Former floor-spacing Portland Trail Blazers All-Star power forward Rasheed Wallace, now hosting the Underdog podcast “Sheed & Tyler,” recently offered one of the most piping-hot takes in the history of piping-hot takes, during a recent episode of the show. Former Portland shooting guard Bonzi Wells also guested on the pod.
Wallace, who played for Portland from 1996-2004, posited that Hall of Fame shooting guard/small forward Michael Jordan was actually deadlier during his two seasons on the Washington Wizards than he had been during his 13 years with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he won six titles from 1991-98 and five league MVPs.
Though Jordan, playing from the ages of 38 to 40 with the Wizards, was still an All-Star during his D.C. tenure, he was no longer an All-NBA or All-Defensive Team-level talent. Both those clubs finished 37-45, though the 2001-02 team stood a solid chance of at least making the playoffs, prior to an injury that cost Jordan 20 of the regular season’s final 27 games.
“Phenomenal player again, but I think he was a little bit more dangerous when he was with the Wizards,” Wallace said. “He didn’t have the athleticism that we were used to seeing MJ have, but I’m with Bonzi, his angles were a little bit more sharp… He was a strong two-guard… you [weren’t] just gonna move him lightly, and his shot became more dangerous. He became more solid as that veteran player [during] his years in Washington. It was like one of them ‘Don’t leave him open’ [guys]… He’s still out there talking s***, but he’s dropping dimes… His jump shot was still killer. But the thing I like about it, with him there, he was that veteran player, where he was even out there on the floor, coaching and guiding all [those] young players.”
Wells and Wallace were both key contributors to the Trail Blazers during one of the team’s most successful recent eras. Wells played for Portland from 1998-2003. Wallace was named an All-Star during his 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons with the Trail Blazers. While Wells finished ninth in Most Improved Player voting during the 2000-01 season.
Their Portland squad enjoyed its best postseason success during the 1999-2000 season, playing alongside Jordan’s former title-winning Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen. Led by Rick Adelman, that club finished 59-23 and made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they squared off against the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant-era Los Angeles Lakers. The Trail Blazers infamously led the Lakers by 15 points in Game 7’s fourth quarter. We don’t need to get into what happened after that.