hope, even the sort of players who had long carefully crafted every word rather than give Jordan even the most tenuous reason to seek revenge have said whatever they pleased, believing there is little chance that Jordan will make them pay.
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| Dec 3, 2001
According to Steve Wyche of the Washington Post, Michael Jordan will undergo an MRI exam on his ailing right knee today in Chicago.
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| Dec 3, 2001
MRI exam for MJ
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| Dec 3, 2001
Michael Jordan's knee is hurt and he is coming home to Chicago for help.
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| Dec 2, 2001
Out?
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| Dec 2, 2001
A bit of good news
It was a good-news, bad-news day for Grant Hill, who was re-examined before Saturday's game by Dr.
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| Dec 2, 2001
There is a sizable hole in the blanket the Washington Wizards use to protect rookie Kwame Brown.
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| Dec 2, 2001
The 38-year-old, weary-legged version looked more like "Err Jordan" than "Air Jordan," what with Michael Jordan's reluctance to drive to the hoop and willingness to pass the ball.
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| Dec 2, 2001
This was the difference between bold and old.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Scottie Pippen has never been the same player since two discs popped out of his back during the 1998 season, which is good news for the Bulls - who didn't sign him to a big contract, and bad news for Houston and Portland who have paid for his success in Chicago.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Michael Leahy writes a lengthy behind-the-scenes article in the Washington Post about Michael Jordan's return.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Wizards have no interest in signing Sir Charles
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| Dec 1, 2001
We looked at Pat Riley and Michael Jordan on Friday and had to bite our wagging tongues to keep from breaking out into a few bars of Live and Let Die or Band on the Run.
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| Dec 1, 2001
It took more than 44 minutes of game time, nearly two hours of real time.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Michael Jordan has surrounded himself with mediocrity, but the Heat still cannot beat him.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Tonight: Washington Wizards, 6:30
WHERE: MCI Center.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Date Opponent Result Pts.
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| Dec 1, 2001
NBA Commissioner David Stern was not totally enthusiastic about Michael Jordan's return to the NBA, and today we see why.
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| Dec 1, 2001
He has filled arenas, helped television ratings, dominated the spotlight and played well, but he still hasn't turned the Washington Wizards into winners.
