Some people rejoice and some people worry.

If Milwaukee Bucks fans have had a happy year, Washington Wizards fans haven't felt happy since the start of the new season.

From October last year to the end of the season in June this year, whenever Yu Fei made a surprising move, "that deal" would be brought up.

And Yu Fei never hid his hatred for Jordan.

Wizards are always the target of public criticism.

Even the fans who support the team have become fools, and people will say, this is the team you support? For a 40-year-old man's best rookie after sending off Wes Unseld?

It's a hard thing to argue with.

Even more difficult than the Bucks competing for the first place in the league and the Wizards struggling for a playoff spot, the Wizards had to play the Bucks three times in the regular season.

When they met for the first time, Yu Fei came with anger and scored 56 points in the game.

In the second encounter, Yu Fei cut 40+ and led the team to a big victory over the Wizards, and Jordan, who broke the defense, issued a classic remark of "his horse is strong, and my mule ****".

The most devastating was the third game between the Bucks and the Wizards.

At that time, the Wizards' playoff situation was already in jeopardy, and they only needed to lose one more game to lose their theoretical chance of advancing to the playoffs.

As a result, Yu Fei fell from the sky, scored 60 points in the third quarter, and severely sprained Jordan's knee in the final round.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army and cooperate with the team to sell tickets, Jordan did not directly announce the reimbursement of the season, but used the state of "doubtful play" to play a smokescreen.

For Wizards fans, even if they can't make the playoffs, it's good to see Jordan's final performance.

But Jordan never played again.

For Jordan, it was the worst possible outcome.

Once you don't play, people will remember how you were beaten by Yu Fei.

Criticism of Jordan began to mount, doubts kept coming, and questions about that deal grew.

The external public opinion environment is one-sided.

And inside the Wizards, collapse seems inevitable.

The man who led this collapse was Doug Collins.

He tried to be more forgiving and determined in the face of difficulties, and to that end, before the penultimate game of the regular season, he quoted Thomas Edison to his players: "Many failures in life are because people don't realize how close they are to success when they give up." ”

The effect was minimal.

When Kwame Brown started with a wave of turnovers, Collins replaced him and gave him a tough education.

In Jordan's absence, Collins' own majesty seems to have vanished.

Kwame Brown, who had entered a rebellious period, roared at Collins, "it! ”

Collins was frightened, and he realized that his control over the team depended entirely on Jordan's authority, which led to a dire consequence: he had absolutely no idea how to effectively coach a player who did not have the surname Jordan.

This led to Jordan's intervention, who dragged his sick body to the training ground and warned Brown, "You can't do this to our coach!" ”

So Brown was forced to apologize.

Collins then fielded Kassel, Stackhouse and Hughes in the penultimate game and worked wonders in New Jersey.

They beat the Nets, who are third in the East, on the road.

That night, Collins was agitated in the media interview room, his voice shaking.

"It was a real win for me and my team," Collins said, "because we've had a lot of ups and downs and I've never been proud of them, and I'm very touched." I became a grandfather yesterday. "In an instant, he seemed to be about to cry." This is the best gift. ”

This is Collins, and he makes all of him visible, for about 30 seconds — his pride, his joy, his anxiety, his sorrow, all his emotions are naked, and it's this state that makes his colleagues worry about him as the people in Chicago and Detroit fear.

However, the reporter was not interested in Collins being a grandfather.

They have another task.

"Does this win mean that MJ isn't that important to him, and is he a double-edged sword?"

When it comes to Jordan-related issues, Collins becomes a different person: "Why do you think MJ is a double-edged sword?" ”

"I don't know. Here's my question. ”

"That's what you said."

Watching Collins paranoid confusing his own statement, the reporter sighed, "So, is MJ a double-edged sword?" ”

'I don't think he had any negative impact on the team. Collins replied with a careful word.

The reporter presumptuously asked: "Maybe you don't dare to face the truth, you are afraid of MJ's power?" ”

"You know what?" Collins was furious, "No player who reaches that level can be a double-edged sword!" ”

Another reporter asked: "Are you afraid of him?" ”

"It's an idiot question, you can ask him yourself." Collins lost all emotion and transformed into a ruthless Jordan defender, "These questions don't scare me. ”

He looked around, the smile on his face was even more pronounced, with a hint of mockery, and looked at the reporter who offended him, and then at the other reporters, as if to say, look at this guy, actually asked such a stupid question.

In the blink of an eye, the Wizards only had one regular season game left.

It was their last game of the season.

Will Jordan make a comeback?

Those who care about the Wizards already know the answer, Jordan won't be back.

When Jordan was bumped into by an acquaintance outside the training gym, the other party also raised the question of whether he would play in the last game.

"There's still some light at the end of the tunnel." Jordan said abstractly, "There's at least a little bit of light left, and that's how I see it." ”

Jordan didn't come to training to participate in training, but to get back to the office to prepare for the offseason.

When he returned to his old office, he spoke openly about plans to redecorate his office in the offseason.

In the final game of the Wizards' season, Jordan did not appear at MCI.

It was a huge disappointment for all the fans who wanted to see him one last time.

In the end, the Wizards lost to the 76ers at home and ended the season with a record of ninth place in the East.

Jordan has to clean up, his playing career is over, he won't play again, it's a change of identity that he has to get used to.

And, there will never be another three-year itch, and he no longer misses the game.

Yu Fei's revenge on him has become a cultural phenomenon.

Completely beyond the impact of Larry Bird's abuse of Dr. J and Larry Holmes' beating of Ali in his later years, it is the latest case of how tragic a former superstar can be in his old age.

Jordan struggled not to think about it.

Next, the Wizards' focus will be on the June draft and offseason free market signings.

But Jordan is still theoretically a player for the Wizards, and he has not officially announced his retirement, and his executive power is not officially recognized, which means that he cannot call the shots.

Pauline was ambiguous about reinstating Jordan to management, insisting on waiting until the season was over (after the Finals were over).

In other words, during this period, Jordan will still be involved in management as a Wizards player.

At the same time, the team has a legitimate reason to use his name to trick fans into buying tickets for next season.

This state of affairs made Jordan uneasy, and he realized that his future was not guaranteed.

In order to "remind" Pauline that the flyer does not have to stay in Washington, Jordan deliberately asked his media friends to ask him a question: "Jerry Krauss has left, if Jerry Reinsdorf invites you to return to Chicago to manage the team, will you accept it?" ”

"I knew you were going to ask that," Jordan said with a charismatic smile, "and it's clear that my goal is to get back upstairs (to the Wizards' presidency)." Wish. I can get my wish. But if that doesn't work, obviously, I have another choice. It's not just Chicago. There are other options as well. So, for me, the ideal situation would be to stay here and let this team move in the right direction as I envisioned. That's what I really want. And Chicago is the second goal, the second thought – and any other opportunity. ”

Jordan didn't rule out Chicago entirely.

With a hint of warning, he wanted Pauline to know that he had "other options" if he didn't want to continue working together. In his opinion, that means a possible location, not only in Chicago, but also in the future for that brand new Charlotte team.

The moment Jordan's voice came through the microphone, the atmosphere around him changed. He is no longer an employee, no longer expressing a strong commitment to the organization he represents, he is now a "free" player. His words reflect the mentality of a player, but he will soon become a former pro, and after two failed seasons, everything around him has changed, but he has shown the same respect and prestige as he did in his prime.

Jordan's words triggered something out of his control, he had no loyalty or sense of belonging to the Washington Wizards, he just wanted to take control of the team.

In the past, his commercial values gave him permission to say anything, and he never learned how to pay homage to a franchise. He still has the arrogance of a young superstar, although Yu Fei has repeatedly reminded him with bloody reality: when the magic of a superstar is gone, your life will be completely different.

A few days later, news came from Chicago: John Paxson had been hired as executive vice president of Chicago and became the Bulls' chief basketball executive. No Bulls official has contacted Jordan or sent anonymous messages through the media suggesting that the Bulls are interested in negotiating with Jordan once his contract with the Wizards expires.

Soon, it was revealed that, just like the Wizards' top brass, the Bulls' management was skeptical that Jordan's ability to do his job as an executive could be compared to Jordan's ability to do his job as a player.

In this way, Jordan's plan to return to Chicago has failed before it has even begun.

What's even more terrifying is that a week later, Yu Fei was voted the Most Valuable Player of the regular season.

"That deal" is mentioned again.

Accusations against Jordan have spread across Washington, and even the Washington Post, which has always leaned toward Jordan, has dismissed the trade as the worst mistake in Wizards' history.

The Washington Times pointedly noted: "Are we really going to pin our team's future on someone who puts their personal interests and likes and dislikes ahead of the team's interests?" ”

Jordan's public opinion front began to lose ground across the board.

Rejecting the idea that he will be at the helm of the Wizards again has become the dominant perception.

During the finals, Jordan was bumped into by reporters at MCI, and he was noticed looking very nervous.

"If you had to start all over again, would you still trade Frye?" A reporter asked aloud.

Jordan said coldly: "This is a stupid question! ”

Jordan is no longer himself — at least not the man the fans are used to, neither confident nor in control. He hesitated when it came to his accomplishments as a Wizards director and leader, acknowledging that the team had underperformed over the past three and a half years while insisting on defending what he had done, claiming that young players were "learning" and that trading Yu Fei was "based on systemic reasons."

He once again stressed his intention to return to the role of president of the club. His wording seemed to convince people of the fact that the objective world does not exist – that once I get back upstairs, I will do my job brilliantly.

Everyone knows that this is impossible.

Long before Jordan's comeback, he was blamed and ridiculed for his reputation as a part-time president.

Jordan wants control, but he's adamant that he won't take full responsibility for his failures.

Then, Yu Fei won the championship.

The real world became Jordan's hell.

Jordan had to hide in a tree hole, but if the flyer just waved his wings in the tree hole, he would be dead in name.

So he still needs to show his head.

However, his future is still uncertain.

Disrespectful remarks from teammates began to mount against him, and Pauline was uncertain about the future of the team, all of which made Jordan feel seriously offended.

He is different, he belongs to the privileged class.

This privilege appeared in the early 90s and reached its peak in the summer of 1996. That was also the starting point of the conflict between Jordan and his first boss, Reinsdorf. When Jordan faced a contract extension, Reinsdorf agreed to increase Jordan's annual salary aggressively. But what numbers do Jordan and Falck want? $30 million. There is no room for bargaining. This is not from Earth to Mars, it is a direct crossing to Pluto.

Reinsdorf paid and joked that he would regret it one day.

You know the result, Jordan felt insulted, and his relationship with Reinsdorf never went back.

Jordan doesn't forgive offenses, and his definition of offense is particularly broad.

On the first day after the season ended, Jordan announced that he would retire again and that he would say goodbye to basketball forever.

From this moment on, he lost any contact with the Wizards, and he was neither a player for the Wizards nor a member of the Wizards' management.

He called his boss, Abi Boleyn, "When are we going to talk?" ”

"Okay, let's talk." Pauline agreed to open negotiations.

Behind the scenes, however, Pauline leaked negative information about Jordan to the New York Times through personal channels — including all sorts of insider information about his negative work as president of the club and the deterioration of his relationship with teammates during his comeback.

Jordan's magic is completely gone.

He won't bring any more profit to Pauline, no one will pay to see him, and such a person still wants to be God? That's impossible.

Before meeting with Poleyn, Jordan's team still hadn't forgotten to push the limit.

They wanted to tell the Washington Post that Jordan would leave if he tried to undermine Jordan's power as president or otherwise showed any disrespect (they knew Poleyn had revealed the inside story to The Times).

This was Jordan's public ultimatum to Pauline.

But for Pauline, it was just another hysterical rant over the past three years of Jordan's myriad barbs that he had privately spread. Such actions rarely hurt him, however, such times will end today.

Now, all of Jordan's self-righteousness and his blasphemous remarks against Pauline are against him: all the references to "Pauline is a troll" and "the future of the Wizards would be better without Pauline," and his public complaints about his marketing responsibilities, and his camp's private contempt and insult to Pollin, and all the power he received from Pollin in the 2000 negotiations and all the concessions he had received in three years of godlike prestige. And since 1984, his unbridled behavior as an overly favored god will bear fruit to this day.

Jordan will learn the only truth of the workplace today: people who don't respect their bosses will fuck off.

In the negotiation room, Jordan attended the meeting with his longtime adviser, lawyer Curtis Polk. Pauline's lawyer, David Osnos, sat next to him, while Ted Leons, who was estranged from Pauline, acted as a minority shareholder and acted as both an observer and Jordan's friend.

Before Jordan could speak, Pauline got straight to the point and said, "We decided to go the other way." ”

What?

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

"We decided to look forward." Pauline said.

Jordan's anger could not be contained, "You promised me, are you a person who does not keep his word?!! ”

Pauline smiled, revealing two rows of uncomfortable yellow teeth: "Michael, I will keep my obligations. I'll give you $10 million as a thank you fee. (It is true)

For Jordan, who is worth close to ten figures, he simply can't afford the money, and he roars angrily: "I'm here to be a shareholder and president of the team again, not for a fucking $10 million!" ”

Just for a moment, Pauline's smile disappeared like an assassin who suddenly executed an assassination: "Michael, I swear in the name of God, I never want you to be my partner again, nor do I want you to continue to manage my team!" ”

With red eyes and bloodshot eyes, Jordan turned to his buddy Ted Leonses, "Thank you for getting me into this damn predicament!" ”

The Jordan era for the Washington Wizards is over.

Public opinion was quick to react, and most Wizards players, such as Byron Russell, simply expressed surprise. Kwame Brown breathed a sigh of relief when he learned of Jordan's departure, but he remained silent. However, several former Wizards players have made subtle public comments about Jordan's departure.

Speaking to reporters in Detroit, Richard Hamilton said, "He's still considered the greatest basketball player of all time, and I don't think anybody can take that title away from him." But as a team president, it's not enough. ”

Then, the purge within the Wizards officially began.

Collins was fired, and Jordan's subordinates gradually left. Pauline emptied the gym of everything Jordan-related — jerseys, posters, merchandise, murals. Even the Jordan-themed restaurant ad on the Wizards' official website — the restaurant closed less than a year later.

All traces of Jordan's visit to Washington are gone, just as he never came.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Pat Riley has called on all NBA teams to retire the No. 23 jersey, and unfortunately there are 0 responders." —Chicago Tribune

"MJ's negotiations with Abi Pollin ended in an insulting outcome." —The New York Times

"Washington made the right decision, but unfortunately, Frye Yu will never play for them again. That's the legacy that Michael Jordan left behind, and he definitely shouldn't be an executive at any club again! —The Seattle Times

"Frye, what do you think of Pat Riley asking all teams to retire the number 23 jersey?" —John Duggan, San Francisco

"I want the team to respond to Coach Riley's call because No. 23 helped the Bucks win the championship with just one trade, and the championship flag has to be hung at Bradley Center with No. 23."

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

"I like this question, but the next one."

"Hello Dafei, if you had a pistol, would you shoot a bullet at Shaquille O'Neal or Michael Jordan? Or Kenyon Martin? —Bryant Reid from Manchester

"It's a bit extreme for you to juxtapose Kenyon Martin with those two guys."

"Fry, what do you think of Abbie Pauline getting MJ out of the way in less than five minutes?" – Chris Mazzo Washington

"I just want to congratulate Michael on his most unsuccessful comeback ever."

——Yu Fei's exclusive radio program: "Dialogue with the Chosen One"

(End of chapter)